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CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
Huntin the Truth Ministries Chapter Development Guide
Huntin the Truth Ministries is a 501-c3 non-profit, inter-denominational, Christian hunting ministry and an outreach of another Christian ministry called Your Future is Now Ministries. The mission here at Huntin the Truth is to create and restore relationships with Jesus Christ through hunting and the outdoors by focusing on reaching the physically challenged and youth in our community. Huntin the Truth is expanding our ministry into chapters around the country. The goal of our chapter development program is to create chapters that have the same mission as we do here at national headquarters in Michigan, and yet, have the opportunity and freedom to run the chapter the way God is leading. Our objective for this guide is to show individuals how to get a chapter started in their community. If you are interested in our ministry and would like to start a chapter of Huntin the Truth through your local church in your community, we would now like to provide you with the step by step process on how to start your chapter.Step 1: Forming your chapter core leadership team
We believe that in order to run an effective chapter you will need 4 core leaders to form your leadership team. We suggest that you seek the Lord in prayer concerning who these 4 leaders will be. Over time as your chapter grows, you will need to add more leaders and staff. Once God has shown you who your 4 core leaders are, you will need to designate 1 as your chapter leader if it is not yourself. Step 2: Approaching the host church Pastor
After forming your leadership team, we suggest that you approach the pastor of the host church and discuss with him the mission and the function of a Huntin the Truth Chapter in regards to the chapter becoming an outreach ministry of the host church. There are two main reasons why we suggest that your chapter become an outreach ministry of your local church. One, accountability with your church is a must. If you become an outreach ministry of your local church, your pastor and church will always know the happenings of your chapter and can keep you accountable. Second, you will not have to send in for and purchase your own 501-c3 non-profit number. This can be a lengthy and expensive process. Thirdly, this type of outreach ministry is a great tool for church growth! Once the pastors approval is received, then move on to step 3.Step 3: Chapter Formation Paperwork
Upon the pastors approval, Huntin the Truth will send you the chapter formation paperwork that will need to be reviewed and signed off by the chapter leader and host pastor. We highly recommend that the host pastor also be a core team leadership member so that he is informed about what is going on in your chapter.
Step 4: Have your first core leadership team meeting
At this meeting we recommend that the following topics be discussed:Chapter bible study; discuss how often and when you would like to have your chapter bible study
Date of your first wild game dinner (we recommend that you schedule your first wild game dinner within the first year after you start your chapter. We also recommend that you use your wild game dinner to cast the vision of your chapter to your community (explained in next step)).
Team leadership meetings (we recommend that you have at least 1 leadership meeting per month).
Starting your youth and physically challenged programs. (These two programs will be explained in a later step)
Step 5: Planning your first wild game dinner
Your wild game dinners will be vital to the growth of your chapter and for casting the vision of your chapter to your community. We recommend that the following 2 goals be the focus of your wild game dinner:Create new members: Invite as many people (saved and unsaved) to your dinner and follow up with those who make a commitment to Christ or indicate an interest in your chapter on the Huntin the Truth follow up cards (a template follow up card will be emailed to the chapter leader that can be printed out and used for your dinners). Part of your follow up will be inviting these people to your chapter bible study. You will find that many men will not attend a church service, but will attend your chapter ministry events.
Cast the chapter vision to your community. This dinner is a perfect opportunity to cast your vision and share the schedule of events for your youth and physically challenged programs.
If you have a specific keynote speaker in mind for your dinner, we recommend that you contact that speaker before you finalize the date for your dinner. The founders of Huntin the Truth Ministries, Chad and James Hampton, are available to speak at any of your wild game dinners and would love to help cast the vision of your chapter to the community at your first annual dinner.
Step 6: Organizing your youth and physically challenged programs
Programs for youth and the physically challenged has been a trademark of all Huntin the Truth chapters. We strongly suggest that your chapter focus on organizing and maintaining these two programs. We have learned that hosting one event for each of these programs per year seems to work well. Hosting more than one event for each of these programs per year along with your wild game dinner could become overwhelming for a small leadership team. We recommend that you have both of these programs organized and the dates of your first events scheduled by your first wild game dinner so you can advertise your events.Youth Program
The goal of the youth program is to use hunting and the outdoors as a vehicle to reach youth in your community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We recommend that you organize at least one youth event per year. This event will be separate from your yearly wild game dinner and physically challenged event. Example events that we organize at national headquarters are deer and turkey hunts, skeet shoots, paintball wars and father son archery shoots. A great way to obtain hunting land to take the youth out on is to approach the local private land owners in your area and get permission to hunt. We have experienced that most of the land owners are more than happy to work with us.Physically Challenged Program
The goal of the physically challenged program is the same as the youth program. We again recommend that one physically challenged event be organized per year, which will be separate from your wild game dinner and youth event. Example events that we organize are turkey and deer hunts, fishing tournaments, wheelchair sports (basketball, golf, Olympics), air rifle events etc…… We also suggest that eventually you appoint someone who is physically challenged to lead your physically challenged program. This will be a great way to draw other physically challenged individuals into the program. Once you receive permission from the private landowners to hunt on their land, you can use those same properties to take the physically challenged out hunting.Step 7: Maintaining chapter operations
We suggest that you have your schedule of events planned one year in advance. This will help you keep your chapter operations organized and give you enough time to plan your events. We also encourage you to use your own discretion as your chapter’s spiritual leader in choosing the curriculums for your bible studies based on the spiritual maturity of the people in your bible study. Huntin the Truth has a list of recommended curriculums to use for your bible study to give you some direction on the type of curriculums we have learned are beneficial.This packet is designed to give you a basic overview on how to start a chapter. Once your chapter has become official and your leadership team is in place along with your programs, we encourage you to organize and lead your chapter in the way God is leading. Our goal is to simply help get your chapter going in the right direction then, let you run with it in the way you feel God is leading you to run your chapter. We will also send each member a “Secrets of the Hunt” book with the companion DVD. We suggest that you use this as your chapter discipleship curriculum for your bible study. This curriculum teaches a wide variety of subjects ranging from salvation to spiritual maturity and creates a great foundation that will help you launch into other curriculums. Other books and curriculums that Huntin the Truth offers are “A Chase After the Wind” book written by Chad Hampton.
We know and understand that this is a very simple and basic guide to help start a chapter and that you most likely have, or will have many questions along the way. Pastor Chad Hampton serves as the Director of Chapter Development for Huntin the Truth Ministries and can be contacted any time at 810-614-5714 or champton@yfinministries.com to discuss and answer any questions you might have.
