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THE BRADENTON HERALD

The Source stresses biblical principles in life and business

By JESSICA KLIPA
jklipa@bradenton.com

A successful businessman for more than 20 years in

“We had never pictured ourselves as having a church,” Joanne said, who left her career to home school the couple’s four children. “Our whole passion was to just help people. We saw people floundering around when common sense would make such a huge difference.”

Aside from services on Sunday morning and Wednesday night, the Hoehnes have begun The Roundtable, a monthly forum to help people with business decisions.

The Roundtable is set up in a format that allows men and women in business to discuss and even debate the answers to questions. Questions range from how to resolve cash flow problems, save money and advertise, to how to decide whether to go into business.

“What it does is it forces people to think. They have to stop and think, ‘Do I really want to get into business?’” Ralph Hoehne said.

The free monthly session not only allows new or prospective business owners to tap into information, but it gives them a chance to get mentoring from veteran business owners. The next session is Feb. 3.

Especially in tough economic times, the Hoehnes are finding that people are looking for a way out of their financial troubles.

“Sometimes, it’s just a matter of taking a step back and getting a perspective on things,” he said. “Sometimes, when people are in the middle of a crisis in their lives they don’t know how to get out of it.”

The Hoehnes, who have been mentoring and counseling people for the past 15 years, have more recently led 12-week sessions, called Victorious Living, at various churches since moving to the area five years ago. Ralph says that finding relief from financial woes may not happen overnight. But with good decision-making families can get out of debt.

Author of “Anointed to Prosper: Keys to Breaking the Power of Debt”, he outlines biblical-based ways to succeed in the financial realm. They include living with integrity, saying what you’re going to do and doing what you say, and doing everything to the best of your ability.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel. We’re taking a step back and talking through the decisions they make in their lives before they make them,” he said.

Financial stress tends to add pressure on couples who are now struggling. Many times, couples aren’t having serious issues but have grown apart because of the stress.

The Hoehnes should know. Early on in their marriage, they were struggling with finances and their relationship. Wishing somebody would have handed him a manual on marriage, Ralph, who was already successful at a real estate businesses in Canada, set out to find a way to make it work.

Counseling he received about romancing his wife, keeping a weekly date night and taking an annual vacation, are some of the tips he gives to men in counseling sessions.

“Marriage takes work. It doesn’t end. You can’t say, ‘I’ll figure it out now, and I’m good to go,’” he said.

In the midst of it all, they turned to their faith for a plan for marriage and finances, including tithing 10 percent of their income and being good stewards of their money.

“We started to say let’s look at what God has to say. This is not enough to look at our common sense,” Joanne said.

“God’s got great plans for all of us. So often we want to do it in our own way. We can only see a small portion of our own lives. God sees the whole the picture.”

In the past few years before the economy took a turn for the worst, they decided to hold off on business ventures and are glad they did, Joanne said.

“So often we make him the last resort instead of the first resort,” she said. “So we make it our goal to go to him as a first resort. That’s been the key to our success.”

Jessica Klipa, Herald reporter, can be reached at 708-7906.

© 2009 Bradenton.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

THE HERALD TRIBUNE

A calling led to The Source

Ralph and Joanne Hoehne of Bradenton began The Source Ministries a year ago.

Ralph and Joanne Hoehne approached beginning a church with trepidation, wary that their success in the business world would not translate to the spiritual.

But the Bradentoncouple began The Source Ministries and is focused on the nondenominational effort to marry Biblical principles with vocational processes.

After two-plus decades of making millions in the real estate market around Manitoba, Canada, the Hoehnes said they have found their calling.

"We're very practical, nontheological-thinking people," said Ralph, who was raised a Baptist for 21 years. "We really were not wanting to be running or leading a church or being ministers. That wasn't on our agenda ever."

Joanne, a former model who loves to sing and was raised in Canada's Assemblies of God faith, agreed.

"We were both kicking and screaming," she said with a laugh. "We were both so ingrained in the business community. We love serving in churches, but we never imagined it's where we would go."

Despite the initial wariness, a year ago, the Hoehnes started their church that now operates out of an industrial building off 63rd Avenue East. The congregation previously met at the Hoehnes' home, a rented assisted-living facility and then at Ellenton Ice & Sports Complex.

Regular Sunday services are conducted. Afterward, lunch is often served and inline skating, skateboarding and the use of billiards and air hockey tables are encouraged. About 150 people, many of whom wear blue jeans and T-shirts, attend, up from 20 when the church began.

"It's not your typical church environment and often people hang out and visit and make friendships," Joanne said. "It's better to do what God wants us to do than to keep our own agenda."

At The Source, that includes a Sunday night youth group as well as monthly forums called The Roundtable during which business people informally discuss Christian approaches to hiring, firing and operating prosperous ventures. The first such gathering in late November and drew 16 people. The next is slated for Jan. 5.

"We have people who have run large businesses and been very successful and others who have worked for many large companies and are retired now and they're just a wealth of information," Ralph, 42, said. "The hope is relationships develop and there's some kind of mentoring. It's not just networking, it's where you can answer some questions for me: How do I handle this? I have no budget, how do I increase my sales?"

The unconventional nature of the ministry is mirrored by how the Hoehnes were drawn to it. They had attended The River, a model revival

A pastor from

"We knew something was up, but we didn't want to do it, it wasn't part of the

After the shaking he and his wife felt subsided and the service ended, they spoke to the pastor who urged them to go home and pray. Ralph said he also received a sign telling him to pursue the ministry while leaving his

"I remember sitting in my office last October and thinking, 'We don't have any chairs, we don't have any tables or a budget,'" he said. "I was heading up north on Tamiami Trail by the airport and the old bowling alley and a guy was pulling out stacks of chairs and spray painting 'free' on them."

Hoehne wound up with 300 chairs, 25 tables and four color TV sets and knew it was meant to be.

The church began to grow, including early members like Monica and Rick Thomas. They drive from

While Rick volunteers with the youth group, Monica handles public relations for the couple and exults in the church's atmosphere.

"Everyone that has come to The Source feels comfortable, no one feels like they're out of place," she said. "That's what's different -- it seems like whatever your gifting is, you find your place at The Source."

Thomas said she is among those who sense the local effort could grow into something much bigger. A Web site, tapintothesource.com, is busy and all sermons are put on podcasts. There's a sense that other communities may follow its lead, she said.

"What I love about their vision is their business background," she said. "We both see their vision and we definitely believe it will go a lot further than the local region."

As the Hoehnes continue to lead services in the informal warehouse setting, they sense something similar.

"It was never on the radar screen as part of our lives, but we have seen so many people's lives touched and changed through our obedience in doing this," Ralph said. "We're expecting this to grow into the thousands and then get this running and if someone wants to do this in their community, we want to be able to provide resources to do that."

Joanne, who one recent day was helping deliver Thanksgiving turkeys to needy through the YMCA, shares that goal. She home schools the couple's four boys, ages 8 through 16, and remains excited about The Source's potential. A year of successful ministering has her more focused.

"Now we've had an amazing year and we can't imagine ourselves anywhere else," she said. "It's not about growing a single church. We just want to be a tool. If we can help other churches or ministries, we want to."

Media Inquiries, please contact Monica Thomas at (941) 592-4760 or Monica@MYOBRadio.com