Revival Ministries Australia

By-Laws of Revival Ministries Australia

REVIVAL MINISTRIES AUSTRALIA LTD

BY-LAWS AS AT – OCTOBER 14^th2009

PREAMBLE:

The establishment of these by-laws will address and cover issues pertaining to the internal management and operation of Revival Ministries Australia [RMA] which now is outworked through SHILOH Apostolic Company, and the setting in place of policies and procedures regarding the apostolic company and its mission, ordination and affiliate fellowships and ministries.

The Board of Directors may from time to time make, amend or repeal by-laws not inconsistent with the constitutional document, and any By-law may be set aside by a general meeting of the company.

INDEX

What we believe – our Statement of Faith
The Establishment of Fellowships and Outreaches
Steps of Ministry in obeying the Great Commission and establishing NT churches
Guidelines for becoming a member of SHILOH Apostolic Company
Guidelines for the conduct of members
Oversight and Covering of the Apostolic Company
Guidelines for Ordination/Commissioning
Guidelines for the Affiliation of Fellowships and Ministries
Apostolic Council
A Fellowship for Ministers
Policy for relationship with Overseas Ministries and Churches

WHAT WE BELIEVE – OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH:

The Authority of Scripture

We accept the Bible as the full revelation of Jesus Christ and seek to approve all things according to the Word of God. We are committed to believing God to fulfil every promise contained in Scripture. (2 Timothy 3:16)

The Lordship of Jesus Christ

We discover our relationship with God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ only and seek to serve Jesus as Lord through the whole of our lives. (Acts 2:36, Phil.2:9-11)

The Power of the Holy Spirit

We seek the empowering of the Holy Spirit as essential enablement for ministry that bears witness to Jesus. We seek to develop in the operation of all the gifts and graces of the Spirit given by God as supernatural equipment for the on-going ministry of Jesus through us.

(Acts 1:8, 1 Cor.12:7-11, 2 Cor.3:2-6)

The Command of Jesus to Make Disciples

We are committed to fulfil the great commission given by Jesus to the church, to preach the gospel to every person, seeking to draw them to become His disciples. Once a person has been baptized, they are to be taught the word until they are able to teach others. This is the way of discipleship. (Matthew 28:18-20, Heb.5:12-6:3, 2Tim.2:2)

The Uniqueness of the Apostolic Ministry

We value the ministries of the apostolic church as seen in the book of Acts, and seek the restoration of the five (5) fold ministry gifts. We desire to see the Body of Christ equipped to exercise these ministries through the power of the Holy Spirit until the church comes to maturity. Specifically, the church has been given “grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name” Rom.1:5. (Eph. 2:20, 3:5, 4:11-13)

The Unity of the Spirit and Unity of the Faith

As part of the Body of Christ we seek the unity of the Spirit with every believer, and unity of the faith with all churches that confess faith in Jesus Christ. We desire to co-operate with the churches in our region, throughout Australia and overseas in order to proclaim the gospel to

every person. (John 17:21, Eph. 4:3 and 13)

The Centrality of Worship

We value worship, as we seek to respond to God’s desire for a people who worship Him in spirit and in truth. “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” Phil.3:3. (John 4:23-24)

The Pursuit of Holiness

We are committed to becoming like Jesus. This is only possible through the revelation of the mystery of God’s glory in the saints, with is “Christ in you the hope of glory” Col.1:27. We desire that our personal lives and our relationships generally will reflect more and more of His character. (1 Peter 1:15-16, Rom.8:29-30, 2 Pet.1:4)

Concern for All People

We are committed to ensuring that the teaching of Scripture is available to all people regardless of status and circumstances – to fulfil the command of Christ to “preach the gospel to all creation” including those special people in God’s sight whom the Bible refers to as “the poor”, also includes the widow and the orphan. (Mark 16:15, Matthew 11:5, Ja.1:27)

Marriage and Family

We recognise marriage and the family as the fundamental basis for society. We are committed to faithfulness in marriage and biblical training of children in the family. (Heb.13:4, Eph.6:4)

THE ESTABLISHMENT of CHURCHES and OUTREACHES:

Revival Ministries Australia and our church body are fully constituted in Australia.

Paul Galligan has marriage celebrant status as a minister of SHILOH Christian Fellowship.

1-0 The Board of Revival Ministries Australia Ltd has appointed Paul Galligan, an apostle, to be the overseeing minister of Revival Ministries Australia which includes SHILOH Christian Fellowship.

Revival Ministries Australia, SHILOH Christian Fellowship and associated fellowships and house churches function together as SHILOH Apostolic Company.

An eldership has emerged in SHILOH Apostolic Company and we are learning how to function as a team and how to receive the various gifts that Christ has deposited in the elders/leadership team.

A number of other ministers have been ordained and have joined the ministry team, working in the local churches [meeting in houses] and church plants. The apostolic ministry to the nation is largely through ministry into house churches but also to interested ministers and brethren functioning in local churches. Teams go out from SHILOH in Toowoomba to minister in house churches and fellowship meetings on a regular basis.

The apostolic ministry goes forth to the nations through teams going on mission regularly, through ongoing communications and the supply of teaching materials.

1.01 The Apostolic ministry will from time to time establish churches and outreaches, or oversee the establishment of churches, as part of its mandate to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout Australia and the world.

This has taken place in two different ways: firstly, a Pastor to plant the church in a new place under the oversight of the apostolic ministry; secondly, saints begin to meet together in a home under the oversight of the apostolic ministry. In the case of saints forming the church, it is the responsibility of the apostolic ministry to appoint an elder for that church in due time.

1.02 SHILOH Apostolic Company while based in Toowoomba includes members across Australia who are meeting in house churches and fellowships, and others who are more isolated but who receive apostolic teams from SHILOH and host meetings in their local area.

1.03 In the local area of Toowoomba there are functioning house churches who meet on Sundays and at other times. There are functioning elders who oversee and shepherd the flock of God under the oversight of the apostolic ministry.

1.04 Community weekends: once a month the house churches come together for training, for celebration, and for the experience of being part of a larger functioning Christian community that has a common vision to reach out within Australia and overseas. There are special ministries on the Friday night, training sessions on the Saturday and a double church service on Sunday morning, culminating in a fellowship meal.

1.05 Through the functioning of the house churches and the availability of ongoing training through the apostolic centre [Thursday Bible School, monthly training days, six monthly training schools – three weeks duration], new ministries emerge. Saints begin to do the work of the ministry and their particular gifting and grace comes forth. Sometimes this leads a person into part-time and then into full-time ministry work.

STEPS of MINISTRY in OBEYING THE GREAT COMMISSION and ESTABLISHING NEW TESTAMENT CHURCHES:

1. Prayer: Two or three or more gathering together; this is the place to begin. Prayer must be entered into consistently until the Lord returns;

Hebrews 11:6 promises rewards for those who diligently seek the Lord.

Matthew 18:18-20 when we agree together concerning the will of the Lord, that is, to preach the gospel to the people that live around us, the Father will act on our behalf.

So what are we agreeing to do?

i. to obey Jesus’ command to share the gospel;

ii. to ask God for souls;

iii. to pray for them by name as God gives the contacts.

iv. to pray for the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers

2. Evangelism: the action that comes out of prayer; the Lord will direct! It is His work! In many cases you will actually be planting a church.

Out of the prayer, God will lead you to invite people to a meal or to coffee or to a home meeting, or there maybe a chance meeting at the shopping centre, or a God ordained conversation with your neighbour. The goal is to share Christ with them. If we are faithful in prayer then this strategy will not fail. God will give “divine appointments” that are exciting, meaningful and fruitful. It is time to witness! The people of this nation are being prepared by God. It is time to win souls! God has released the resources to train the saints in soul winning.

3. Nurture: prepare for growth, have follow up courses ready to function; the ‘Foundations of our Faith’ manual and other basic teaching manuals are available and very useful. The key to taking new Christians on in the Lord is to be functioning as a New Testament church, doing the “first works”, abiding in “first love”, enjoying the presence and power of the risen Lord in the midst, (Rev. 2:4-5) as illustrated in Acts 2:42-47. Foundations are taught and healing and restoration is ministered in nurture groups and individually.

4. Discipling: a specific discipline to lead people to be disciples of the Word; “teach them to do all that I have taught you!” (Matt. 28:20) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16). Small discipleship classes based on personal accountability to read, memorise and study God’s word, to witness, to pray for the lost; teaching and training through a Thursday morning class; monthly training days and schools. The goal is: each person becomes a disciple of the Word.

5. Training and Equipping: fulfilling the role of the ministry by bringing all the new members into effective ministry (Eph.4:12). This includes experience on ministry teams both within Australia and overseas. The emphasis is “on the job” training. Various seminars and courses are available – ministries have been raised up to meet this need. Short-term training schools are also available.

6. Church Planting: sending out the trained and equipped; we are not here to grow churches but to plant new ones as a result of preaching the gospel to the lost. This may mean doing some outreach, coordinating a prayer fellowship that will lead into winning the lost, hosting meetings where the lost and the broken are gathered in and ministered to.

7. Emergence of New Ministries:

Recognising and releasing the new ministries that the Lord is raising up. As the church functions in New Testament ministries, abiding in first love and doing the first works, the Lord will add to such a church those who are being saved. Every saint, new and old will naturally and supernaturally in the Lord grow and function. Some will emerge as ascension gift ministers (Ephesians 4:11); others in various other gifts and ministries.

Guidelines to become a member of SHILOH Apostolic Company:

Scripturally there is no particular form of church membership as such. In 1 Cor.12:12-30 Paul is discussing the church which is the body of Christ. We become a member of that body through baptism by one Spirit (v.13) and it is God who in His good pleasure sets each one of us in the body as a member (v.18). For administrative purposes the following guidelines are given.

2-0 Every person seeking to become a member of SHILOH apostolic company.

i. shall have been saved according to the Scriptures: “He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16)

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

ii. accepts that the vision of SHILOH Apostolic Company is based on a full acceptance of the Bible as the Word of God.

iii. needs to understand that SHILOH Apostolic Company is adapting to the unfolding reality of the apostolic church in the Scriptures and the outworking of that reality in our generation.

iv. accepts the Statement of Faith.

v. demonstrates a desire to live a lifestyle that is consistent with Biblical Christian conduct and doctrine as recorded in the New Testament,

Guidelines for the conduct of members:

3-01 Membership is voluntary, and functions because of the receiving of the servant leadership that God has ordained in SHILOH Apostolic Company, whether it be in the local house church or in the apostolic ministry. Submission is taught in three aspects: submission to God, submission to elders, and submission to one another in the body of Christ.

3-02 A member is free to withdraw at any time according to their own wishes. There is no control exercised over the decisions of members

3-03 If a member’s conduct is not consistent with the Biblical pattern then that person will be addressed and appealed to according to the Biblical pattern. If there is a continuing unwillingness to change, then the person may be placed under some discipline and if in the longer term the person refuses to change they may be asked to leave, Matt.18:15-17.

3-04 The ministry team of SHILOH Apostolic Company and its mission are dependent upon the financial support of members and other supporters. We teach and practise tithing and the giving of offerings according to the Word of God. All tithing and giving is voluntary, is never forced and commands the blessings and protection promised in Mal.3:10-12

3-05 When a person joins SHILOH Apostolic Company they will be given the opportunity to be discipled. If they are a new believer introductory manuals will be used in the context of individual and small group teaching. If they already have some knowledge of the word their discipleship will be completed.

Oversight and Covering of the Apostolic Company

The nature of an apostolic company is as follows: the Lord has raised up the apostolic company, restoring the apostolic ministry and gathering around the apostolic leadership ministers and saints who are becoming of one heart and mind to serve the purposes of God together in this day.

4-0 The Lord Jesus Christ is the only head of the church and He provides a full covering of His anointing by the Spirit and the authority of His word. No man is ever accredited with headship of the church in the Scripture. Therefore the covering does not come through a man but comes directly from the Lord when the church is set in apostolic order.

4-01 The Lord is gathering a growing number of other apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, helpers and administrators, gifted saints, disciples and new believers into the company.

4-02 Every leadership ministry including apostles are accountable to each other in an eldership that is submitted to the word of God, recognizing that everyone of us needs teaching, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim.3:16). If any leader is unwilling to participate in this mutual submission to the word of God then their place in the leadership will be in question.

4-03 The leadership ministries that the Lord has given, specifically apostles, prophets and teachers (1 Cor.12:28) but often including pastors and evangelists who are functioning as elders, will exercise oversight according to the appointment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28)

As a result SHILOH Apostolic Company is being set in Biblical order and all the ministries are beginning to operate fully and fruitfully.

Guidelines for Ordination:

Ordination is the authorisation of a person to minister.

5-0 Ordination takes place:

i. where a person demonstrates gifts and abilities that effect worthwhile ministry

ii. as the public acknowledgement of ministry already being exercised

iii. where the person acknowledges the clear calling of God on their lives to be His minister

iv. where the person’s lifestyle does not disqualify them from being ordained as a minister.

5-01 The ministry to which we ordain people is the five-fold ministry gift of Ephesians 4:7-12. While the title “Pastor” is given to all church ministers in certain church circles, we prefer to ordain people to the ministry and thus they are not limited in any way as to the exercise of the five-fold gift.

5-02 Those persons seeking ordination should have completed basic training.

i. We understand this to be an apprenticeship style of training based on the biblical model. The person is first of all a disciple or trainee who attaches himself/herself to an ordained minister and accompanies that person into situations where teaching, preaching and ministry take place. The trainee learns through observation, instruction and practice.

ii. The trainee is expected to complete at least one short-term ministry training school and various other courses and seminars.

iii. The candidate for ordination will be able to teach the various seminars from the teaching manuals.

5-03 Commissioning:

i A person is commissioned to exercise ministry and/or to take a leadership role by the laying on of hands of the eldership. Such a person is then able to function within SHILOH Apostolic Company or other related church bodies in a designated ministry, or is able to be sent out into the community to function in a designated ministry role. Examples of community ministry include: hospital visitation, both medical and mental health hospitals, work in outreach ministries of a gospel or a social help nature, serve in care houses, to teach religious education in schools; there are many other areas of ministry that trainees can be commissioned to.

ii Prior to ordination there is often the commissioning of a person to begin to exercise ministry and/or to take a leadership role. This commissioning is a setting apart on the basis of the recognition of gifting and will often be a step towards ordination, but should not be confused with ordination.

5-04 The Scriptural context of ordination is 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6, Acts 6:3-6, Acts 13:2-3. Exodus 28:41: Moses was instructed to put the priestly clothes on Aaron and his sons, and then God said “You shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests” (NASB).

An understanding of this verse: God anoints (2 Corinthians 1:21)

The eldership ordains (1 Timothy 4:14)

The person being ordained has consecrated their life to God.

The word ‘ordain’ is a combination of two Hebrew words literally meaning to “fill the hand”. Ordination then is the releasing of gifts and ministry.

Guidelines for the Affiliation of Fellowships and Ministries:

These guidelines apply to functioning fellowships or ministries who wish to become part of the Apostolic Company by affiliating with Revival Ministries Australia Ltd.

Note that some fellowships and ministries are part of the Apostolic Company through relationship only as they already have their own official registration or are members of a registered body.

6-0 Agree with the Statement of Faith and guidelines for church and ministry function as broadly set down in the By-laws of Revival Ministries Australia Ltd.

6-1 Accept the apostolic ministry and spiritual authority of the apostolic ministry leadership of the company; it is a submitted servant leadership, not organised in the traditional church way and not hierarchical, but received as servants of the LORD. Scripturally, ministers only have authority as they are received by the faith of God’s people.

6-2 Desire to work together in the reaching of this nation and the effective outreach to other nations by sharing personnel, resources, finances etc., not on a pre-determined basis but as the Holy Spirit directs from time to time.

6-3 Affiliated fellowships and ministries govern their own finances.

By becoming affiliated with Revival Ministries Australia Ltd, the affiliated fellowship or ministry has a legal and constitutional base through the registered constitution of RMA. The affiliated entity will be recognized officially under these By-laws of Revival Ministries Australia Ltd. A letter of affiliation will be issued.

APOSTOLIC COUNCIL

The apostolic council is not a standing body, but comes together whenever necessary to deal with issues and problems facing the church, or comes together further fellowship, co-operation and build relationship with other leaders of the church of the region, the State or the Nation.

Purpose of the council: to provide oversight and leadership for ministers, ministries and fellowships who want to be part of the apostolic church as patterned in the Scripture and that is emerging everywhere today.

The council is a place where senior leaders can relate as peers and submit in a mutual relationship and be accountable for their doctrine and practice.

Membership of the council: will include leaders of various apostolic companies and leaders of apostolic and prophetic bodies. Members of the council will be in full agreement with and part of the apostolic and prophetic restoration that Christ is bringing to pass in His church. Each member of the council will accept and honour the ministry calling and appointment upon the other members of the council; each member will accept the oversight of the council and be willing to submit and be accountable to other members in issues of faith and practice.

The formation of this council is not the beginning of a new movement or denomination or network, but a realistic outworking of Scriptural practice.

A Fellowship for Ministers: if you are a pastor or a minister moving towards the apostolic/prophetic restoration of the church and you desire to be in fellowship with other ministers and with apostles and prophets, then please make yourself known. There are regular conferences, seminars and schools held in Australia; as well there are gatherings for ministers and leaders to come together in apostolic company for times of refreshing and encouragement.

POLICY FOR RELATIONSHIP WITH OVERSEAS MINISTRIES AND CHURCHES:

The apostolic ministry leadership of SHILOH apostolic company has made meaningful links with ministry leaders in a number of nations. There has been considerable discussion in the past as to how to adequately and best facilitate the ongoing relationship, as more and more ministries and churches are asking to be involved in the apostolic movement. Some of these ministry leaders are responsible for hundreds of churches. In most cases these ministries and churches have registration with the Authorities in their own nations.

It is our policy at this time to not formally affiliate with any church or ministry overseas or to establish official offices or representatives of RMA. However we are willing to help overseas ministries gain their registration in their own nation. It is acceptable for ministries in other nations to be “associated” with RMA.

SHILOH apostolic schools are opening in nations in many places and some of these schools use the name ‘Shiloh’. We have commissioned some of these schools. They are autonomous, self-functioning schools, using the name and using RMA curriculum materials. This is an association, not affiliation, as SHILOH apostolic company and SHILOH apostolic training schools are not official names but a form of ministry and a company of related brethren in the apostolic.

It is our policy to relate openly in the Lord to all to whom the Lord joins us, and to provide for them materials and resources as we are able and to visit their nation to conduct seminars, conferences and training schools for the instruction of them and all interested leaders in the apostolic doctrine and practice. This is only possible as the Lord leads and enables. Regular communication is entered into via email, SMS and phone calls. The publication of a monthly newsletter is a major communication link and teaching tool.

It is our intention to facilitate the formation of Apostolic Councils [after the Acts 15 model] in nations as apostolic leaders emerge, coming out of denominational and other institutional systems, and needing a place of oversight, accountability and submission.