The mission of Christ Community Church is to join God in what He is doing to see His Kingdom come fully to Lake Charles and beyond. To this end, 1) We share God’s love, proclaim His message of forgiveness, and work with Him to transform people who are disconnected from Him into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. 2) We glorify God through our life together as a worshiping, praying, ministering community. 3) We work with God to reestablish His reign in the human structures of our city and nation.

The mission of Christ Community Church is to join God in what He is doing to see His Kingdom come fully to Lake Charles and beyond. To this end, 1) We share God’s love, proclaim His message of forgiveness, and work with Him to transform people who are disconnected from Him into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. 2) We glorify God through our life together as a worshiping, praying, ministering community. 3) We work with God to reestablish His reign in the human structures of our city and nation.

Jesus came to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God repre­sents the re-establishment of God’s rule in the lives of individuals and in groups of people. The very fabric of society is effected when people begin to live under the rule of God rather than under the rule of Satan. As these persons who acknowledge God’s rule come togeth­er, the resulting group is known as the church. Collectively, the church represents the Body of Christ. As such, the church continues the ministry of Jesus to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit on behalf of the world. The purpose of the church can be divided into four major areas of focus: Exaltation, Edification, Evangelism, and Extension.

Exaltation: The Church Exists for God’s Sake
The purpose of the church begins by focusing upon God. Becoming a Christian means acknowledging God’s rule. We are redeemed by Jesus’ death and sacrifice. The enthroned Christ is the head of the church and our model for ministry. Jesus’ ministry was not pri­marily a ministry to the world, but rather a ministry to the Father on behalf of the world. We seek to follow the will of the Father as revealed in Scripture and in the life of the church to bring glory to God. We do so in the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power with which Jesus ministered. God is our primary focus, and exaltation (worship and celebra­tion) is an essential part of the church’s purpose.

Edification: The Church Exists to Create Mature Disciples
One of the primary purposes of the church is the life-transformation of its members. This requires a strong program of Bible teaching, discipleship, and personal evangelism. Believ­ers are to be committed to one another. The Body of Christ is thus composed of interdepen­dent members, each having received from the Holy Spirit gifts which are to be exercised for the upbuilding of the whole body and for the bearing of one another’s spiritual and temporal burdens. We thus desire to encourage in one another the development and use of each other’s abilities, knowing that "the whole body, as a harmonious structure knit togeth­er by that which every joint supplies, grows by the proper functioning of individual parts to its full maturity in love.” As believers grow in maturity, the Kingdom of God is expanded internally (qualitative growth).

Evangelism: The Church Exists to Reach Unbelievers
The Bible teaches that we live either under the dominion of God or under the dominion of Satan. Jesus commissioned his church to share as widely and as effectively as possible the Good News of God’s forgiveness in Christ. God equips and calls believers into a variety of vocations and ministries so that we may serve as a witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God offers his love to all without distinction, and he is concerned that all persons achieve their full potential in Christ. The proclamation of the gospel should be accompanied by genuine love and concern for all, and for the whole person. God’s Kingdom is expand­ed as unbelievers seek God’s forgiveness for their sins and as they acknowledge God’s rule over their lives. As this happens, they are released from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (quantitative growth).

Extension: The Church Exists to Re-Establish God’s Reign in Human Structures
God originally delegated dominion of the earth to human beings. At Adam’s sin, this do­minion passed to Satan whom Jesus called "the ruler of this world.” Human structures are now regarded as "fallen.” Extension of the Kingdom of God requires re-establishing God’s rule over these structures. Therefore, the purpose of the church includes a ministry of com­passion and of prophetic protest against evil. The church can never settle for its own com­fort in a world racked by problems such as moral decay, political corruption and oppres­sion, violence and crime, unjust resource use, and other social scourges that require solu­tions and interventions informed by Scriptural imperatives. The church is called to action and to be "salt and light” in a dark world.

Jesus came to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God repre­sents the re-establishment of God’s rule in the lives of individuals and in groups of people. The very fabric of society is effected when people begin to live under the rule of God rather than under the rule of Satan. As these persons who acknowledge God’s rule come togeth­er, the resulting group is known as the church. Collectively, the church represents the Body of Christ. As such, the church continues the ministry of Jesus to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit on behalf of the world. The purpose of the church can be divided into four major areas of focus: Exaltation, Edification, Evangelism, and Extension.

Exaltation: The Church Exists for God’s Sake
The purpose of the church begins by focusing upon God. Becoming a Christian means acknowledging God’s rule. We are redeemed by Jesus’ death and sacrifice. The enthroned Christ is the head of the church and our model for ministry. Jesus’ ministry was not pri­marily a ministry to the world, but rather a ministry to the Father on behalf of the world. We seek to follow the will of the Father as revealed in Scripture and in the life of the church to bring glory to God. We do so in the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power with which Jesus ministered. God is our primary focus, and exaltation (worship and celebra­tion) is an essential part of the church’s purpose.

Edification: The Church Exists to Create Mature Disciples
One of the primary purposes of the church is the life-transformation of its members. This requires a strong program of Bible teaching, discipleship, and personal evangelism. Believ­ers are to be committed to one another. The Body of Christ is thus composed of interdepen­dent members, each having received from the Holy Spirit gifts which are to be exercised for the upbuilding of the whole body and for the bearing of one another’s spiritual and temporal burdens. We thus desire to encourage in one another the development and use of each other’s abilities, knowing that "the whole body, as a harmonious structure knit togeth­er by that which every joint supplies, grows by the proper functioning of individual parts to its full maturity in love.” As believers grow in maturity, the Kingdom of God is expanded internally (qualitative growth).

Evangelism: The Church Exists to Reach Unbelievers
The Bible teaches that we live either under the dominion of God or under the dominion of Satan. Jesus commissioned his church to share as widely and as effectively as possible the Good News of God’s forgiveness in Christ. God equips and calls believers into a variety of vocations and ministries so that we may serve as a witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God offers his love to all without distinction, and he is concerned that all persons achieve their full potential in Christ. The proclamation of the gospel should be accompanied by genuine love and concern for all, and for the whole person. God’s Kingdom is expand­ed as unbelievers seek God’s forgiveness for their sins and as they acknowledge God’s rule over their lives. As this happens, they are released from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (quantitative growth).

Extension: The Church Exists to Re-Establish God’s Reign in Human Structures
God originally delegated dominion of the earth to human beings. At Adam’s sin, this do­minion passed to Satan whom Jesus called "the ruler of this world.” Human structures are now regarded as "fallen.” Extension of the Kingdom of God requires re-establishing God’s rule over these structures. Therefore, the purpose of the church includes a ministry of com­passion and of prophetic protest against evil. The church can never settle for its own com­fort in a world racked by problems such as moral decay, political corruption and oppres­sion, violence and crime, unjust resource use, and other social scourges that require solu­tions and interventions informed by Scriptural imperatives. The church is called to action and to be "salt and light” in a dark world.

Christ Community Church was incorporated on August 9, 1948 as a legally incorporated entity. Our desire is to be a healthy congregation of God’s church which functions biblical­ly in every sense: the way we carry out our mission, the way we relate to one another, our organizational structure, the kind of people we are, and the kind of people we produce. Our goal is to incorporate into our legal structure these biblical principles, and as times change, needs change, and our understanding of these principles change, so do our bylaws. The following points regarding our formal structure outline some of the thinking behind our bylaws.

We believe that God organizes his church. God gives all people gifts to use in his service. Our task is to perceive what God is doing, and to make sure our formal orga­nizational structure is in accordance with what God is doing.

We believe that all people are called to ministry. However, we also believe that we are at different levels of spiritual maturity. Some roles in the church (for example pastors, teachers, and Church Council members), require greater levels of spiritual maturity than other levels of leadership. Different ministries in the church also require different gift-mixes and personality temperaments. And then, too, ministry is one of the prima­ry ways God brings about growth in our lives, and so a new ministry position will often be a stretch. As we seek to staff the ministries of the church, we pay a great deal of attention to 1) what we perceive God is doing in our church, 2) the life experienc­es, gifts, and personalities of those within the church, and 3) that their spiritual matu­rity makes such a ministry possible (even if it is a stretch).

We believe that ministry and leadership is a privilege, not a problem nor an obliga­tion. Therefore, we seek to have the very best leaders we can in our church. To this end, we have established a Leadership Covenant. All persons who serve in a major ministry position are evaluated on the basis of the Leadership Covenant, and then they are asked to evaluate themselves on the basis of that covenant.

We believe that God sends each congregation a pastor to serve as an "under-shep­herd” of his flock. Ephesians 1:19 says, "Christ is the head of the church, which is his body.” And under Christ, God appoints people to serve as leaders. "Pastor” means "shepherd,” and both are used in the Bible to describe the leaders God calls. Another term is "elder” which Paul uses to describe the same position of leadership. While we believe that the pastor has scriptural authority to serve as a leader of a con­gregation, we also believe that God holds pastors to a high level of accountability to the congregation and ultimately to God himself. Ezekiel 34 is a prophecy of judgment upon Israel’s shepherds because they looked after their own welfare rather than the welfare of God’s flock. "Though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve... I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock” (Ezekiel 34:8b,10b).

We believe that God speaks in such a way that all members of the congregation who are "tuned in” to his Spirit can hear what God is saying. God does not just speak to or through the pastor or even one or two other leaders. All of God’s people have the potential to hear his voice. This belief is often used in our church as a safeguard. For example, while a Nominating Committee often prays and works to ascertain God’s leading as to whom should fill certain positions within our congregation, the full congregation radifies these appointments in our annual business meeting. While God appoints pastors as leaders, pastors are also human, and they can and do miss God’s leading at times. Therefore, there are mechanisms within our bylaws, using congre­gational votes, to protect the congregation from a pastor who has missed God’s leading.

Overview of the Organizational Structure
Christ is the head of our congregation. The pastor serves under God as the leader of our congregation, and he is accountable to both God and the congregation. Major boards func­tion in the church to assist the pastoral staff and to hold the pastor accountable to the con­gregation. The Church Council consists of most of the ministry leaders within the congre­gation (excluding Christian education ministries). It serves as a planning and coordinating body with the pastor. The Board of Christian Education guides the congregation in "the intentional process of faith development and nurture.” Therefore, this board gives oversight to major ministries such as Sunday School, Youth Ministry, Children’s Ministry, and L.I.F.E. (Lay Institute for Equipping). The Board of Trustees oversees the business affairs of the church including all legal transactions relating to property. This board also monitors income making sure that all monies are being handled and expended properly.

There is very little overlap in duties between these three major ministry boards. Rather, they function as a single board divided into three sections. Accountable to these three boards are the various ministries, standing committees, and temporary task forces of the congregation.

Finances
Since the days of the Jim Baker scandal, Christian ministries have become much more aware of handling money appropriately. After the offering is received each Sunday, two persons (approved in advance by the Board of Trustees) count the offering making sure that the donations and their sources are properly recorded. Then these counters deposit the offering in the bank’s night deposit immediately. Interestingly, 99.2% of last year’s income came in the form of checks or other designated income which was reported to the donor; only 0.8% came in the form of "loose plate cash offerings.” The treasurer later receives a record of the income, and the appropriate records are maintained on a computer so that receipts can be provided for income tax purposes. The treasurer ordinarily does not handle income, but merely receives a report of the income which has already been deposited.

Money is expended in accordance with the budget approved by the congregation in the Annual Business meeting in May of each year. If the amount approved in the budget is not sufficient, the Trustees can approve additional funds up to a limit of 2% of the total budget. The pastor receives detailed weekly income and expense reports, the Board of Trustees receives detailed monthly income and expense reports, and summary monthly income and expense reports are provided to all board and committee members. Summary reports are given to all tithers with their quarterly statements four times each year. In addition, any tither may request a detailed income and expense report at any time. Detailed income and expense reports are published annually in the congregations Annual Report.

Our goal is to provide the highest level of financial accountability to our congregation. God’s church deserves nothing less. We also find that people tend to give more when they are informed as to the financial condition of the congregation and when they are sure that the money they give is being used for the purpose for which it has been given.

Leadership Covenant
God calls all Christians to spiritual maturity, and growth toward maturity should be a natu­ral part of our spiritual pilgrimages. However, it is recognized that all of us are at different stages of our growth. As a growing congregation, some of our new converts are "babies” in Christ; still other measure their spiritual progress in decades; and many of us are some­where between these extremes.

The apostle Paul wrote, "To aspire to leadership is an honorable ambition" (1 Timothy 3:1, REB), and in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, Paul detailed some of the qualities of character necessary for Christian leadership. The implication is that while all Christians should be growing toward Christian maturity, the church's leaders are especially accountable. The church's leadership must come from among its most spiritually mature members.

The question is: What is spiritual maturity? While the list of characteristics below is not exhaustive, it is a good beginning. In our Church Council's meeting of February 22, 1993, this list was adopted as a guide for the qualities of character deemed to be essential for our congregation's leaders.

Leaders in our church are:
Experiencing the forgiveness of Christ
Following Christ in the qualities of their character, priorities, and values
Participating in the life of the church with regularity
Using their spiritual gifts in ministry
Living as stewards of all their God given resources (e.g., time, money, talents, etc.)
Giving their highest priority to living as a disciple of Christ.

Christ Community Church was incorporated on August 9, 1948 as a legally incorporated entity. Our desire is to be a healthy congregation of God’s church which functions biblical­ly in every sense: the way we carry out our mission, the way we relate to one another, our organizational structure, the kind of people we are, and the kind of people we produce. Our goal is to incorporate into our legal structure these biblical principles, and as times change, needs change, and our understanding of these principles change, so do our bylaws. The following points regarding our formal structure outline some of the thinking behind our bylaws.

We believe that God organizes his church. God gives all people gifts to use in his service. Our task is to perceive what God is doing, and to make sure our formal orga­nizational structure is in accordance with what God is doing.

We believe that all people are called to ministry. However, we also believe that we are at different levels of spiritual maturity. Some roles in the church (for example pastors, teachers, and Church Council members), require greater levels of spiritual maturity than other levels of leadership. Different ministries in the church also require different gift-mixes and personality temperaments. And then, too, ministry is one of the prima­ry ways God brings about growth in our lives, and so a new ministry position will often be a stretch. As we seek to staff the ministries of the church, we pay a great deal of attention to 1) what we perceive God is doing in our church, 2) the life experienc­es, gifts, and personalities of those within the church, and 3) that their spiritual matu­rity makes such a ministry possible (even if it is a stretch).

We believe that ministry and leadership is a privilege, not a problem nor an obliga­tion. Therefore, we seek to have the very best leaders we can in our church. To this end, we have established a Leadership Covenant. All persons who serve in a major ministry position are evaluated on the basis of the Leadership Covenant, and then they are asked to evaluate themselves on the basis of that covenant.

We believe that God sends each congregation a pastor to serve as an "under-shep­herd” of his flock. Ephesians 1:19 says, "Christ is the head of the church, which is his body.” And under Christ, God appoints people to serve as leaders. "Pastor” means "shepherd,” and both are used in the Bible to describe the leaders God calls. Another term is "elder” which Paul uses to describe the same position of leadership. While we believe that the pastor has scriptural authority to serve as a leader of a con­gregation, we also believe that God holds pastors to a high level of accountability to the congregation and ultimately to God himself. Ezekiel 34 is a prophecy of judgment upon Israel’s shepherds because they looked after their own welfare rather than the welfare of God’s flock. "Though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve... I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock” (Ezekiel 34:8b,10b).

We believe that God speaks in such a way that all members of the congregation who are "tuned in” to his Spirit can hear what God is saying. God does not just speak to or through the pastor or even one or two other leaders. All of God’s people have the potential to hear his voice. This belief is often used in our church as a safeguard. For example, while a Nominating Committee often prays and works to ascertain God’s leading as to whom should fill certain positions within our congregation, the full congregation radifies these appointments in our annual business meeting. While God appoints pastors as leaders, pastors are also human, and they can and do miss God’s leading at times. Therefore, there are mechanisms within our bylaws, using congre­gational votes, to protect the congregation from a pastor who has missed God’s leading.

Overview of the Organizational Structure
Christ is the head of our congregation. The pastor serves under God as the leader of our congregation, and he is accountable to both God and the congregation. Major boards func­tion in the church to assist the pastoral staff and to hold the pastor accountable to the con­gregation. The Church Council consists of most of the ministry leaders within the congre­gation (excluding Christian education ministries). It serves as a planning and coordinating body with the pastor. The Board of Christian Education guides the congregation in "the intentional process of faith development and nurture.” Therefore, this board gives oversight to major ministries such as Sunday School, Youth Ministry, Children’s Ministry, and L.I.F.E. (Lay Institute for Equipping). The Board of Trustees oversees the business affairs of the church including all legal transactions relating to property. This board also monitors income making sure that all monies are being handled and expended properly.

There is very little overlap in duties between these three major ministry boards. Rather, they function as a single board divided into three sections. Accountable to these three boards are the various ministries, standing committees, and temporary task forces of the congregation.

Finances
Since the days of the Jim Baker scandal, Christian ministries have become much more aware of handling money appropriately. After the offering is received each Sunday, two persons (approved in advance by the Board of Trustees) count the offering making sure that the donations and their sources are properly recorded. Then these counters deposit the offering in the bank’s night deposit immediately. Interestingly, 99.2% of last year’s income came in the form of checks or other designated income which was reported to the donor; only 0.8% came in the form of "loose plate cash offerings.” The treasurer later receives a record of the income, and the appropriate records are maintained on a computer so that receipts can be provided for income tax purposes. The treasurer ordinarily does not handle income, but merely receives a report of the income which has already been deposited.

Money is expended in accordance with the budget approved by the congregation in the Annual Business meeting in May of each year. If the amount approved in the budget is not sufficient, the Trustees can approve additional funds up to a limit of 2% of the total budget. The pastor receives detailed weekly income and expense reports, the Board of Trustees receives detailed monthly income and expense reports, and summary monthly income and expense reports are provided to all board and committee members. Summary reports are given to all tithers with their quarterly statements four times each year. In addition, any tither may request a detailed income and expense report at any time. Detailed income and expense reports are published annually in the congregations Annual Report.

Our goal is to provide the highest level of financial accountability to our congregation. God’s church deserves nothing less. We also find that people tend to give more when they are informed as to the financial condition of the congregation and when they are sure that the money they give is being used for the purpose for which it has been given.

Leadership Covenant
God calls all Christians to spiritual maturity, and growth toward maturity should be a natu­ral part of our spiritual pilgrimages. However, it is recognized that all of us are at different stages of our growth. As a growing congregation, some of our new converts are "babies” in Christ; still other measure their spiritual progress in decades; and many of us are some­where between these extremes.

The apostle Paul wrote, "To aspire to leadership is an honorable ambition" (1 Timothy 3:1, REB), and in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, Paul detailed some of the qualities of character necessary for Christian leadership. The implication is that while all Christians should be growing toward Christian maturity, the church's leaders are especially accountable. The church's leadership must come from among its most spiritually mature members.

The question is: What is spiritual maturity? While the list of characteristics below is not exhaustive, it is a good beginning. In our Church Council's meeting of February 22, 1993, this list was adopted as a guide for the qualities of character deemed to be essential for our congregation's leaders.

Leaders in our church are:
Experiencing the forgiveness of Christ
Following Christ in the qualities of their character, priorities, and values
Participating in the life of the church with regularity
Using their spiritual gifts in ministry
Living as stewards of all their God given resources (e.g., time, money, talents, etc.)
Giving their highest priority to living as a disciple of Christ.