By Jerry Harris
A common misunderstanding among churches that align with Restoration Movement principles is that our movement is defined by that group of churches or that those churches determine who is inside or outside of the Restoration Movement. The question might be asked, “Are they one of our churches?”
These concepts are much more denominational in nature than they are movement based. The Restoration Movement isn’t defined as a group of churches, but a movement within churches. Each church is completely independent from all others and all leadership of that church is local. There are many upsides to this way of thinking, but there are some drawbacks, too. Being this independent makes it harder to coalesce churches to accomplish something larger. Creating avenues for resourcing would benefit a greater group of churches in ways an individual church might not be able to do alone. There are so many needs that exist in this category. Here are ten of them:
- How does a local church address the health care needs of its staff?
- How does a local church help its staff members prepare for retirement?
- How does a local church find candidates for positions it desperately needs?
- How does a local church find lenders who will help fund its growth plans and ideas?
- How does a local church address the mental health needs of its staff?
- Where does a local church find the teaching materials needed for kids and adults?
- Where does a local church send those called into ministry to be educated?
- Which mission should a local church support?
- Where do local church leaders go to find fresh ideas and approaches to ministry?
- How do local churches network with other churches to maximize resources?
Being a movement that happens within a local church can be isolating, so it’s imperative that we become familiar with resourcing agencies that know and understand what it’s like in the local church and particularly how it’s walked out inside Restoration principles. That’s where The Solomon Foundation comes in. It is absolutely committed to the success of churches that align with the Restoration Movement. We don’t just say it or pay lip service to it, we live it out every day in what we do and the decisions we make.
The Solomon Foundation provides loans to churches to help their hopes and dreams for kingdom growth become a reality; and we do that while giving our investors a great return on their investment. That is at the core of what we do. But we also know that for churches to flourish, they need to be healthy and have plenty of tools at the ready to address their continuing and changing needs. So, we at TSF also invest in making this movement as healthy as possible because we love it and the people who are part of it.
Several conferences throughout the year provide opportunities for churches and leaders in the Restoration Movement to network, be encouraged, and sharpen their approaches in all sorts of ministry endeavors. The Solomon Foundation has played a major role in sponsoring these conferences, including The North American Christian Convention, Spire, International Conference on Missions, and Renew Network. We have also built relationships with other branches of our movement to widen our circle of influence and resourcing. TSF has stepped in to help Bible colleges and Christian universities in our movement at critical times in their ministry. Central Christian College of the Bible, Great Lakes Christian College, Hope International University, and others can attest to this. When Covid hit, TSF was there to encourage leaders with weekly virtual meetings, to provide help with government relief, and to make mental health counseling available—resources they continue to provide as needed. TSF stepped in seven years ago to save our history and heritage by rescuing Christian Standard from being consigned to the past. They now house the Christian Standard archives in a beautiful new library at their headquarters in Parker, Colorado.
What we have experienced in partnership with all of these ministries over the last 13 years has been nothing short of miraculous. Our partner churches and ministries are flourishing with unprecedented growth. Attitudes are changing from negative and defeated to positive and victorious. That is seen not only in the growth of TSF to over 1.2 billion dollars of managed assets, but to the tens of thousands of baptisms happening in these churches as their obstacles to growth and ministry are being removed. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? The apostle Paul said that some plant, some water, but it’s God who gives the increase. It’s such a joy to be able to get our hands in the dirt with him!
There is no doubt that we at TSF really believe in this movement and that we put our resources and energy to work every day to help the person in a hard and resistant urban environment, the ministry volunteer in a rural church virtually invisible to the world outside of its community, the preacher trying to figure out how to connect more effectively to the community while lifting up the name of Jesus, and the church leadership wanting to reach out to new communities through multi-site. We don’t just believe in this movement; we believe in you!
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