2026-04-10T11:11:02-07:00 2025-12-31 990 2025-01-01 833356410 SPARROW MINISTRIES INC SPAR 4109213955 1603 Front Avenue Lutherville MD 210935312 Virginia C Becker President 4109213955 2026-04-10 2025 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z Virginia C Becker 1603 Front Avenue Lutherville MD 210935312 183086 0 X sparrowministries.us X 2019 MD Sparrow Ministries Mission: To prepare couples to begin well and coach couples gently through the unfolding, ongoing adventure story of their marriage. Sparrow Ministries objective is to support engaged couples in preparation for a life spent together and support married couples through the life stages of their marriage. This will be accomplished by offering workshops for large groups, small group meetings of 5-6 couples over a short term of 4-8 weeks, coaching individual couples on an as needed basis, and training leaders in local churches via speaking engagements. 5 2 3 3 0 0 181550 164966 17803 18120 0 0 0 0 199353 183086 0 0 0 0 189156 192321 0 0 64571 56365 26459 245521 218780 -46168 -35694 154917 119223 0 0 154917 119223 Sparrow Ministries Mission: To prepare couples to begin well and coach couples gently through the unfolding, ongoing adventure story of their marriage. Sparrow Ministries objective is to support engaged couples in preparation for a life spent together and support married couples through the life stages of their marriage. This will be accomplished by offering workshops for large groups, small group meetings of 5-6 couples over a short term of 4-8 weeks, coaching individual couples on an as needed basis, and training leaders in local churches via speaking engagements. 0 0 3790 0 2294 Premarital preparation for engaged couples is provided by Sparrow Ministries through two interrelated offerings. These are a workshop and small group meetings. The first offering is A Marriage Worth Pursuing Workshop which takes place over two days for the purpose of foundation building using God's original design for marriage and covers several marriage-related topics such as communication, finances, in-law relationships, sex & sexuality, etc. In 2025, four workshops were scheduled, two were held and two were canceled. A total of five couples participated in the workshop that was held in January and four couples participated in the workshop held in June . It required 10 planning hours, 20 hours to prepare for the workshop, and 8.5 hours to implement the workshop. In addition to the workshop is Premarital-focused Small Groups which occur over a four week period following the workshop involving five to six couples and a trained couples coach where couples can explore and talk about their upcoming marriage in a safe small group environment. No premarital small groups were held in 2025. 4738 0 2199 Marriage enrichment for couples is where Sparrow Ministries offers a variety of events to keep marriages strong and growing, or to address issues that may be causing a rough patch in the marriage. These events and offerings can be in the form of a workshop or a marriage-focused small group that may meet for six to eight weeks. A two-day Thriving Marriage Workshop is planned around several topics to be covered: 1. spiritual, emotional, and sexual intimacy; 2. safety; characteristics of marriages that last, etc. through a balance of teaching, gender-based group discussion, and couple time. Other topically based workshops held for couples are Soul Care for Couples, Communicate to Connect, as well as Blended and Blessed. In addition to workshops, topically based marriage enrichment seminars in the form of small group meetings over several weeks are offered. In 2025 there were five Thriving Marriage workshops scheduled, one Soul Care for Couples workshop was scheduled, and two Communicate to Connect workshops were scheduled. Due to lack of participation, only three Thriving Marriage Workshops were held. Three couples attended in February, three couples attended in May, and 10 couples attended in October. The three workshops that were held required a total of 90 hours of planning and preparation time and 18 hours of implementation. 101580 0 13317 Sparrow Ministries also offers Coaching for couples who have attended either a premarital workshop or a marriage workshop. Coaching is also offered for couples and individuals who have immediate needs and who have not attended a workshop. After a premarital workshop, Premarital Coaching is couple to couple coaching to complement the workshop where couples are encouraged to process the information from the workshop and personalize the help and support they may need to take the next step toward marriage. After a marriage workshop, Marriage Coaching can help a couple better understand the workshop material relative to their personal story as well as work to resolve rough patches in their marriage. In addition to the coaching that results from a workshop, a couple may contact Sparrow Ministries to meet with a coach who can help them through and beyond the rough patches in marriage, when having another couple to talk to, share with, and pray with is really all you need. In 2025, there were 64 appointments for premarital coaching, where either one or both members of the couple attended. There were also 244 appointments for marriage coaching, where either one or both members of the married couple attended. Each appointment required 2 hours of planning and praying as well as 1.5 hours of actual coaching time. A total of 2,508.50 hours were required for these coaching appointments. 8749 0 310 Sparrow Ministries believes that healthy marriages and families are the heart and soul of every church and community. With this in mind, Sparrow Ministries will partner with local churches and organizations to better equip, support, and care for the marriages and families in their congregations. Erich and Virginia Becker of Sparrow Ministries make themselves available for Speaking Engagements at church conferences, retreats, and other church venues on topics related to marriage and family. Sparrow Ministries has its own packaged topics or can customize for the unique needs of the church. Sparrow Ministries also offers Coach Training, a program to train couples so that couples who attend Sparrow Ministry workshops can get follow-up and coaching at their home church. In 2025 Sparrow participated in two speaking engagements where 11 couples at one and 80 people at the other were involved and two small group speaking engagements that involved 13 couples in total. The two larger ones required a total of 55 hours of planning and preparation as well as a total of 8 hour for implementation. The two small groups required a total of 70 hours of planning and preparation as well as a total of 27 hours over and extended meeting time to implement. 8749 0 310 118857 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 MD X Virginia C Becker 4109213955 1603 Front Avenue Lutherville MD 210935312 Virginia C Becker Co-Executive Director 50 0 X X X 77000 0 14071 Erich Becker Co-Executive Director 50 0 X X X 77000 0 8879 Matthew Good Client Management 0.75 0 X 0 0 0 Samuel Erdman Financial Management 1.5 0 X 0 0 0 Melissa Court Chairperson 2 0 X 0 0 0 154000 0 22950 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 164966 0 164966 Premarital and Marriage Coaching 624190 13317 13317 0 0 Marriage Enrichment Events 624190 2199 2199 0 0 Premarital Preparation Workshops 624190 2294 2294 0 0 Speaking Engagements 624190 310 310 0 0 0 0 0 0 18120 0 0 0 0 0 0 183086 18120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 154000 91550 20839 41611 0 0 0 0 2145 0 2145 0 16000 9512 2165 4323 6949 4131 940 1878 13227 7863 1790 3574 1281 0 1281 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1045 0 1045 0 0 0 0 0 2706 699 1815 192 8656 0 1408 7248 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2686 1905 781 0 3101 422 0 2679 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 902 0 902 0 Donor Relations 3066 0 0 3066 Workshop Expenses 1165 1165 0 0 Federal and State Filing Fees 241 0 241 0 Coaching and Mentoring Expenses 1610 1610 0 0 218780 118857 35352 64571 154917 119223 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2907 2907 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 154917 119223 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0 0 0 154917 119223 154917 119223 154917 119223 -35694 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0 0 X 140314 126930 205366 181550 164966 819126 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 140314 126930 205366 181550 164966 819126 114241 704885 27083 0 0 0 0 27083 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 846209 178428 0.83299 0.96780 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2907 0 2907 0 0 0 0 0 0 Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 2 The president and vice-president are wife and husband, respectively. The treasurer is the son-in-law of the president and vice-president. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b An electronic pdf draft is generated by the Form 990 Online Software service. This pdf is then sent to each board member for review. Once the board members' questions are addressed, each board member sends an email authorization to the form preparer. Only and until an authorization email is received from each and all board members is the form submitted to the software service for efiling with the IRS. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c Each board member is required to read and sign the Conflict of Interest Policy at the beginning of each operating year. There is a place on this form to list any conflicts of interest. If any new members join the board during the year, they are required to read and sign the Conflict of Interest Policy. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 In 2022, an increase of Executive Director compensation was raised as an item for further research in the Board meeting held on 12-12-2021. Independent research was conducted on competitive salary and benefits packages for nonprofits of a similar size and age. During a Board meeting held on 1-10-2022 where the executive directors and the treasurer, who is a relative of the executive directors were not in attendance, a modest increase as granted. Rationale behind the decision included performance metrics (span and reach of services and increased donor support), compensation data, and cost of living data. Sources for comparability data were Blue Avacado, Comparably, Indeed, Maryland Nonprofits, and Sobel Co. No increases were granted in 2024 and 2025. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 18 Sparrow Ministries will make these documents available to the public upon request. The inquirer may view a paper copy of the requested documents during a scheduled appointment with one of the executive directors. In 2025 no one requested to view the governing documents, Board Policies, IRS Form 990 and Schedules, or financial statements. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 Sparrow Ministries will make these documents available to the public upon request. The inquirer may view a paper copy of the requested documents during a scheduled appointment with one of the executive directors. In 2025 no one requested to view the governing documents, Board Policies, IRS Form 990 and Schedules, or financial statements.