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Standards for Membership

Minimum requirements for all programs joining ESLIM

  • Adequate training and support of volunteers
  • At least 3 people who participate in leadership of the program
  • Use of high quality ESL curriculum
  • Programs offered in at least three levels — beginner, intermediate, and advanced
  • Reasonable class size and adequate room space for classes
  • A commitment to allow students of all religions and faiths to attend classes
  • Student fees within the broad parameters of what ESLIM encourages (ideally $40 or less per semester)
  • Willingness to communicate key semester data in a timely fashion (upcoming program dates, number of students and volunteers each semester)
  • Willingness to have a member on the ESLIM Board of Directors and regularly attend meetings

Churches with existing programs

Churches with ongoing programs are encouraged to join ESLIM. A committee from ESLIM will meet with the program leaders to review their programs and to answer any questions the church might have about ESLIM membership.

Churches that want help in starting a program and joining ESLIM

In general, when a church approaches us for assistance with starting a new ESL program, we follow several steps.

  • First, we strongly encourage interested churches to read our ESL from A to Z Manual, which is a valuable resource on starting a faith-based ESL program — and on the challenges it will face.
  • Second, an essential step is for the church to find out who within the congregation is interested and where the pastor stands on the idea.  We encourage the church to survey their congregation to see how many people are interested in such a ministry. As a general rule, programs should only be started when three people in the church agree to take leadership; experience has shown that starting an ESL ministry with fewer than three leaders often results in burn-out and program collapse.
  • Third, once the church identifies a larger group of interested volunteers, we will offer them the opportunity to volunteer in an existing ESLIM program near them for a semester.

We hope you will join us!