Initial and Released Employees (MTD)

Initial MTD

Reliant staff that are deputized fundraisers on behalf of Reliant begin their employment with the status "initial" for purposes of Ministry Team Development (MTD). The job description for staff in the initial phase requires all paid hours to be dedicated to MTD. Employees in the initial phase will not be paid for ministry responsibilities. The employee may participate in functions for their own encouragement and refreshment on their own time.

It is Reliant's expectation that an employee in the initial phase is not responsible for any ministry duties and will not be allowed to participate in any mission trips during the first 6 months of initial MTD. Employees in the initial phase may request an exception to participate in a mission trip after the first 6 months. Exceptions will be granted on a case-by-case basis and will be based on MTD performance.

There are some cases when an exception is made to allow some active ministry work to be counted toward hours during initial MTD. This is generally for a pastor or leader of a Christian non-profit whose ministry has already started, and they need to maintain a minimal amount of upkeep to keep the ministry moving forward.

Accruing MTD

Some Reliant staff, after being deputized for fundraising, may choose to have a season devoted to MTD while they are not drawing salaries, but building up the account for which they are responsible. They are Associate Staff with Accruing MTD.  

Most international workers will choose this route since Reliant requires 3 months' worth of support in the account they are responsible for to be in that account before they move to their ministry location. Other U.S.-based staff may choose this as well to allow the account they are responsible for to grow before being hired.

Some employees may choose to go back to Accruing MTD after being paid for a while. An example would be workers who transition from state-side to international assignments.

Sustaining MTD

Once a staff member has reached 100% of their required MTD Goal, he or she is "Released to Assignment". A new job description should be submitted to their program team. In this status, an employee begins to be paid for ministry hours worked. It is Reliant's expectation that employees continue to maintain a healthy balance in the account for which they are responsible. (Typically, 5 - 10% of an employee's job will be devoted to Sustaining MTD.)  If their support level drops to an unhealthy level for an extended period of time, the employee may be returned to Initial or Active MTD status. This decision would be made together with the local supervisor and their program team.

Active MTD

In very exceptional cases, an MTD Coach, along with the program team leadership and the ministry supervisor, may allow a staff member to be active in ministry while still developing their Initial Ministry Team. This generally happens no sooner than one year after beginning MTD. It needs to be evident to ministry leadership that the staff member's support levels will be helped by active involvement.  There is always an end date and return to full-time MTD until the staff member reaches 100% of their MTD goal.