The Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) Charities Directorate is hosting upcoming webinars about registering for My Business Account (MyBA). The webinars are free to all registered charities and other qualified donees. Both English and French language sessions are available. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up soon if you’re interested.

English:

March 19, 2024 10-11am EST

March 19, 2024, 1-2pm EST

March 21, 2024, 10-11am EST

French:

Le 21 mars 2023, 13-14h heure de l’est

What is MyBA ?

My BA is an online platform that gives users access to their CRA account. Organizations can apply for charitable status, file T3010s, and update organizational information.

Related Info: T3010

If you’re looking for more about preparing and filing your T3010, check out CCCC’s T3010 Guides and Tools, out blog post on the latest version of the T3010 Return as well as our CRA-approved, fillable, saveable T3010.

The post CRA Webinar – Registering for My Business Account appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

Introduction

CCCC recently held an insightful webinar featuring Karl Vaters, a small church pastor and author of numerous books on leading small churches. During the event, Karl shared his extensive knowledge and experience in the context of small churches. At the same time, our participants asked several intriguing follow-up questions regarding the development of discipleship processes tailored for smaller congregations. We are pleased to inform you that Karl has graciously provided additional practical insights on this subject. For those unable to attend the webinar titled “Three Ways a Small Church Can Be an Effective Church,” it is now accessible on our website. Enjoy the post from Karl below!

Are you happy with the discipleship program at your small church? Does it even exist?

If not, I have some good news. You don’t need an expensive, staff-heavy curriculum to do great follow-up with new believers. And it doesn’t need to kill your already over-busy schedule, either.

After a few hit-and-miss attempts, I discovered a simple five-step process that can work for any small church. And it looks suspiciously similar to what Jesus, Paul, and many other early church leaders did.

1. Meet with Every New Believer

Yes, every new believer.

In most small churches, this is not just possible; it’s usually a significant step for both the pastor and the new believer.

Pastors of big churches can’t do this. There are too many people to meet with. That’s not a slam on them or us; it’s just the way it is. But it points out one advantage of pastoring a small church – the personal touch.

2. Determine How They Learn and Grow

Here’s an example based on my meeting with a new believer who had no Bible knowledge whatsoever.

After a short exploratory conversation, I determined that reading the Gospel of John would be the best way for him to start growing in his newfound faith. I told him to start by reading one chapter a day and then chew on it. If he wanted to re-read the same chapter the next day, do that until he was ready to move to the following chapter.

When I checked in with him a couple of Sundays later, he was only on John 5. “I sat with John 3 for a few days”, he told me with great joy. “That conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus was fantastic!”

I smiled. He was getting it. God’s Word was doing its work. After that, we caught up regularly. He read through Acts the same way. Then he moved slowly through Romans. I answered his questions when he needed help.

I’ve never met anyone else for whom I’d recommend that style of discipleship. But it was the best way for him. People learn and grow in different ways. Let’s use the personal touch we get from being in a small church to help people in the way that suits them best.

If you’re wondering how that first exploratory conversation works, it’s simple. I ask questions like this:

• What was their family like growing up?
• How did they like school?
• Do they like to read?
• Are they a hands-on learner?
• Are they relationship-oriented?
• What do they do in their spare time?
• What was their best learning experience in the past?
• Their worst?
• Who was their favourite teacher, and why?

Simply put, I get nosy about their learning process until I feel like I have a handle on things.

Then, I suggest an idea or two and ask if that sounds like something that might work for them. I also give them a guilt-free way out. If the selected learning style doesn’t work for them, we’ll find another way to get it done.

3. Connect Them with a Mature Believer and the Right Resources

There are new believers in our church who meet regularly with mature believers to learn, grow, and be discipled. Each one of them does it differently, depending on their circumstance.

One of those discipleship/mentoring relationships was between two people who enjoyed book clubs. I recommended a good Christian book for them to read, then they met once a week to talk about it. After the Sunday service every few weeks, I took a moment to hear how they were doing. When they finished reading one book, I recommended the next one. They both grew in their relationships with Jesus and each other.

4. Help Them Plug into an Active Ministry That Utilizes Their Gifts

This is the most neglected step of most new believer programs. We fill people’s heads with Bible knowledge but wait too long to activate that knowledge within real-world ministry. That is dangerous for the believer and the church.

One of the main reasons for pastoral stress is church members with a lot of Bible knowledge who are doing little if any, practical, hands-on, outside-the-church-walls ministry. The Apostle Paul taught us that “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). That’s what happens when we cram Bible knowledge into people’s heads without helping them activate it with their hands and feet.

It’s never the new believers that burn out the pastor. It’s the pew-warmers who think they know how to run the church but never lift a finger to help. Then they leave because they’re “not being fed.”

The best solution to that? Teach people how to pick up a spoon and feed themselves from the very start of their faith!

5. As People Mature, Call On Them to Start Leading Others

Discipleship is never finished. Even the most mature believer has something to learn.

The best way for a mature believer to keep learning is to teach others as they do ministry together.

Start with One

One of the great side benefits of these steps is how little time it takes from the pastor’s schedule. After this process was set in place, I no longer had to do endless hours of discipleship myself. Now, I hear about great results after the fact.

If you don’t have a discipleship process in your church, I recommend starting with one person. That’s what I did. I walked a new believer through the early stages of discipleship myself, including letting them know they’d be doing this themselves someday. Then, when another new believer came along, I showed them how to adapt what we’d done with this new believer.

Believers discipling believers.

We don’t need an expensive program, and we don’t need to be a certified teacher. We just need to do it.

Watch CCCC’s webinar here: Three Ways a Small Church Can Be an Effective Church.

The post Making Disciples Without Overworking the Pastor (A Simple, Five-Step Process) appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

While larger churches often attract a lot of visibility and praise, it might feel disheartening when serving in a small church context. But it’s essential to remember—size doesn’t define impact. Discover more encouraging insights about small churches (and other small ministries) in this CCCC blog post “A small team doing big things“.

To empower pastors whose hearts are deeply engaged in ministry within smaller communities, we’re sharing three helpful resources designed to enrich your service in your Canadian church context.

1. Significant Church: Small Church Research Study

Your first tool for empowerment is the report Significant Church: Understanding the Value of the Small Evangelical Church in Canada from the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. This research provides invaluable insights into the role and impact of small churches within their communities. The project involved interviews with ministry experts and small church pastors as well as a national survey of pastors. The research team defined a small church as a congregation with an average Sunday attendance of 150 or less. One of the points from the study reveals that pastors felt their formal theological education did not prepare them adequately for small church pastoral ministry, and the need for more resources tailored to this context. You can find the full report on The EFC website.

2. CCCC Webinar “Three Ways a Small Church Can Be An Effective Church“

Secondly, prepare to attend the upcoming CCCC webinar featuring Karl Vaters, author of The Grasshopper Myth, called “Three Ways a Small Church Can Be An Effective Church. His insights into small church dynamics provide fresh perspectives on leveraging your unique strengths for a more significant impact, challenging the “‘just a small church” narrative. This live webinar is offered free from CCCC, and will be available for replay on our website at no cost for CCCC members and a nominal fee for non-members.

Here is a short video invitation from Karl

3. CCCC Web Membership

The third resource is the CCCC’s Web Membership, offering a wealth of resources tailored for ministry leaders serving in very small ministries. With unrestricted access to online articles, webinars, and downloadable resources, these ministry leaders can have the information they need to thrive as a Christian charity.

Pastor Appreciation

Keep this in mind: despite the challenges you may face as a small church pastor, you’re not leading “just a small church.” You are a distinct community, with exceptional strengths to be embraced and shared. And, if it hasn’t been said, Happy Pastor Appreciation month. Thank you for your service to the Kingdom!

The post Resources for Pastors of Small Churches in Canada appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

If yes, you might want to attend a free webinar, Getting started with IP: Copyright, offered by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).

The webinar will review copyright basics including protections, benefits, using copyrighted works, and myths. There will be a Q&A session and participants will receive a copy of the presentation.

The webinar takes place on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 from 1:00-2:00pm EST. You can read the full description and register here.

For more on how and why intellectual property is important for charities, check out the Copyright Resources page of our member Knowledge Base.

The post Wondering about Copyright? appeared first on CCCC Blogs.