Church Membership
Guest Speaker: Mmuso Tsoametsi / 23 Feb 2020
When you make the important decision to become part of a local fellowship, you need to be sure to align yourself with the mission and vision of that ministry. Leaders have certain key responsibilities, but so do members. Summarised here are a few short notes on the expectations and duties of the members of Divine Restoration Ministries that can be adapted and applied to any fellowship structure.
Aligning Expectations
To be functional members of a church, we need to discuss and have a common understanding of:
- What it means to be part of the vision
- What are the responsibilities in the mission?
- How do we sustain the vision and mission of the church?
The Difference between Leadership and Management
- The manager administers, the leader innovates
- The manager copies, the leader is original
- The manager maintains, the leader develops.
- The manager relies on control, the leader inspires trust
- The manager has a short-term vision, the leader has a long-term perspective
- The manager accepts the status quo, the leader challenges it
- The manager does things right, the leader does the right things
VISION
Leaders provide a vision!
Divine Restoration Ministries' vision is to establish Christ-centred and Holy Spirit empowered multi-cultural model churches for all nations and be a centre for people’s restoration, healing, and development.
The key here is to have a genuine relationship with the King.
Managment and Systems
The church requires competent administration to deal with:
- Overall leadership and direction of operations
- All functional areas to deal with the mission
- Regular feed back (communication) between leadership and membership
- Ensure the effective performance of church activities, and in a cost effective manner.
Program management involves...
- Overseeing revenue-producing activities
- Participating in budgetary activities
- Authorising and monitoring expenditure
- Overseeing vendors
Personnel management involves...
- Mentoring and coaching staff to strengthen their skills
- Overseeing development of employee performance plan
- Working with departments heads to enhance productivity
- Developing and reviewing policies
MISSION
Divine Restoration Ministries affirms that God is revealed in Jesus Christ and that we are united and restored with Him in God’s Spirit, therefore, we declare our mission is:
- To strengthen our relationship with God
- To establish a diversified and vibrant church community
- To revive, transform and restore nations through the power of the Holy Spirit
- To firmly establish community leadership in the Word through training, development, and the release of missionaries
- To ensure effective communication and information distribution
Remember that Jesus came to proclaim the kingdom of God on earth.
The Role of the Members
Focus areas:
- strengthening our relationship with Jesus
- establishing a diversified and vibrant church
- reviving, transforming and restoring nations
- community leadership grounded firmly in the Word
- training and development
- effective communication and information distribution
The Duties of Our Leaders
- Love and affection for their work
- Constant, punctual attendance
- Provision for their comfort
- Cooperation and partnership
- Earnest and constant prayer
- Constant interest in their success
Our Duties towards each Other
- Reciprocate love
- Reciprocate watchfulness
- Reciprocate helpfulness
Our Duties towards the Corporate Body
- Special interest in activities and programmes of the church
- Volunteering your time and resources
- Promoting unity and friendship
- Regular attendance
- Being a marker of/pioneer for the vision
Duties towards Other Christians
- Be ever ready to co-operate with other Christians
- Avoid envy and jealousy
Acknowledge and understand that we all belong to the Church of Christ.
Duties to the World
- Spread the word
- Win the lost
- Respect authority and pray for government
- Uphold the constitution and laws
KINGDOM MENTALITY
- Jesus to the blind man, “ See, now go to work.”
- Peter to the beggar, “ Get up and get to work.”
Matthew 28:18-20
- All authority in heaven and on earth is with Jesus,
- We are to go and make disciples of all nations
- We are to baptise them, and
- We are to teach them
Jesus is with us until the very end of the age.
Our Resources
If we appreciate the vision, mission, and responsibilities of the church, and we are ready to align with all of these aspects personally, then we need to adress the following questions together:
- How do we see these endeavours achieved?
- What are the costs, and where should we get funding?
- What should our individual and corporate contributions be?
- What targets do we set for ourselves for 2020?
FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD!