FAQ

What is Releasing Ministry Alliance?

Releasing Ministry Alliance helps people find sacred services (ministries), support ministry, and serve in ministry.

The centralized directory of ministries includes contact information to invite ministry for you or your faith community. It, also, offers a crowd-sourcing platform so that community members can assist in providing financial, practical, and spiritual resources to people following leadings in ministry. We help people of various faiths live more fully into sacred service (ministry) by providing channels for publicity and resources to flow through web-based and human networks. 

What do you mean by ministry?

We define ministry as sacred service to which one is called.  It may be offering workshops and retreats, bearing witness, working with children, serving to alleviate a need, working within an organization, providing pastoral care, traveling in gospel ministry, or something else.

Who can use Releasing Ministry Alliance?

Anyone offering, seeking, or wishing to support sacred service is eligible to participate. The project was founded by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) to foster this type of service by people of all faiths.

Ministries may be carried by individuals or organizations. They can be non-profit or for-profit. Search criteria for the various ministries allow filtering on these characteristics and more.

Yes, but what kind of ministers are you talking about?

We intend to serve all faiths, including Friends from all branches of Quakerism: liberal, conservative, orthodox, and evangelical, and even people who are engaged in sacred service who are not members of the Religious Society of Friends. We hope the directory can help people from different traditions get to know each other better.

How do I list my ministry with Releasing Ministry Alliance?

Go to this page and follow the instructions to create an account and add your ministry.

How do I support a ministry through Releasing Ministry Alliance?

Go to this page to explore the ministries listed with us. If the ministry you find has a 'Donate' button, just click it to give them money. You may also:

  • Contact the person directly to offer other forms of support such as prayer, eldering, hospitality, travel assistance, etc.
  • Create an account if you wish to streamline your experience  

How do I invite a ministry listed with Releasing Ministry Alliance to visit me or my group?

Arrangements are made directly between the person or group making the invitation and the person offering the ministry.  You can search and browse the directory of participating ministries and consider what suits your needs. People offering ministries may post summaries, testimonials, travel minutes or other endorsements, a description of their spiritual accountability structure, and video or audio clips, if relevant. You can contact them to explore serving you and/ or your faith community.

Why don't people who offer ministries just use existing crowdfunding platforms?

Some do, but Releasing Ministry Alliance fills needs that are not met by other crowdfunding applications, including a way to:

  • Spread the word about ministries through a centralized directory.
  • Provide non-financial support, both practical (such as travel assistance, accommodations) and spiritual (such as prayer, eldership).

How do I know these people offering ministry are legitimate?

Releasing Mnistry Alliance encourages people listing their ministries here to describe and document their connections to their communities and the accountability structures they have in place, if any, so that potential supporters can judge for themselves on a case-by-case basis. We serve some ministries that are supported by and accountable to their home faith community. However, not all faith communities are at a place where this relationship is possible. We believe the ministries in their care should not be handicapped so we welcome all.

Isn't being a minister already a job you get paid for?

For some it is, but for many it isn't. Among some Friends (Quakers), iSpirit led service is often a volunteer activity which many people combine with a secular job for their livelihood. We hope assistance which flows as a result of connections made by Releasing Ministy Alliance better resources people engaged in sacred service so they can devote more time and attention to the ministry.

Who operates Releasing Ministry Alliance?

Releasing Ministry Alliance’s co-founders are Viv Hawkins and Vonn New, two Friends who are engaging their ministries under the care of their local faith communities, and who see the need for and value in these services. Releasing Ministry Alliance is operated by a collection of people dedicated to supporting Spirit-led ministry by sharing resources. During our market testing phase, we are operating under the fiscal sponsorship of Green Street Monthly Meeting and The Shalom Center, while we assess if support is sufficient to sustain a 501(c)3 organization.

We thank countless others for sharing their gifts with Releasing Ministry Alliance, including Friend Bob Schmitt of Laughing Waters Studio who gave us our logo.

Do you have a question that we haven't answered?

Please ask us!
 


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