The following four documents give further explanation on the beliefs, mission and structure of the Worldview Alliance.

Statement of Support

It is our pleasure to recommend a discipleship program that is much needed in the church today. The program has been developed by The Worldview Alliance ministry.

We believe the Alliance program is achievable, affordable and appropriate for strengthening the local church. Please give serious consideration to implementing this program in your church. It may prove to be the most important ministry decision you will ever make.

Yours truly,

Statement of Faith

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We Believe:

1. There is one God, self-existent, yet in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things in heaven and on earth.
2. The Word of God was the means, energy and design of bringing all creation into existence, in six natural days. This same Word of God is revealed completely in the Holy Scriptures and in the person of Jesus Christ.
3. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He laid aside His glory to be born of a Virgin, that he might give His life as the atonement for our sins; He was resurrected from the dead and is now at the right hand of the Father from whence He shall judge all men.
4. The Holy Spirit, as the third person of the Trinity, is now in the world bearing witness to Christ, regenerating sinners who will believe, and bringing them by His presence into fellowship with God the Father.
5. The Old and New Testaments, inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings, and providentially preserved, are of infallible and unequal authority for faith and practice and are the only written witness of God's supreme revelation in Jesus Christ.
6. Every person is born with a sinful nature which involves both physical death and spiritual death, making it impossible for any to attain right standing with God by merit of their own.
7. Salvation is offered to all men through the grace of God alone and provided by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It was validated by His bodily resurrection and is appropriated solely by faith. This is the birth of a new life, wrought by the Holy Spirit in the believing heart
8. The church is the body of Christ on earth, a redeemed fellowship of believers, crossing denominational, cultural, national and racial lines, it is God's institution for bringing redemption and sanctification to individuals, families and nations.
9. The Lordship of Christ should prevail in the life of every believer, with visible, consistent separation from sin unto holiness, an attitude of redemptive love toward all men and a daily walk with Christ, wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit.
10. With the visible return of Jesus Christ, there will be a bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, with everlasting blessedness for the righteous and eternal separation from God and eternal suffering for the unbelieving.

Plan of Formation

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National Council, Officers and Members

1. Commission a National Council (i.e., of "elders" in ecclesiastical terms) with confessional-based judicial legislative and executive authority. This commissioning could take the form of a public ceremony where those being commissioned come together with various church leaders who together do the commissioning and others who come as witnesses.
   1. The boundaries of this judicial and executive authority are defined by A Manifesto for the Christian Church, 42 Articles of the Essentials of a Christian Worldview, 25 Articles on the Kingdom of God, and The Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy.
      
      
   2. The members of this National Council in turn select a Council Chairman to serve a term of years (two? four?). There's no need for term limits.
      
      
   3. While the size of the National Council may start out with only two or three members, the upper limit to the size of the National Council should be no more than 12 members.
      
      
   4. Key functions of the National Council include:
      1. To maintain and guard the official membership list for the Worldview Alliance.
         
         
      2. To maintain and guard the confessional boundaries of the Worldview Alliance.
         
         
      3. To establish Area Councils and Chapters of the Worldview Alliance.
         
         
      4. To equip the officers and other leaders of the Worldview Alliance.
         
         
      5. To develop a national identity for the Worldview Alliance through such means as national conferences, web site, publications, newsletters, etc.
   
   
2. The National Council commissions (as needed) Officers of the Alliance (i.e., "deacons" in ecclesiastical terms) with confessional-based administrative authority. Some of these officers may have national responsibilities while the majority will serve as leaders of various Area Alliances. The boundaries of this administrative authority are defined by the same confessional standards as the National Council.
   
   
3. National Council and Officers commission members of the Alliance on a confessional basis.
   
   
   1. The confessional basis for membership in the Alliance is agreement with the Apostle's Creed, Nicene Creed and Chalcedon Creed.
      
      
   2. Members may be either 1) individuals or 2) collective groups such as churches and ministries.
      
      
   3. Members pay an annual membership fee. The fee for individuals should probably be less than the fee for churches and ministries.

Area Councils

1. Area Councils of the Worldview Alliance should be established in the most strategic cities of the U.S. These are geographically defined expressions of the Worldview Alliance in a particular city/area of the U.S.
   
   
2. Formation of Area Councils:
   1. Area Councils are composed of no more than 12 members of the Worldview Alliance.
      
      
   2. All members of the Worldview Alliance in the geographic jurisdiction of a particular Area Council are to elect members from among their own number to serve a term of a certain number of years (one? two? or more?).
      
      
   3. Those elected to serve on an Area Council in turn elect from among their number a person who will serve as the Council Chairman for a term of years (also to be determined). Only commissioned officers are eligible to serve as Chairman.
   
   
3. Purpose and Function of an Area Council
   1. To be the local expressions of the Worldview Alliances for a particular geographic area. The Area Council has authority to speak for the Worldview Alliance within its geographic jurisdiction.
      
      
   2. To catalyze the development of Chapters of the Worldview Alliance (discussed in more detail below) through various means such as:
      1. Worldview Alliance area conferences and seminars, presentations to churches and ministries
         
         
      2. Newsletters, web-based forums, etc.
         
         
      3. Hosting national Alliance events from time to time (i.e., conferences, etc.)
      
      
   3. Recruit and commission new members of the Alliance.
      
      
   4. To collect membership fees from members in its geographical jurisdiction.
      
      
   5. Hold monthly meetings of the council.
      
      
   6. To help churches and ministries sign such documents as "Resolution of Church Position" and other such resolutions that may be developed by the Worldview Alliance in general or by the members of the Area in particular (i.e., resolutions that addresses a specific local issues).
      
      
   7. To carry out the judicial and executive decisions of the National Council. Such directives should be made personally (i.e., by phone or visit) by a member of the National Council to the Chairman of the Area Council. Furthermore, such directives should also be communicated in the form of a written statement from the National Council.
      
      
   8. To file quarterly operational and financial reports with the National Council. Specifically such reports should include:
      1. Changes in the membership for the Area
         
         
      2. An accounting of income and expenses
         
         
      3. A tithe of 10% of the income (from membership fees etc.) collected in the area during the past quarter.

Chapters

1. Chapters of the Worldview Alliance may be either local geographic expressions (i.e., within an Area of the Alliance or agenda-specific expressions of the Alliance (e.g., a chapter for the Transformation of Education in Denver, CO, etc.)
   
   
2. Formation of Chapters
   1. Chapters may be composed of Worldview Alliance members from only one church or ministry or may be composed of Worldview Alliance members from various churches or ministries. Regardless, members of a chapter must be commissioned members of the Alliance.
      
      
   2. Chapters may have numerous members (i.e., people or organizations who as members of the Worldview Alliance have a specific affiliation within the Alliance with a particular chapter).
      
      
   3. Chapters have councils of not more than 12 members.
      
      
   4. Members of a chapter elect their council members and then in turn the council members elect their own chairman. Any member of the Worldview Alliance may serve as chairman of a chapter.
   
   
3. Function of Chapters
   1. Chapters are the "cell groups" of the Worldview Alliance. As such, they are the most local and specific expressions of the Worldview Alliance.
      
      
   2. Chapters may form in order to:
      1. Mobilize a particular church or ministry or whole groups of churches and ministries in an area to have worldview bible studies, etc.
         
         
      2. Champion the transformation of a particular sphere of society locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.
         
         
      3. Sponsor an event. Such chapters may exist only for the purpose of sponsoring a particular event (e.g., a conference, one-time seminar, etc.) and then disband afterward.

Other Considerations

1. For administrative reasons it may be necessary at some point in the future to create Regional Councils (i.e., Western Region, Central Regional, Eastern Region) to better serve and coordinate the activities of the various Area Councils. Until that time, the Area Councils can relate directly to the National Council.
   
   
2. No expression of the Worldview Alliance (National Council, Area Councils, Chapters) needs to incorporate (with the Secretary of State of any one of the states of the U.S.) nor subsequent to incorporation, apply for 501(c)3 status with the IRS in order to receive tax-deductible contributions. Because of the nature of our mission (to be a catalyst for cultural transformation) we should seriously weigh the pros and cons of this issue.
   
   
3. There is great wisdom in organizing the Alliance with Area Councils and Chapters that each are authorized to directly collect and administrate money. Each smaller jurisdictional expression of the Alliance should in turn tithe to the next jurisdictional level (i.e., Chapters should tithe to Area Councils and Area Councils should in turn tithe to the National Council). The amount to be tithed is based, of course, on "income" that comes from membership fees and donations as well as net income from other activities such as conferences, seminars, etc.

Structure and Organization of the Worldview Alliance

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Operating Within God's Limits Rather Than Man's

What is the Worldview Alliance?

The Worldview Alliance is not a para-church organization but an order of kingdom activists, ministries and congregations, commissioned by church leaders on a confessional basis, operating throughout the Body of Christ and the broader society as a catalyst for cultural transformation through church reformation.

What does this look like?

A long-term strategic goal is to see Alliance members - i.e., kingdom activists, ministries and congregations - serving as gatekeepers in every sphere of thought and life, advancing the kingdom of God in every geographical jurisdiction in our nation.

What does "every geographical jurisdiction" mean?

Alliance members are organized into various geographic expressions including local, area, regional, and national expressions.

What does "every sphere of thought and life" mean?

Within each geographic expression of the Alliance some members organize sphere specific Alliance initiatives for the transformation of family, church, civil government, law, economics, business and occupations, education, art and communication, medicine, psychology and counseling, science and technology, and so forth.

How do the geographic and sphere specific expressions of the Alliance interrelate?

The interrelationship of the geographic and sphere specific expressions of the Alliance may be pictured as follows, where boxes containing an "X" represent a particular expression of the Alliance with its own members, officers and council members.

	General Members	Sphere Specific Members
		Family	Church	State	Law	Economics	Education	...Etc.
Local	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Area	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Regional	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
National	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

Cultural transformation in the area of education, for example, requires a comprehensive approach involving local, area, regional and national initiatives. Thus a first expression of the Alliance formed in some particular part of our nation could begin as a local or even an area educational initiative. At the same time an existing national ministry already focused on transforming education could choose to become a (collective) "national" member of the Alliance and then help lead other Alliance members in a coordinated national education initiative. Examples like this could be multiplied indefinitely.

The numerous possible expressions of the Alliance allow members to create various initiatives in the areas of their calling and interest and then aim those efforts to impact any range of possible geographic jurisdictions.

What is the membership and leadership structure for each expression of the Alliance?

Each expression of the Alliance (like those indicated by an "X" in the chart above) may have members, officers and council members.

Who are members?

Alliance members may be individuals or collectives (e.g., ministries or congregations).

Individuals and collectives become members when, after approval by the appropriate Alliance council, they are publicly commissioned by church leaders on a confessional basis. The confessional boundaries within which all Alliance members operate is that form of the biblical worldview as expressed by the universally recognized historic creeds of the church, namely, the Apostles', Nicene, and Chalcedon creeds.

The public commissioning of a collective ministry or congregation as an Alliance member is done by commissioning one more representatives of that ministry or congregation. This does not automatically make every member of that ministry or congregation an individual member of the Alliance, but it does confer individual membership status to the representative(s) in addition to the collective membership status for the ministry or congregation they represent.

Who are officers?

Officers are Alliance members who, after approval by the appropriate Alliance council, are publicly commissioned by church leaders on a confessional basis to carry out the administrative functions of a particular expression of the Alliance, whether geographic or sphere specific. In ecclesiastical terms, Alliance officers are deacons. The confessional boundaries within which officers carry out their responsibilities is that form of the biblical worldview as expressed by the COR Foundational Documents which include the 42 Articles of the Essentials of a Christian World View, A Manifesto for the Christian Church, Articles of Affirmation and Denial on the Kingdom of God, and the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.

Who are council members?

Council members are those who, after approval by the appropriate Alliance council, are publicly commissioned by church leaders on a confessional basis to guard the Alliance's confessional boundaries for the particular expression of the Alliance and its membership they oversee, whether geographic or sphere specific. In ecclesiastical terms, Alliance council members are elders. The confessional boundaries within which council members carry out their responsibilities are the same as that for officers, the Foundational Documents.

How do members, officers and council members all work together?

In its fullest possible developed form every expression of the Alliance - both geographic and sphere specific Ð could have members, officers and council members. The organic development of most expressions of the Alliance will begin with members, some of whom over time may be also become commissioned as officers and/or council members. For expressions of the Alliance that do not yet have (or may never have) their own council members, eldership oversight is provided by the closest "immediate family member" in the Alliance.

A simple way to picture this, as applied to both geographic and sphere specific expressions of the Alliance, is as follows:

(geographic or sphere specific)	Members (individuals and collectives)	Officers ("Deacons")	Council Members ("Elders")
Local	X	X	X
Area	X	X	X
Regional	X	X	X
National	X	X	X

Confessional Basis of Membership		Foundational Documents (Manifesto, 42 Articles, 25 Articles on the Kingdom, Chicago Statement)
	Historic Creeds (Apostles', Nicene, Chalcedon)

Here each "X" represents individuals or collectives (who function via their representatives) in one of the three kinds of membership roles in the Alliance.

How do the roles of officers and council members differ?

By way of illustration, the roles of a board of directors and the roles of officers in a business corporation differ in important ways. The board is charged with the broader responsibilities of keeping the business on track with its mission and operating within its stated boundaries (as articulated by its "confessional" documents - i.e., its articles of incorporation and bylaws). The officers are charged with the daily administrative and operational responsibilities of carrying out the mission. This pattern of organization as found in businesses helps to illustrate the respective roles of council members (elders) in relationship to officers (deacons) in the Alliance.

Therefore it is not the role of council members to determine or impose their views on administrative and operational decisions of officers. Officers are delegated actual authority to make whatever choices and decisions are prudent to furthering the mission of the Alliance, but only within the confessional boundaries of their office (i.e., as defined by the Foundational Documents). Thus the main responsibility of council members is simply to be sure that all members, officers and other council members are 1) properly commissioned by church leaders on a confessional basis and 2) that they then fulfill their respective leadership responsibilities within those boundaries.

In short, council members are gatekeepers who guard the confessional and membership boundaries that define the Alliance while officers (along with all other members) are free to initiate, create, lead and multiply Alliance initiatives within those boundaries.

Do each of the various Alliance councils have a head leader?

Yes. The head of an Alliance council is selected by the members of that council to serve for a term of up to four years. There are no term limits.

More specifically, what is involved in commissioning members, officers, and/or council members?

If an expression of the Alliance is formed, say, in the Kansas City area, then the National Council would invite at least three (but probably more) church leaders from various congregations and ministries to participate in the commissioning service. At a time and place to be determined these church leaders would come together with at least one member of the National Council, those to be commissioned and others (i.e., witnesses) who may be invited. Potentially, at this one commissioning service, three kinds of members - new members, new officers and new council members - could all be commissioned. The service, depending on how it is ordered, could take an hour or more.

Why does the Alliance commission its members, officers, and council members this way?

Since the Alliance is not a para-church organization but an order of the church, its members and leaders should be commissioned in a public and covenantal fashion for the same reasons that a man and a woman covenant to become one in a public marriage ceremony and civil magistrates take a public oath of office at their inauguration.

Because of the nature of the Alliance's mission (i.e., to be a catalyst for cultural transformation) the Alliance must actually participate in the ongoing process of church reformation and not merely preach about it from the sidelines. For in the end, the best way for the church to transform culture is for the church to be the church.

How is the Alliance funded?

The Alliance seeks start up capital for new initiatives. But once started, each expression of the Alliance is to be self-governed and self-funding through membership fees, donations, income generated through conferences, sales of materials and products, and so forth.

Membership fees are collected directly by each expression of the Alliance from its immediate members. Thus the National Council, for example, does not directly collect membership fees from locally organized members. The fees of those members go directly to fund their locally organized Alliance initiatives.

Furthermore, each more specific expression of the Alliance gives 10% of its total net income to the next broader jurisdictional expression. For example, a local educational expression of the Alliance gives 10% to the next broader education jurisdiction in the Alliance. If no other educational expressions of the Alliance have yet been organized, then that 10% would go to the closest currently operating geographic expression of the Alliance.

Each national office for sphere specific expressions of the Alliance gives its 10% to the general (geographic) National Office.

The general principle is that the "tithe" funds within the Alliance flow from the more specific to the more general expressions of the Alliance.

What are the advantages of organizing the Alliance this way?

More than organizing the Alliance just to do something, the Alliance must first be organized to be something Ð something that models what it preaches. Therefore it is essential that the Alliance function neither as a top-down hierarchy where "higher" levels direct or control "lower" levels nor as a bottom-up hierarchy like an association where a majority vote of members, for example, directs or controls the organization. The Alliance is organized neither as monarchy of the few or a democracy of the many. Instead, the hierarchical relationships within the Alliance are federated (i.e., covenantal in nature) whereby each expression - both geographic and sphere-specific - is expected to be self-governing and self-financing, operating on a confessional basis with properly commissioned members, officers, and council members.

Thus one jurisdictional expression of the Alliance (e.g., the national) does not have authority to direct or control another expression of the Alliance (e.g., locally). Instead, each expression of the Alliance has full authority to act in the name of the Alliance within its specific jurisdiction as long as that authority is exercised by properly commissioned members within the bounds of the Alliance's confessional standards.

We regard this form of organization as necessary in order to truly live up to our rhetoric of being a catalyst for cultural transformation through church reformation. What we can do is limited by who we are.

Thus the Alliance is organized to operate within God's limits rather than man's desires.