Church governance International Churches of Christ

1 church governance

1.1 1 church
1.2 ministry training academy
1.3 hope worldwide
1.4 icoc , mainstream churches of christ relations

church governance

the 2000-member church in jakarta, indonesia



the church in singapore, numbers on 1000 congregants

the international churches of christ family of 650 churches in 155 nations around world. 650 churches form 30 regional families of churches oversee mission work in respective geographic areas of influence. each regional family of churches sends evangelists, elders , teachers annual leadership conference, delegates meet pray, plan , co-operate world evangelism. mike taliaferro, san antonio texas, says co-operation plan far better way of co-ordinating , unifying church family of size , global nature of icoc. no longer can 1 man make sweeping decisions affect churches, considering many of churches may never have visited. building unity , consensus through prayer , discussion takes time worth it. spiritual fruit of delegates conference in budapest testimony success of less authoritarian approach had in past. service teams provide global leadership , oversight. service teams consists of elders, evangelists, teachers, youth & family, campus, singles, communications & administration, , hopeww & benevolence teams.

one church

the icoc holds bible teaches existence of single universal church. 1 implication of doctrine that, while christians may separate different, disunified churches (as opposed geographically separated congregations), not biblically right so, , such separations not take place between groups of christians obedient bible. while no 1 claims know part of universal church , not, icoc believes follows plan of salvation laid out in scriptures added god 1 universal church .

this consistent historical roots in churches of christ, believe christ established 1 church, , use of denominational creeds serves foster division among christians. belief dates beginning of restoration movement; thomas campbell expressed ideal of unity in declaration , address: church of jesus christ on earth essentially, intentionally, , constitutionally one.

ministry training academy

the current education , ministerial training program in icoc ministry training academy (mta). mta consists of twelve core courses divided 3 areas of study: biblical knowledge, spiritual development, , ministry leadership. each course requires @ least 12 hours of classroom study in addition course work. mta student completes twelve core classes receives certificate of completion.

hope worldwide

the icoc directly administers or partners on dozen organizations. function appendages of church; others entirely unrelated in mission , activities. of these, largest , well-known hope worldwide, charitable foundation started benevolent arm of icoc, serves primary beneficiary of church s charitable donations poor. begun in 1991 3 projects in 3 countries , budget of $600,000, of 2012, hopeww has grown operate in 80 countries, serving 2,500,000 needy people each year, annual budget of $40,000,000.

in africa, projects serve 148,000 orphans in 8 different countries.
in north america, there 120 different chapters of hopeww, mobilised 1300 volunteers serve victims of hurricane sandy.
in central america, 53,000 paediatric exams , 58,000 adult medical exams have been conducted 23,000 prescription written.
in cambodia, hopeww runs , staffs 2 free hospitals.
in bolivia, hospital arco iris provides $1.4 million in free medical care.

according charity navigator, america s largest independent charity evaluator, have assigned hope worldwide:

an accountability & transparency rating of 100 out of 100.
a financial rating of 75.1 out of 100.
an overall rating of 3 out of 4 stars, overall score of 82.39 out of 100.


icoc , mainstream churches of christ relations

with resignation of mckean, efforts being made @ reconciliation between international churches of christ , mainstream churches of christ. in march 2004, abilene christian university held faithful conversations dialog between members of churches of christ , international churches of christ. involved able apologize , initiate environment conducive building bridges. few leaders of churches of christ apologized use of word cult in reference international churches of christ. international churches of christ leaders apologized alienating churches of christ , implying not christians. despite improvements in relations, there still fundamental differences within fellowship. 2005 saw second set of dialogues greater promise both sides helping 1 another. harding university contemplating distance learning program geared toward ministers trained in international churches of christ. video chronicling first forty years of icoc details these developments.