Debbie and I wanted to experience a large church setting today, so we ventured to the People’s Church in Franklin, where the walk through the parking lot alone drove home the magnitude of the operation. The service was in a very large auditorium, simulcasting the message to a satellite campus in Spring Hill.
The music from the worship team of ten was terrific, complete with light show. In the afternoon, we traveled to see the Grand Ole Opry House and surrounding properties on the eastern side of Nashville. 
The Opry Mills Mall has been, in effect, abandoned due to recent flooding, but the Gaylord Opryland Hotel was impressive in its size (including 3,100 employees), if not its grooming and amenities. Several walkways through tasteful landscapes and waterworks adorned the interior of the behemoth structure. We visited the gift shop of the Grand Ole Opry House, but forewent the backstage tour to attend a concert in Spring Hill. Ginny Owens , a national recording artist and recent addition to the worship team of the People’s Church, put on a free concert at their Spring Hill campus. Little did we know until the concert that she is blind. What a talent!
As another lovely sunset, the last of our trip, touched the western sky, our wonderful Sunday was still far from over. We worked on TheHopeLine tonight from the Spring Hill Call Center, realizing that our next gig would be from our humble abode back in Massachusetts. Debbie fielded a call from a 20-year-old woman who was having difficulty telling her estranged ex-boyfriend that she was three months pregnant. She also handled a call from a 17-year-old boy who was having difficulty freeing himself from pornography. I had some very serious cases this evening, including a 17-year-old multiple rape victim and a 14-year-old who revealed five significant issues, culminating in suicidal thoughts. Another serious chat was from a 25-year-old mother of three who was seeking a restraining order from her troubled mother. By the end of the evening, I felt much more confident dealing with these issues. I felt these individuals left thehopeline.com with a better opportunity to turn things around than before they reached out. In each case, I gave them multiple resources for their issues. One of the heavier chats lasted much longer than expected, delaying our departure until 2:30, arriving back at “the Homestead” by 3:00 AM. It was a bittersweet time as we nestled in bed for our last evening in Franklin.
TheHopeLine receives serious issues every week. In the past year, there have been 45,000 total interactions, 1,200 of which pertain to suicide, 2,000 to abuse, and 600 to rape. Although it is somewhat difficult to categorize issues because many callers have multiple issues, the more frequent issues cited by the software are:
Dating relationships 26%
Parent relationships 9%
Anxiety/worrying 8%
Friend relationships 7%
Abuse, including rape 6%
Depression 5%
Cutting/Self-mutilation 4%
Suicide 3%
Dave Anderson, the Director of Rescue, explains the current state of TheHopeLine in the video below.
According to Dave, the organization currently has 70-100 hope coaches. Based upon the current demand for interactions, they could use an additional 130 hope coaches. A young person reaching out for help has roughly a 50/50 chance of reaching a coach. Thus, TheHopeLine is actively seeking more hope coaches.
In yesterday’s post, we reviewed three of the five dynamics relating to the case for support of the ministry. Today, we would like to consider the ministry’s model. We'll cover the final dynamic in tomorrow’s post.
DMA uses a model that is relevant to its audience, cutting-edge technology and media such as Top-40 radio, internet chat, texting, and social media websites. Debbie and I noticed the pursuit of excellence and innovation in both thehopeline.com and the radio production. Their model reaches an impressive number of their target audience weekly, over 800,000 on radio and 450,000 on the internet. Yet, the ministry employs only 19 full-time employees and has a current budget of only $3 million.
To put a $3 million budget in perspective, seven-and-a-half months' donations at the People’s Church, which we attended this morning, are nearly $5 million. Yet DMA is a national ministry that touches over one million people each week! A $3 million budget is peanuts compared to other nonprofit organizations of this scope. Although their revenue is 90% donor-based, they do not solicit support from their expansive audience. By leveraging their technology and their volunteer hope coaches, they have generated enormous ministry potential from a minute employee count and a modest funding base. It is a very efficient model. Although their modest resources enforce good stewardship, they leave the organization underequipped to meet the increasing demand for their services. The organization can easily increase this demand, but chooses not to because its current level of funding cannot begin to support any further demand for services. Unfortunately, the ministry cannot easily increase its level of funding.
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