Why?
CAP has always been passionate about equipping God’s Church to help those in financial distress, and CAP Money has been a core part of this.
But, over the past few years, CAP has heard from CAP Money Coaches and church partners about the limitations of CAP Money in serving people in their communities.
Alongside CAP Money churches, we’ve identified missed opportunities and discovered solutions to problems. CAP has also engaged with experts in the financial capability sector and pastors to consider the changing landscape of ministry.
The result has been the creation, pilot and launch of Money Mentoring, a service model designed specifically for an Australian context and better aligned to CAP’s mission:
To inspire and equip a movement of churches in Australia to walk alongside those in financial distress while sharing the love of Jesus.
Want to learn more about Money Mentoring and how it could look in your church’s context?
Grab your free info pack below.
Darren Chapman, Money Mentor
“CAP Money was a great resource that truly helped a lot of people understand money and budgeting better – but it was limited in its timeframe and scope.
“Money Mentoring allows a timeframe that suits the person and their needs, broadens the scope to include other complexities, and allows the service delivery to be far more personal.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Key Changes
The main difference is that Money Mentoring takes a more relational and flexible approach to helping people learn how to manage their money and gives people additional skills and resources to assist those experiencing financial distress if needed.
CAP believes Money Mentoring better equips churches to walk alongside people in financial distress and have important conversations about money.
Yes.
While Money Mentoring is more focused on one-on-one relationships, CAP understands that group workshops can be a great entry point for someone coming into a church for the first time. Group workshops can also be an effective way to serve the community, helping people learn financial capability skills to prevent people from getting into trouble financially.
CAP has designed a suite of resources for Money Mentors to use in group settings and will continue developing resources for specific group contexts such as youth groups.
CAP Money Coaches will recognise a lot of the exercises in the Money Mentoring resources – building a budget, balancing a budget, cut costs, cut back, cut out, saving money, setting up a system and more.
Money Mentoring has been built with a biblical foundation to help people explore their own money story, values and priorities in a unique way. There are also more resources than before, covering a wider range of financial topics, including more information on credit products, superannuation, and getting out of debt.
Talking money with people is complex and every person is at a different stage in their journey. With more resources covering different topics, Money Mentors have the flexibility to pick and choose appropriate resources for participants they meet with, rather than being restricted by a set program.
We are also committed to regularly updating and creating new resources to best serve the Money Mentor community, so the current library of content will continue to grow.
From 1 October 2024, the Budget Builder will no longer be available.
This tool has been developed and maintained by CAP UK, and the code used for the tool will no longer be supported beyond October.
To replace the Budget Builder, we have developed a new budgeting tool. You can access this for free by clicking here.
From 1 October 2024, the CAP Money website will no longer be available.
This tool has been developed and maintained by CAP UK and will no longer be supported beyond October. This includes the budget builder, the resource library, and the ability to log courses.
The resources will be available up until that point, and you can download resources for future use.
We know this is a big change, but through Money Mentoring, we have created a larger library of resources, built in far more flexibility, and support. If you want to find out more about Money Mentoring, click here.
You are welcome to continue using CAP Money printed resources until they have run out.
Please note the online resources that are mentioned in the workbooks won’t be active from October 2024 so you may want to consider this is using workbooks past this date.
CAP won’t be printing any further CAP Money workbooks, and we have a limited supply left, so we would encourage you to use Money Mentoring resources instead.
If you want to find out more about Money Mentoring, click here.
Money Mentoring
Money Mentor Training is all online and features a blend of self-paced learning and live group learning via Zoom. Training cohorts begin on the first Monday of each month and run over a three-week period.
Trainees will engage with the following core competencies during Money Mentor Training:
- financial capability skills
- active listening and coaching skills
- sharing the gospel in an ethical manner
- triage and referrals.
Money Mentor Training is not a financial education course, it is focused on a relational approach to supporting people in addressing issues related to financial distress.
Churches who partner with CAP can nominate staff or particular members of their church to train and become Money Mentors.
Depending on your church’s size and context, you can decide how many Money Mentors to train. However, more people are always able to be trained as needed.
After the three weeks of online training, a Money Mentor will receive scheduled 1-on-1 check-ins with their CAP trainer. These serve to support the Money Mentor in implementing the training within their context.
Beyond this, Money Mentors will continue to receive support through ongoing training opportunities and the Money Mentor Community of Practice – a collaborative space where Money Mentors from across the country can connect and learn from one another.
Partnering with CAP
Partnership with CAP is a commitment to working towards a shared vision:
In Australia, no one will face financial distress alone.
Working towards this vision involves joining the mission – to inspire and equip a movement of churches in Australia to walk alongside those in financial distress while sharing the love of Jesus.
Partnership with CAP is for Church leaders to equip and strengthen their congregations to walk alongside people in financial distress in their communities while sharing the love of Jesus. It is also to connect them with each other, building more unity and collaboration in God’s Church.
If you would like to learn more about what partnering with CAP could look like in the context of your church, click here to download your info pack.
Financially partnering with CAP helps to:
- increase the awareness of issues facing people in financial distress and inspire Christians in Australia to be part of the solution
- build partnerships with local churches to inspire and equip them to walk alongside those in financial distress, while sharing the love of Jesus
- equip church-based staff and volunteers to confidently and competently walk alongside people in financial distress as Financial Capability Workers, or Money Mentors.