Church Discipleship Ministries

July 31, 2024
pastormilan
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Searching the Byways

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹So go into the highways and byways, and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰And those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was filled with guests.

Matthew 22:8-10 [TLV]

“It is the most challenging and most rewarding ministry I have ever been a part of.” Those are the words of Todd Toles, the director of Church Discipleship Ministries. They were spoken about his latest ministry assignment – pastoring a new church plant at Huntsville Health and Rehabilitation which is a skilled nursing facility in Huntsville, Alabama. Todd recently agreed to share about this unique and exciting ministry opportunity as well as answer some questions about his ministry – Church Discipleship Ministries.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you entered the ministry?

Well, after I reached full retirement benefits in the Huntsville Fire Department, I went ahead and retired so I could go into the ministry full-time. I was raised that your job was just a way to fund your ministry. I was only 45 years old but had almost 30 years credit in the retirement program due to my hazardous duty. So, since I had reached the magic number of same pay benefits, it was a no brainer to retire and go into the ministry full-time as I had always wanted to do. I was a youth pastor for 5 years and a lead pastor for another 4 years. Then, my mother and father became very ill and had to be placed in a nursing home for 24-hour care. In 2015, I stepped down from the church I was pastoring so I could spend more time with them on a daily basis. Dad had dementia really bad at this point so the only way to keep him connected was to see him every day. I was able to still do pulpit supply during this time and in 2016 I was serving as a de facto interim preacher at a church for a few months until they could call a new pastor. Using this experience, God showed me a new direction of ministry. That is when I started Church Discipleship Ministries.

What does Church Discipleship Ministries actually do?

Church Discipleship Ministries is designed to serve churches with discipleship programs, leadership training, and tactical interim ministries. I help churches develop teachers and leaders and expand their ministry to their community. Many churches cannot afford a full-time Christian Education Minister. So, I can go into a church on an ‘as needed’ basis and help in these areas of leadership development. Once the job is completed, I go onto a new assignment.

You mentioned a tactical interim, what exactly is that?

After a beloved pastor leaves a church for whatever reason, the congregation is often surprised at how long it takes to get a new pastor. During this time of searching for a new pastor, the church often enters a period of regression. It the interim lasts too long, the church will often regress to a critical point. To keep a church vibrant and sustain growth, an interim pastor can help greatly. A ‘tactical interim’ is more than just an interim preacher. A tactical interim will help build the infrastructure of the church with teacher and leadership development so that they are ready to move forward as soon as they have a new pastor come on board. Although this was not the primary focus of CDM, I ended up working with quite a few churches as a tactical interim the first four years after starting the ministry. At least I was until Covid hit.

What happened to your ministry during Covid?

Well, needless to say, churches suffered greatly during this time, so I did not get any new assignments from God during this time. (When God opens the door of ministry to a church, I call this an assignment.) At first, I was okay. I used the time down to catch up on a lot of DIY projects at home that I had let slip by for years… any pastor knows what I mean by that.

So, you did not retire from ministry?

Thanks for asking that. I have actually been asked that by a lot of people when I see them at the state meetings. No. I have absolutely NOT retired from ministry! But, God was leading me to a new type of ministry and retooling Church Discipleship Ministries to meet the needs of this new type of ministry. I was desperate to be used again, and quite frankly, needing some extra money since everything dried up during Covid. So, I started working part-time as an assistant to the Activities Director at Huntsville Health and Rehab in 2023. We led the residents in various activities and games. But, then God showed me a real need of the residents there. My boss explained that state law required nursing facilities to make every effort to have some sort of spiritual support for their residents. There was a church that was doing a Sunday Service for the residents at HHR, but during the Covid outbreak, almost all of those people died. So, the Sunday service faded away. The residents that were Christians at HHR had gone over 2 years without a church service! So, soon I was working every weekend so that I could lead them in the Sunday School activity and help minister to the residents that way.

How did the church plant come about?

The first day I started working there at HHR, I met 3 godly women who had been praying for God to start a Sunday Service at the facility again. All three had been inspired by God to plant a church there. They all shared the same vision of having a church again and were praying for a revival for the entire facility. For 10 months, we prayed together and asked God to show us how to do this. See, because of Covid, there were a lot of fairly young residents at HHR. Many residents were just in their 50s -70s. Some even in their 40s! The mission field there at HHR was white for harvest. So, when I turned 62 in February of this year, I resigned as an employee. But, I started volunteering on Sunday afternoon so that we could start having a real church service there again. After much prayer and work, we started the church services on the first Sunday in May – exactly one year after I started working there.

What is the church called and how is it doing?

The residents came together and planted this church. I had nothing to do with that. It was a ‘God thing’ that He inspired those three Godly women who were praying for revival to do. They knew that a church had nothing to do with a building. The true church is the Believers. HHR currently has about 25 strong believers. They came together and decided to call their church “OUR CHURCH”. Their motto is “Make Our Church Your Church”. So, the church is open to all the residents, their friends and families, and the employees of HHR. God has blessed their efforts. We are averaging about 18 residents plus some family members and employees for an average of 20-22 each week. God also brought us Nathan who volunteered to lead the music each Sunday. He is doing a great job and the worship is beautiful.

What are some of the church’s needs?

Pray for more facility staff to work on the weekends. Many of the believers are unable to move. So, they need nursing staff to get them up and dress them so they can attend the church. Staff shortages keep about 5-7 of our believers from coming to church as much as they want. If HHR had enough weekend staff, they could come every week!

Do you recommend other churches to start similar church plants in the skilled nursing facilities in their communities?

Absolutely! There are a lot of believers stuck in these facilities with no real church services to sustain them. We who can do so, need to go in these facilities and start ministering to the residents in every way possible. We can visit them regularly. We can lead group games, like Bingo. We can host parties. Just about every facility needs outside people to come in and do these things – especially the facilities with the residents of less financial means. There is so much we can do. We especially need to plant some churches within these facilities so the residents can worship the Lord together!

You said this ministry has been the “most challenging and most rewarding ministry I have ever been a part of”. Why is that?

It is challenging because these facilities are notoriously short of staff. So, you must help push the wheelchair bound residents to the meeting hall. You must return them to their rooms. You must visit them and befriend them. You must literally “go into the highways and byways” to meet these people’s needs. That makes it challenging. Why is it rewarding? Let me explain it this way. Two of our believing residents are totally incapacitated. They cannot move and cannot speak normally. They love coming to church. But, often, there is not enough staff to bring them every week. When they do come they are just radiant with the Holy Spirit upon them. The lady, I will call ‘T’, has one arm she can move. She always lifts it up during the songs. She cannot sing. But she lifts her one arm in praise of our Lord. The gentleman, I will call ‘J’, smiles throughout the service. One day I asked him how he liked the service. He cannot really talk, but He can make noise. But, J strained with all his strength, and through great struggle managed to say “you… my… friend”. There is no greater reward, no greater blessing, in my book than to be called his friend.