Become a Presenting Ministry

Thank you for your interest in sharing your ministry with us. Provided there’s a fit, we look forward to meeting with you to learn how you are serving the Kingdom of God.

The Barnabas Group receives hundreds of requests from ministries to present in the 20-25 slots we might have open during the year. We look for answers to the questions below from every ministry that might present to our partners. Please review the process:

1. A ministry is introduced to us by a Barnabas Group partner, a friend or other ministry. We will meet with ministries on specific dates – usually every three to four weeks. We meet for about 75 minutes.
2. Email Russ Cline if you are interesting in presenting to the Orange County Barnabas Groups. Russ’ email is russ.cline@barnabasgroup.org.  A meeting will be scheduled as soon as possible.
3. Prior to the meeting (5 days) the ministry should have completed our form and submitted it via email. In addition to the form, there are five questions the ministry leader should be prepared to answer upon meeting:
   • Is your ministry Christ-centered?
   • Does the ministry have a strong leader?
   • Can the ministry articulate a “business plan”, that is, do you know where you want to go?
   • Do you have needs that TBG partners can meet and that will resonate with our partners? (The needs cannot be financial, but should be time, talent, networks and knowledge.)
   • Do you have a “Big Question” we can help you to brainstorm? This is not crucial, but something we discuss with you.
   • Why should people care about your ministry? What issue does it uniquely solve?
4. If the ministry is one that could present in the future, we invite you to a TBG meeting to see what we are all about. This helps as you prepare for your own presentation. We never allow a ministry to present that has not attended a meeting to understand how it works — timing of presentations, audio-visual, feedback forms, etc. We ask that ministries ONLY sign up and attend a meeting if they have gone through the interview process and have been invited to attend by the Managing Partner.
5. We have five meetings per year. Three of them are morning meetings and we will have 3-5 ministries at each. They are scheduled well in advance. We try and have different ministries (kids, international, medical, etc.) on each program so there is something for each attendee. In addition we have two evening meetings where 3-4 ministries might present. We have additional opportunities for up to 8 ministries to set up in the courtyard during the hour prior to the evening meetings to mingle and visit with TBG partners and guests.
6. We currently have 50-60 ministries in the queue. We continue to interview and talk with new ministries, but unfortunately we can’t get everyone on as quickly as we might like. That’s the hard part of what we do.
7. We give priority to ministries that are introduced to us by Barnabas Group partners and in which a Barnabas Group partner is actively participating.