Partnership vs Membership

Why Partnership?
The Bible uses the image of the body to talk about the church (1 Cor 12). We want the body to work well together, and this happens best when all members work, serve and witness with each other.

Wantirna Christian Community Church is an incorporated body. We are legally required to have a membership base. While everyone who comes is as important as any other, a membership base is needed for us to do what needs to be done.

• We want our church to be a vibrant body of believers who interact in the church at various levels of partnership. Partnership describes a working relationship in the church whereas membership can merely be a passive belonging.
• Becoming a partner is a statement of commitment — You are here for the long haul, supporting the ministry and direction of Wantirna Christian Community Church. Having committed partners working together is part of having a stronger, healthier church.
• Our Church has various categories of partnership which develop over time as people grow in their faith to increasing levels of commitment to God and their Church. This journey begins with the new believer who has just come to know Jesus and continues through to a long term mature Christian involved in Church leadership.
• Mature partners take responsibility for the important issues in the Church such as electing new leaders, voting on important questions that affect the long term development of the church, matters of stewardship and finance, expansion of facilities, etc.



Voting

Voting is an important privilege and responsibility that affects the whole community, and is therefore not available to everyone. Voting is available to those that have fulfilled the following:

• You must be a Ministry Partner in WCCC.
• You have made a public statement of faith in this or another Christian church.
• You are in broad agreement with the direction and ethos of WCCC (see the earlier sections of this booklet)
• You have a desire to contribute to the ministry and mission of the church by way of giving, serving with your gifts, protecting the church’s unity and being active in witness.
• You have signed the Partnership Covenant.

Being a Ministry Partner with WCCC also means that you are part of the family of Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, with a specific commitment to this local church — WCCC.
It is our strong desire that everyone at WCCC becomes a Ministry Partner and embraces the vision of this Church.

What are these categories of partnership?

Partnership categories are ways to reflect a person’s relationship to Christ and his church in Wantirna. They show how the nature of an individual’s relationship also corresponds to certain roles and privileges within the church. Their aim is to provide a guide for people who may wish to become part of Wantirna and to clarify our structure of membership and leadership.

The general principle behind categories is the Biblical principle of ‘proveness’ in which the church observes a person’s confession, character, commitment and skills. For exam- ple, baptism and confessing Christ are powerful indicators of faith. In Acts 6:3 the church was instructed to “choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” Also in 1 Tim.3:6 Paul makes it clear that leaders were not to be in the category of recent converts. The first three partnership categories act as a pathway to help people become fully integrated into the life of Christ and his church.

An associate partner is someone who is connected to Wantirna as a new convert, a regular visitor or a baptised person, but who has not yet publicly confessed Christ. Such a person will be encouraged to full faith and profession of Christ. In the mean time, while they may be invited to help in ministry in Wantirna they will not be invited to take significant leadership, nor will they be able to vote on church matters or attend Lord’s supper until they pub- licly confess Christ. Through public confession (either in Wantirna or another church) an associate partner becomes a confessing partner.

A confessing partner is someone who has made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ either in Wantirna or in another Christian church. Such a person will be invited to attend Lord’s supper and may serve in ministries in more significant ways. Yet they may not lead a ministry nor be invited to vote in matters pertaining to the running of Wantirna until they agree to Wantirna’s Partnership covenant and become a ministry partner.

A ministry partner is someone who wants to be fully committed to Wantirna as their local church. They show this by agreeing (as a rule by signing) Wantirna’s ministry covenant. A ministry partner will be invited to vote on church matters but will not yet be invited to take key leadership until they agree to the Reformed dis- tinctives. Our hope is that every person in Wantirna will become a ministry partner.

The following two categories administer leadership in Wantirna.

A leaders partner is a ministry partner who has a proven spiritual life and leader- ship abilities, and who is familiar with and has accepted the Reformed Distinc- tives. Such a person can take key leadership positions in ministry. They may also become a member of church council when they are nominated andvoted in by the congregation and have signed the form of subscription.

A church council partner is a leader partner who demonstrates a consistent Spirit filled life, leadership heart and ability. A church council partner signs the form of Subscription in which he/she promises to submit to and uphold the requirements of the Reformed Churches of Australia.