Our Alignment with Charis Churches and the Charis Fellowship
Assist Church Expansion exists to serve the Charis Fellowship and our member local churches. Our one hope is to see our Fellowship be an expanding movement. To that end we support, encourage and assist in church planting, church revitalization, church restarts, and the adoption of new churches into our Fellowship.
All Assist CX staff have strong commitment to and agreement with the Global Charis Alliance statements, specifically the Charis Commitment to Common Identity (CCCI) and Charis Commitment to Common Mission (CCCM) along with the regional Position Statements. Since God wants each church pastor and leader to be “fully convinced in his own mind” (Romans 14:5), it is natural that the Charis Fellowship includes churches with variety in theology and practice. The Board of Assist Church Expansion has made a clear decision to work in harmony with each church in its particular teachings and practices, so long as those are in the broader umbrella of the CCCI and CCCM. Further, all staff are required to submit to and work within the constraints of the teachings and practices of the churches they are serving.
In our efforts in Church Planting and Church Adoption, we seek to have our leaders and their emerging churches be aligned with the CCCI and CCCM and committed to becoming a member church of the Charis Fellowship. We work hard to make sure the leaders that we recruit align with our Fellowship – its teachings and practices – and also seek to have these leaders align with any sponsoring church(es) helping with the church plant or adoption. Further, it is our expectation and mutual agreement that the planters/pastors pursue ordination in our Fellowship if they have not already done so.
In our efforts in Church Revitalization and Church Restarts, it is the Assist CX board mandate for our ministry to only partner with churches that agree with the CCCI and CCCM, and who are, in fact, Fellowship member churches or churches planning to become member churches.
In Church Revitalization and Church Restarts, it is often necessary to help the local church find a new pastor. Sometimes a pastor cannot be found from within the Fellowship, so pastors from outside the Fellowship are considered. When this happens, it is the Assist CX board policy only to consider men who have explored the history and doctrines of the Charis Fellowship, who agree with the CCCI and CCCM, and who are compatible with the theological positions of the church they might serve (where those positions are more specific than the general Fellowship positions).
Since there is a real concern that a pastor coming from outside our Fellowship will not fully integrate into the Fellowship (and there is always the possibility that any current Fellowship pastor might change his views and seek to lead his church out of the Fellowship). We seek to minimize these by 1) introducing any potential pastor to other pastor(s) in the district, 2) get them started on the path to ordination, and 3) urge the church to include Fellowship participation in the pastor’s job description and in the church’s budget, specifically, attending district pastors’ meetings, attending FOCUS Retreat, and attending national conference.
We seek the unity and continued fruitfulness and expansion of our Fellowship. We seek harmony as we work among the local churches, districts, and organizations of our Fellowship. We welcome input from and accountability to the Fellowship Council in all our affairs. It is our privilege to serve and we hope these policies and practices of Assist CX will allow us to be helpful in any part of our Fellowship that wishes to expand through church planting, church revitalization, church restarts, and the adoption of new churches into our Fellowship.
— Approved by the Assist CX Board of Directors on November 9, 2023 —
