FAQ - Financial Questions

Q. What are the costs for implementing the Senior Ministry Inventory for Older Adults?

The only cost for a congregation is to pay shipping (both directions) for the inventories. This nominal cost ranges but averages about $30 for most congregations. We ship all inventories in plastic returnable containers with complete return shipping instructions. If a congregation looses the shipping container they will be charged a $35 replacement cost. Church Resources is not responsible for lost or damaged reports due to shipping or improper storage/handling.

In order to keep up with demand for upgraded reports Church Resources, effective January 2004, has had to raise our price from $10 to $12 per report. The envelope that has instructions for completing the Senior Ministry Inventory is printed with the price of $10, this will be changed when we reprint. We continue our committment to offer grants to individuals who legitimately cannot afford the $12 processing fee.

Q. Are older adults and seniors reluctant to pay $12 to take the Inventory?

Generally not. Any reluctance to pay $12 is usually removed when an individual understands the difference between a basic survey, designed to discover personal likes or dislikes, and a comprehensive inventory designed as a diagnostic tool. Church Resources provides educational materials for congregations to use in their newsletters and bulletin inserts that explain the comprehensive and diagnostic nature of the Inventory. It is important that congregations use these materials to lay the necessary foundation to alleviate financial concerns.

Diagnostic inventories almost always require a processing fee. Pastors and lay counselors often use these diagnostic tools (e.g. Prepare/Enrich—a marriage compatibility inventory; Meyers-Briggs—a Personality Type inventory; Taylor-Johnson—a Temperament Analysis; etc.). These helpful tools are used by secular and Christian counselors to inform and direct their counseling ministry.

Each of these inventories require a materials and processing fee. For example, Prepare/Enrich is used by many pastors when they counsel couples who want to get married. The Prepare/Enrich program is part of the curriculum of some seminaries. Each person who completes a Prepare/Enrich marriage inventory pays a processing fee of $35. This processing fee is paid to Life Innovations who funded the development of the inventory, scores the data and makes reports available to the pastor and/or counselor. For purposes of comparison, the Prepare/Enrich inventory is 165 questions and the processing fee is $35. The Senior Ministry Inventory is 174 questions and the processing fee is $12 (approximately 1/3 the cost).