What is a DEVELOPING Church?
In the past few weeks we have mentioned that Crosspoint has now become an official "Developing Church" in the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Canada denomination. The least ideal time to explain this is during the Sunday announcements. But because this is a huge milestone for our church community, I want to take some time an unpack it for you.
What is a developing church?
In a nutshell, a developing church is an important step in the process towards becoming an organized church within the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Canada. Becoming an organized church takes a lot of time and a lot of work. An organized church has a fully developed elders board, membership, by-laws, policies, etc. We will get there in a few years, but we're not quite ready to take those steps yet. These will emerge naturally as we continue to develop our church's core DNA and culture, grow disciples, and discern God's unfolding will for us as a body.
That's why the developing church step is so important. It makes room for the church to grow naturally but within an environment of trust, nurture and accountability.
So what's the difference now?
This past year, on paper, we were very much like a ministry department of Beulah Alliance Church. While we were given a significant amount of trust and autonomy to create our own vision, culture and ministry philosophy, we were fully accountable to Beulah. Now that we are a developing church, our accountability has shifted over to the Western Canadian District of the C&MA. This will mean even greater autonomy for us.
We will continue to provide a monthly report to Beulah for the duration of their investment in Crosspoint (i.e. subsidy). I will continue to meet monthly with Keith Taylor, the senior pastor of Beulah, for nurture and accountability. We will also continue to have full financial accountability to their board until the end of this fiscal year. By July 1, 2012, we plan to have our own charitable status. Becoming a developing church has made this possible.
What about the Lead Team?
The Lead Team's role will change a bit. Last year our Lead Team functioned somewhat as a launch team. They acted in an advisory capacity to myself and Beulah and when it came to key ministry decisions, their voice mattered. They were also the careful and prayerful creators behind the new Ministry Scorecard for 2011-12 (more on that later) I prayerfully selected and appointed the first Lead Team members and they were then approved by Beulah. I know that might sound a bit strange, but back then we were just a bunch of people who were 'all in' and had no idea what we were getting ourselves into!
As a developing church, the Lead Team is now technically called the Advisory Committee. We're going to keep the Lead Team title for the sake of continuity. Besides...it's easier to say and sounds better. The Lead Team (aka Advisory Committee) is appointed by the District Superintendent under advisement from the Pastor (that's me). The officers of the Lead Team are also appointed in the same way. I will post more about the Lead Team in a separate blogpost. There have been a few changes in its composition since last spring and I want to keep you informed of those.
What about membership?
At this stage in our governance, the Advisory Committee will also act as the membership for Crosspoint. To get our charitable status, it is necessary that we do have a membership. In the future, we will be working with the district to develop our membership philosophy and structure. Please understand that developing a formal membership takes time, prayer, dialogue and careful discernment. A membership is more than just a group of people who vote on the budget. A church's membership should reflect a deep commitment to covenant community and a clear sense of that church's identity. This can only emerge naturally, over time. Further, if we were to divert all of our energy right now towards policy, bylaws, developing a membership, etc., then we would take vital energies away from outreach and ministry. Churches have stagnated and truncated their growth by moving too quickly towards membership.
What can we expect in the future?
Now that we are a more formal church, we want to do a better job of keeping you informed. To this end, we will first be letting you know about our major goals for the year - these are embodied in our Minsitry Scorecard for 2011-12. We should be posting that really soon! We will also be making available a general budget overview and quarterly financial reports. Finally, we are going to try and set up some annual or bi-annual meetings where you can come and discover more about where we're going as a church, ask questions and give us feedback.
