Affinity 3.0

The final version of Affinity as approved by the March 3 Special General Meeting: here

Information about implementing Affinity: here 

NEWSFEED ALONG THE JOURNEY:

Outcomes from the Ministers Affinity Conversation and next steps here

Blog post Soul Mining

Please click here for the final version of the collated feedback from churches about the Affinity 3.0 discussion resource.

Your prayers for our gathering with Ministers Tuesday October 25 at LifeGate church 10am-1.30pm were most appreciated.

“So we fully recognize with the writers of The Starfish and the Spider, that all organizations are hybrids of both centralized and decentralized forms of organization”  (from Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson: On the Verge, Zondervan, 2011).

All churches affiliated with each other in this ‘hybrid’ movement known as Churches of Christ in Vic/Tas (hybrid because it is both centralised and decentralised) have the opportunity to give their feedback to the Affinity 3.0 resource. A number have already responded.We need to know what you think about what it means to live together and alone; to be autonomous and interdependent; to be part of a centralised and decentralised movement.

We need to know how much you love the idea of Affinity 3.0 as a basis for the document that fulfils the recent Constitution amendment “a church’s affiliation with Conference shall be confirmed by a document jointly signed by the church’s leaders and the Conference Executive Officer and Conference President”. All suggestions you could have to make it even better, and your concerns about those aspects that raise an eyebrow would also be appreciated…

The extended time since the May 2011 AGM at Kardinia has been provided as a result of churches wanting more time to consider the Affinity 3.0 resource. The extra time has given all churches the opportunity to engage, or further engage, the Affirmation concept locally, and to be “meaningfully involved” in an appropriate document’s development.

We look forward to receiving your feedback to the Affinity 3.0 Discussion Resource by October 21, 2011.

Churches are reminded of the request to provide feedback to the Affinity 3.0 resource. We need feedback from every church, if possible, as we work together to construct an Affirmation of Affiliation to present to churches for decision.

The paper includes a process (see it also below) your church and its leaders could follow to engage the ideas contained in Affinity 3.0. All this is to fulfill the extra time the 2011 AGM gave to churches to meaningfully contribute to the conversation and to the development of a document that fulfills the Constitution.

As indicated we are seeking feedback by October 21, 2011 (or as soon as you gather it) so that in can be shared online for other churches to consider, as well as provide a basis for a Ministers Conversation to be held on Tuesday October 25 (venue and time to be confirmed). The feedback will also be included on the Agenda of an All Boards Meeting (a regular gathering of the Conference Council and the Partner Department boards) to be held on October 26. 

Feedback from you, your church’s leaders and your church, is important. We look forward to receiving it.

Possible Process for Churches’ Engagement of the Affirmation

Purpose: To implement the Resolution of the All Churches Summit/AGM, That this AGM affirms the reform initiative of the Conference Council thus far; that the Affirmation paper dated 13 April 2011 be used as a resource for the development of such a document that fulfils Constitution clause 5.4; and that affiliated churches be meaningfully involved in the development of this document which shall be submitted to a future Special General meeting no later than the 2012 AGM.

See the current Affinity 3.0 document to be used in this process.

1. Extra Time for Churches

The extended time has been provided by the AGM to give all churches the opportunity to engage, or further engage, the Affirmation concept locally, and to be “meaningfully involved in (its) development”.

2. Timeframe

Churches are invited to consider the Affirmation as a resource to their conversations, and to provide any feedback about it in writing to the Council via the Executive Officer in advance of the October 28, 2011 meeting of Council.

3. Church Process

Churches will choose the best way for them in their context to engage the questions of belonging and mutual accountability outlined in the Affirmation resource.

An important question for churches to consider is where the document will be discussed, debated and agreed or responded to:

- At leadership level only—minister or ministry team and Elders, or

- As an ‘all church’ exercise

This decision will tend to be influenced by the governance shape of the church, the size of the church, as well as the prevailing communication and decision-making culture of the church.

It would be Council’s recommendation that, wherever the discussion ends up taking place, the entire church membership be informed of the process, its outcomes and any subsequent implications.

4. The Process could include:

- A review of the background documents to the Affinity process as necessary.

- A detailed review of the Affirmation resource and its supporting FAQs paper, noting that the latter has been amended since the AGM. It is also important to note that the AGM adopted the Statement of Purposes for Churches of Christ in Vic/Tas included in the Affirmation resource on p3, and that it is best to read the resource in the light of that Statement.

- Such a review would best include consideration by the church of the Affirmation resource, with particular attention to the following:

(a) The five basic commitments of Churches of Christ in Vic/Tas (A-E on page 4)

(b) The five basic commitments of churches (A-E on page 7)

(c) The ways this commitment will be generally expressed by Churches of Christ (pages 5-6)

(d) The ways this commitment will be generally expressed by churches (pages 8-9)

(e) Items in the Affirmation the church immediately supports

(f) Items the church feels uncomfortable with and/or feels anxiety about which require/s further explanation.

(g) Items that the church definitely doesn’t want to include

(h) Items the church would like to see included

- Conversation/s with the Executive Officer, a Council member or members and/or Partner Department personnel that could provide clarity to the church’s questions or concerns

- The provision of written feedback to Council, and where appropriate a copy of any decision by the church, sent to Council via the Executive Officer in advance of the October 28, 2011 meeting of Council.

5. Special General Meeting

On reception of the feedback from churches, Council will be responsible for the formation of a new document that fulfils Constitution clause 5.4, and subsequent consideration of an appropriate time for a Special General Meeting at which a new document will be submitted.

If you are looking for background reading in relation to these ongoing discussions please see the earlier Affinity 2.0 document.