Hunter Street uses technology to discover members’ gifts

Hunter Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, is using modern day technology to accomplish a biblical commission.
   
As part of the church’s purpose statement of “teaching members to become individual ministers,” Bill Decker, minister of ministries at Hunter Street, has incorporated an Internet accessible questionnaire for members who are participating in his “every member a minister” class. The church’s purpose statement declares that the church exists to: “lead people to Jesus and church membership, develop them to Christlike maturity, equip them for ministry and send them on mission in order to magnify God.”
   
In an effort to put this purpose statement into action, the church staff conducts a series of classes that guide members in their spiritual journey and encourage their involvement in different areas of ministry.
   
“Our goal at Hunter Street is to have members choose their ministry so they can participate in areas that God has designed them for and for which they are best suited,” Decker said.
   
The two-part series of four different classes twice a month are conducted by staff members. The first class, led by Hunter Street pastor Buddy Gray, deals with the purpose of being a Christian, the church’s responsibilities to its members and members’ responsibilities to the church. The second class in the series, taught by Topper Reid, minister of maturity, focuses on discovering one’s spiritual maturity through four basic habits and the skills and tools that Christians need to succeed. The third class, taught by Decker, is the “every member a minister” class. The last class which has recently been established focuses on missions and is taught by Frank Blackwell, minister of missions.
   
In referring to the purpose of his class, Decker said, “This class is taught as a means to guide our members into the appropriate ministry for which they are best suited. To accomplish this, people must understand what their spiritual gifts are. That’s where the survey comes in,” he said.
   
According to Decker, Hunter Street has incorporated the aid of Mels Carbonell, a Christian sociologist who holds a Ph.D. in human behavior and leadership. He specializes in helping people discover their giftedness from a biblical perspective. Decker has incorporated into his class a personality and spiritual giftedness survey developed by Carbonell.
   
“It takes about an hour and a half to complete, so we decided to offer it over the Internet so people didn’t have to do it during their class time,” Decker said, explaining that for people who do not have Internet access, hard copies are available to take home.
   
The five-page survey is broken down into different sections such as a biographical profile, a spiritual gifts profile, a personality profile and an opportunity for involvement questionnaire.
   
“At Hunter Street we take an individual approach to ministry as opposed to an institutional approach. We want people to choose to serve in a ministry because it’s a good fit for them, not just to fill a slot or meet a quota,” he said. “When people are serving in an area that they are not suited for, don’t enjoy or aren’t committed to, then they can get frustrated and possibly quit.
   
Decker is enthusiastic about the benefits of the survey. “Once participants become aware of their spiritual gifts, they can better determine what areas they would like to serve.”
   
And options are not in short supply at Hunter Street where currently 107 ministry opportunities are available from which to choose — some typical, some one of a kind.
   
Concluding a class that Decker taught recently, the attendees visited a missions ministry fair that was held in the church’s auditorium. The entire room was encircled with displays representing all of the church’s missions opportunities, complete with handouts detailing the missions purpose, a brief description and contact names and phone numbers of staff and lay leaders overseeing each ministry. 
   
A sampling of some of their atypical ministries are: Helping Hands — a ministry that provides yard work and home repair for elderly or sick members; Kids Quest — a ministry that provides a genuine fire truck for use in various children’s ministries; and the Chariot Ride ministry that provides transportation to appointments for elderly or disabled members.
   
“We hold this fair so that all of our members are informed as to what we have to offer. We are constantly adding new ministry areas,” Decker said, mentioning that a deaf ministry is in the works.
   
Church member Rick Hudson, who heads up the prison ministry for Hunter Street, recently completed all four classes. “The way this church staff has structured the area of ministries offers a tremendous opportunity to our members to discover their spiritual gifts and get involved. This survey and questionnaire is just another example of how they are meeting our needs with their visionary planning,” he said.