There and Back Advisory

HearthStone Direction Assistance Structure

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. – 1 Corinthians 12:28

Assistance Foundation

Pursuing an assignment of “help” gifts is part assignment and acceptance. Many think this is some sort of subservient “handyman” position and nothing more than a practical helper and aid calling. What is distinct about this is the steady, servant – hearted arm of a church or ministry that turns compassion into action. True, helper-assistance roles exists to meet practical needs, strengthen operations, and ensure that every part of the body can function with grace and order. Rooted in the biblical call to serve, Helps Ministry mobilizes volunteers and teams to support worship, outreach, administration, hospitality, and care—quietly building the framework that allows ministry to flourish. It is not background work; it is foundational work—where faith becomes service, and service becomes strength for the whole community.

There are three words associate to the word “helps”. In the Old Testament, the word in Hebrew is “ezer.”

• Lexical sense: ʿēzer (עֵזֶר) is a masculine noun meaning help, aid, one-who-helps—not in the sense of an assistant, but of effective, often decisive support in a moment of real need.
• Verb root: It comes from ʿāzar—“to help, to come to the aid of.”
• Strength, not subservience: In the Hebrew Bible, ʿēzer is most often used of God as helper, which rules out any notion of inferiority. It signals strength supplied from outside, not a junior role.

Ezer is the “help” posture of There and Back Advisory— the Advisory not an assistant at your elbow, but a corresponding strength across the table, helping you see clearly, decide cleanly, and return whole.

In summary, There and Back Advisory embodies the ezer calling—providing relational, discerning, and stabilizing help that strengthens leaders and ministries from within. While the commercial arm of There and Back delivers ministry solutions and tools, Advisory offers the clarity, alignment, and covenantal guidance needed to use those solutions wisely. Through Directional Advisory, Foundational Systems Advisory, and the Resource Center, Advisory serves as a trusted companion, helping ministries see clearly, build wisely, and move forward with confidence.

Building

In the New Testament, the “help” ministry follows the Greek word “antilēmpsis”, yet this illustrates some thing that the Advisory understand -the concept of merging support, relief and aid with service and assistance functions. Often, there are gaps which need to be addressed as There and Back Advisory is committed to ministerial assistance. Beyond just the typical roles within a church, often assistance provides outreaches in the community for promoting needed services. Ministerial assistance is the gap for intercessory prayer and Watchman type roles. As the Advisory matures, there are a myriad of services needed

What this really means that ministerial assistance deals with three specific aspects from the Old Testament to the New Testament – from Hebrew to Greek translation. Yet somehow, the idea of “help” seems to be associated to degrading to many as they accept subservient actions or volunteering for tasks that just have to get done. However, there is another way to look at this assignment. To that an review of the three words have to evaluated.

• Ezer is the pattern – this is first identified in Genesis, as Eve is considered a “help-meet” (‘And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.’ Genesis 2:18). This establishes a theme of helping – a strength, and even the role of a rescuer. Though often leading to God, the presence of an ezer perspective supports the need for individuals assuming functions that assist. Some are elevated to other functions. Some fail and loose the ability to assist. Ezer deals with our identity in how we pursue the services we offer. LifeLong concentrates on the aspect that learning is continual, PathWay concentrated on the physical aspect of shelter and movement. HearthStone deals with ministerial, member, and partner assistance.
• Boēthos is the translation – between the change from Hebrew in the Old Testament and the Greek used in the New Testament, the new word – clearly translated is boēthos, This role relies on strength and urgency. In
• Antilēmpseis is the Spirit’s embodiment of that pattern in the church.

In the There and Back Initiative, the biblical Helper pattern forms the action of our covenantal architecture. The Hebrew ezer names God as our strong, rescuing Helper and yet as an active role, ezer establishes an identity to assist. The Greek boēthos reveals how God moves toward us—running to the cry for help—and shapes the outline of the Holy Spirit who is our comforter. This word, though concentrates on faithfulness, moral courage, and a readiness to remain true to the concept of the covenant. Yet is antilēmpseis embodies this same strength-bearing posture inside a community, standing in an agreement within a fellowship, forming the load‑bearing assistance roles typically identified with HearthStone. Together, these three terms become the idea of the term. The Father helps us – a comforter in our lives, we move toward Him and with Him, and an assignment becomes clearer – we help.

Supporting Role

Help models include asks and functions. Most churches and ministerial organizations recognize the need for volunteers and such a labor force comes from their own congregation. Formation is there, Typical assignments are greeters, guides or ushers, parking lot guides, etc. When small community based churches exist, even worship singers can be volunteers. Yet can these small groups really address audio/video needs, transportation, arrangement of guest speakers, networking with larger churches who can support these smaller groups. In many states in the US, there is a notion of “small towns” – smaller communities that are often subject to the whims of what they can support in their own community. They want to participate, they want to speak what they learn. They want fellowship. There is a desire to establish identity between these seekers of God and their own identity. If we were talking about in another continent, these would be mission outreaches.

Another aspect that help/assistance provides is a link to more corporate based initiatives and programs. This is another aspect of one of There and Back’s mission – answer the “Now what….”. Our commission is to spread the Gospel. Of course there is the concepts of evangelical initiatives and local meetings are important, but this is seed and to that foundation are the need to tend a new garden. Supporting roles need to answer to the cry for help, not to be an answer to every crisis, but to be someone who can coordinate and provide that network.

Assistance helpers can act as intercessory prayer groups and this leads to offering stabilizing prayers, “Watchmen” assignments, organizing circles of prayer, and communicating the effectiveness of efforts.

Tasks:

• Prepare spaces, materials, and logistics for events.
• Manage schedules/appointment, event communication, and follow-up.
• Ensure leaders are free from avoidable distractions.
• Maintain ministry readiness (rooms, supplies, tech, flow).
• Build and maintain systems (checklists, processes, follow-up).
• Track needs and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
• Support onboarding of volunteers and leaders.
• Maintain documentation, notes, and ministry records.

Help Program Summary

Help Programs train and deploy covenant-shaped helpers and they stabilize leaders, strengthen teams, respond to need, uphold organizational structures, and carry load-bearing responsibilities that allow the group to function with clarity, unity, and resilience. Their work is identity-rooted, movement-shaped, and Spirit-empowered, forming the quiet architecture that enable groups to flourish. The added part of this initiative is to establish turnover, though, as practical functionality should reside at the local level. HearthStone Advisors would provide just-in-time support and training. The actual goal is to be “blessed to be a blessing” – enabling all to participate.