Advisory Team

Member of the Advisory Team:

1. An Advisory team shall consist of Seven (7) representatives from all age group of this Congregation;

2. Shall be appointed by the Congregation Elders;

3. The Term of service of each team member shall be three (3) years from the date of appointment. Members shall be eligible for one time reappointment;

4. The Advisory team shall elect its leaders (chairperson, vice chair and Secretary) every three years upon being convened by the President of the Congregation;

5. Shall clearly dedicate her/his service and life for the growth of the congregation;

6. Shall have a deep understanding of the Holy Scripture and live accordingly, and be spiritually matured in understanding the sole purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ; 

7. Shall fix her/his focus on the entire services of this Congregation without concentrating on individual level service and dedicate oneself as a partaker on the bigger call of this Congregation;

8. Shall be able to discern the work of the Holy Spirit from fleshly will and needs,  in order to safeguard the service of this Congregation;

9. The Advisory Team shall meet every three months. If there is a need, meetings shall be called by the chair of the team or the congregation elder may call for a special meeting of the advisory team, and

10. When necessary the Team shall confer with the congregation elders and provide pieces of advice or recommendations to them.

Purposes and Duties of the Team:

1. The advisory team is answerable to the congregation elders; 

2. Shall operate within the authority delegated to it by Congregation Elders;

3. Shall function in an advisory capacity to the Congregation Elders;

4. Shall advise and consult congregation elders and pastoral office on congregation services based on the mission, vision and statement of purpose of this Congregation;

5. Shall work on planning long term directives within the framework of the mission, vision and statement of purpose of this Congregation and recommend the same to the elders;

6. Shall work with congregation elders on coaching and safeguarding the unity and wellbeing of this Congregation;

7. Shall harmonize the unity of this Congregation and work with congregation elders on containment of misunderstandings both internally among members and externally with partners and community at whole; 

8. The Team shall dedicate its time on counseling members for sake of the individuals’ welfare and personal spiritual growth;

9. Shall serve as a Reconciliation Team when necessary to assist in resolving conflict within the congregation as provided in Section 31 (3) of this By-Laws to maintain the unity of this Congregation, and

10. The Constitution committee shall conduct a workshop for the new appointees on the interpretations and its implementation of this section of the By-laws before the individuals start services in the team.

Reference: Disciplining process as detailed in the By-law

Prior to disciplinary action, counseling will be attempted following Matthew 18:15-17, proceeding through these successive steps:

1. Persons who have a grievance with any other person in this Congregation shall make a genuine attempt privately and try to resolve the conflict between them (Matthew 18:15);

2. If the disagreement or the case not resolved, the first step shall be private counsel and/or admonition by the pastor;

3. If the above action(3.b) cannot resolve the conflict/case,  the elders may refer the case to the Advisory Team;

4. The Advisory Team shall appoint two or three individuals from its members to work with the pastor to look into the matter which includes counseling and advising the concerned individuals (Matthew 18:16);

5. In case the issue is still not resolved, the Pastor and the three members of Advisory Team shall report their findings to Advisory Team for discussion. Finally the Advisory Team shall send a detailed report to the congregation Elders;

6. The congregation elders shall try further counseling and if the conflict cannot be resolved, the persons involved will be admonished in the presence of the Church Elders and the pastor;

7. In the case stated under (6) above, the member shall receive a written notice, specifying the exact charges that have been made against the member, at least ten days prior to the meeting. (Matthew 18:17);

8. If the conflict continues to persist, the congregation elders shall then have their option:

8.1 Allow prayer time with the pastor;

8.2 Censure before the congregation elders or the Congregation; 

8.3 Suspension from membership for a definite period of time, or

8.4 Exclusion from membership in this Congregation. Disciplinary actions (8)(8.3) and (8)(8.4) shall be delivered to the member in writing.

9. Disciplinary actions may be reconsidered and revoked by the Congregation Elders consulting the teams involved in the process. The reconsideration shall be completed after consulting with the teams involved in the prior process of the discipline process.