The Care Ministry Podcast

How Churches Can Serve Their Communities With Humility and Impact

5 Practices for Faithful Community Engagement with Kent Annan

Many churches care deeply about their communities but feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the needs around them. Where do you start, and how do you help without causing harm or burning out your team?

In this episode, Laura Howe talks with Kent Annan, co-founder of Haiti Partners and author of Slow Kingdom Coming, about how churches can engage their communities with humility, wisdom, and long-term impact.

Kent shares five practices that help leaders discern where they are called to focus and how to serve in ways that honor dignity and build meaningful partnerships.

If you want to serve your community well without trying to fix everything, this conversation offers practical encouragement and perspective.

Resources Mentioned

Slow Kingdom Coming CAN Link / US Link

When Helping Hurts CAN Link / US Link

Haiti Partners

Spiritual First Aid

Slow Kingdom coming Discussion guide

Quotes from the Episode

“If the primary takeaway from being with people who are suffering is that we feel better about our own lives, we are disrespecting them.” – Kent Annan

“The practices of attention, confession, respect, partnering, and truthing are both spiritual disciplines and practical ways to do justice work well.” – Kent Annan

“The slow kingdom coming means we can lament that the world isn’t as it should be, hold onto hope that transformation is possible, and commit ourselves to participate in that work.” – Kent Annan

“When you enter a community, you slow down and ask: Am I coming with honor, and am I waiting to be invited in with respect?” – Kent Annan

Connect with Hope Made Strong

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How do you lead well in church ministry when you care deeply about people but aren’t the final decision maker?

In this episode of the Care Ministry Podcast, Laura Howe sits down for one of her monthly coaching conversations with Lacey Reaves, a ministry leader serving in small groups at Redemption Church in South Carolina.

Together they explore a leadership challenge many ministry leaders face: how to faithfully care for people while navigating leadership structures, shifting ministry needs, and the realities of leading from what Laura calls the messy middle of ministry.

Lacey shares openly about her experience of burnout and what she learned about carrying ministry differently. Laura reflects on how sustainable care ministry requires leaders to care deeply for people while also recognizing the burdens they were never meant to carry alone.

If you’ve ever felt the tension of trying to lead, care for people, and navigate church leadership dynamics at the same time, this coaching conversation offers encouragement and practical perspective for sustaining ministry over the long term.

Quotes

“I knew that I still cared about people, but I felt that I had lost the capacity to care effectively because I myself needed care.” –Lacey Reaves

“I found that I am still called, but I may need to learn how to carry the calling differently.” –Lacey Reaves

“Ministry rarely happens in clean and simple ways. Most of the time we’re leading in complicated spaces with changing needs, limited resources, and leadership structures.” –Laura Howe

“There’s a wisdom that develops when we stay deeply compassionate toward people while recognizing that we are not their savior.” –Laura Howe

Resources

Joyfully Free Journey Podcast (Lacey Reaves)

Care Ministry Collective (Free Online Community)

Care Ministry Cohort

HMS Amazon store 🇨🇦Link, 🇺🇸Link

Connect with Hope Made Strong

Website: HopeMadeStrong.org

Socials: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube

In this episode of the Care Ministry Podcast, Laura Howe and Rebecca Bailey explore one of the most overlooked yet powerful parts of care ministry: follow-up.

Churches often do a meaningful job receiving needs and responding in the moment. A meal train is organized. A hospital visit happens. An outreach event is planned with excellence. But what happens after that? Laura and Rebecca walk through the Hope Made Strong Care Protocol: receive, respond, report, and follow-up, and then zoom in on the step where many churches struggle most.

Follow-up is where trust is either strengthened or quietly weakened. It is where people learn whether they are a task that was completed or a person who is truly known. In this conversation, they introduce a simple framework to clarify responsibility so that care becomes shared, sustainable, and rooted in belonging rather than burnout.

Quotes

“When you follow up, it says, you’re trustworthy, and I’m important.” –Rebecca Bailey

“We don’t want our events to begin and end at the building. We want them to lead to belonging and real community.” –Laura Howe

“Follow-up is often where we shift from programs that care to cultures of care.” –Laura Howe

“Clarity helps us spread out and share the load without missing people at the same time.” –Laura Howe

Resources

Care Protocol

Care Ministry Cohort

Online Community

HMS Amazong store 🇨🇦Link, 🇺🇸Link

Connect with Hope Made Strong

Website: HopeMadeStrong.org
Socials: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube

In this episode of the Care Ministry Podcast, host Laura Howe sits down with Dave Eckert and Mark to explore how churches and communities can work better together to care for people on the margins.
Drawing from decades of experience in mental health, social services, and church leadership, Dave and Mark share why community itself is often the missing piece in care and how churches can move beyond good intentions toward meaningful, collaborative impact.

The conversation unpacks the difference between services and help, the power of belonging, and why churches are uniquely positioned to fill gaps rather than duplicate efforts already happening in their neighborhoods. This episode is both deeply practical and deeply human, offering a hopeful vision for churches seeking to love their communities well.



Quotes

“The only disability is loneliness.” –Mark

“There’s a big difference between a service and help. They’re not always the same thing.” –Mark

“Sometimes churches start with what’s exciting for them to do instead of asking what the community actually needs.” –Dave Eckert

“What people need most is not professionalism—it’s relationship.” –Mark

“When churches fill gaps instead of overlapping, they develop a reputation as a necessary partner in the community.” –Dave Eckert



Resources

Intersect Webpage

Intersect Trainings

Intersect Newsletter

Access Services Strengthening Communities Podcast

Access Services Facebook Page



Connect with Hope Made Strong

Website: HopeMadeStrong.org
Socials: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube

HMS Amazong store 🇨🇦Link, 🇺🇸Link

In this episode of The Care Ministry Podcast, Laura Howe is joined by pastor and care ministry leader Chad Clements for a coaching-style conversation about grief, leadership, and the pressure many ministry leaders feel to move faster than they should.

Chad shares openly about stepping into a newly created care role without a clear roadmap and how his own journey through grief and lament has shaped the way he thinks about care. Together, Laura and Chad talk about why care ministry does not begin with programs or systems, but with listening, trust, and taking time to understand what is already happening in a church.

This episode names a tension many leaders feel but rarely say out loud. The internal pressure to produce results, build structure, and make sure no one falls through the cracks, even when leadership has not placed those expectations on them.

Along the way, Laura introduces simple care frameworks, shares practical tools for grief support, and reflects on why going slow is not a setback but a faithful and wise approach to care. This conversation is especially helpful for leaders who are building care ministries from the ground up, navigating transition, or trying to care well without burning out.

Quotes

“It’s more my own personal journey of going through grief and lament. Just doing too many funerals, seeing too many tragedies, and seeing how powerful it was to meet God in the midst of it.”
Chad Clements

“The leaders haven’t pressured me, but I feel that internal pressure to produce and to develop what they’ve called me to develop.”
Chad Clements

“Care doesn’t start with systems. It starts with listening and slowing down enough to see what’s already happening.”
Laura Howe

Resources

CareNote

Notebird

Planning Center

GriefShare

The Loss Foundation

Stephen Ministry

New Life Ministries

Edmund Ng

Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries

HMS Amazong store 🇨🇦Link, 🇺🇸Link

Coaching and Support

At Hope Made Strong, we walk alongside church leaders as they listen well, discern next steps, and build care ministries that are sustainable and relational. Coaching is not about rushing to solutions. It is about creating space to notice, reflect, and respond wisely.
Apply to receive coaching on the podcast

Connect with Hope Made Strong

Website: HopeMadeStrong.org

Socials: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube