The design of church migrant ministries remains suppressed by the limitation of churches that include limited resources and ability to conceptualise ministerial designs. The situation is compounded by compassion global fatigue. Thus, as a holistic ministry, approach, the application and practice of a migrant ministry remain a conceptual challenge despite the Christian position that integrating word and deed is the most appropriate Christian ministry approach. To contribute towards conceptualising the design of a holistic ministry by using migrant practical ministry, this article proposes a public, practical theology and operative ecclesiological model. The proposed model or approach is called a public operative ecclesiological model (POEM), which entails churches understanding their public practical theological position and responsive role within their communities and social settings.Contribution The model advocates and leverages church resources to respond to people’s needs by ensuring that a church practically contributes to public issues such as migration.