Guidelines for Churches

Finance — General

“If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” Luke 16:10-12.

Annual Accounts

• Annual Income and Expenditure Statement and Balance Sheet should be made available to church members.
• Annual accounts should be made available to church members.
• Annual accounts should be user-friendly.
• Annual Income and Expenditure Statement and Balance Sheet should be submitted to the regional leadership team.

Finance — Missions

Each member church is encouraged to budget for a part of all income to be invested in mission beyond its own church life. This can be used at the discretion of each church or channelled through the regional leadership team toward mission initiatives within or out of that region.

Appointments

Senior Ministers

• It is recommended that the senior minister should not resign from his church to take up another appointment or retire until a successor has been appointed, thus allowing for a smooth transition. Again, it is recommended that the members of the regional leadership team be consulted for advice.
• The successor should be a credentialed Life Church International minister, someone who has the capacity and vision to take the church forward. A healthy, reproducing church should be growing a successor from within its members to take up the leadership of the church.
• A church receiving a senior minister from outside of its own members should enquire if a successor has been appointed at his previous church before appointing him.

A Life Church should not leave the Life Church International family without the approval of at least an 80% majority of church members. The church leadership should allow discussion between the regional leadership team and the church to establish that the proposal to leave is accepted by the church members.

Assistant Pastors

It is recommended that in appointing pastors, the regional leadership be consulted for their input. This will give a more objective assessment.

Local Churches

• Local churches should be in submission to those they have released to father them. Likewise, Life Church International pastors should be submitted to those they have recognized and released to be their regional leadership.
• Ministry that functions in the local church must support the lead pastors (cf. Aaron and Hur supporting the hands of Moses Exodus 17:12) and also complement the lead pastors (cf. Paul “I planted and Apollos watered” 1 Corinthians 3:6).

Life Church International churches normally hold property locally, not centrally. Appropriate measures should be taken so that property is secured safely for the purpose of the church and its activities, and in such a way that those responsible for managing the property cannot use their position to unduly influence church policy and direction.

Those appointed to this position of trust should be in senior leadership. It is suggested that they be the senior minister, leaders and other suitable church members.

Protocol for a Church or Ministry Leaving Life Church International

Life Church International is a family of churches, not just an association of leaders, and as such, the following is the correct procedure for exiting from Life Church International.

A church that joins Life Church International has every right to withdraw from Life Church International at the instigation of the senior pastor, as long as that pastor is the founding pastor or the pastor who made the decision to bring the church into Life Church International. To withdraw from Life Church International the following should be undertaken:

• There must be consultation between the local leadership of Life Church International and the church leadership so that the reasons for withdrawing are clearly understood.
• If there are issues that need to be dealt with, time should be given so that either the church could reverse its decision and remain with Life Church International or the church could leave with the full blessing of Life Church International.

A church that is planted as a Life Church International church cannot be withdrawn by the leadership team of the church. To withdraw from Life Church International the following must be undertaken:

• There must be consultation between the local leadership of Life Church International and the church leadership so that the reasons for withdrawing are clearly understood.
• If there are issues that need to be dealt with, time should be given so that either the church could reverse its decision and remain with Life Church International or the church could leave with the full blessing of Life Church International.
• There must be an 80% majority decision by the members of the church before the church is removed from Life Church International.
• A church that joins Life Church International and has had a change of leadership from the joining pastor cannot automatically remove itself from Life Church International. It will be considered equal to a Life Church International plant. Therefore, it must follow the conditions of withdrawal as set for planted churches.