The Timothy Conference

T H E T I M O T H Y C O N F E R E N C E

Religious Missionary Order

I. The Religious Missionary Order is our church. Implications:

A. We live, work, relax, and worship in community. B. Our spiritual authority and accountability is rooted in this community of disciples. C. All the essential elements of church are evidenced among us. D. Our form of the Church exists primarily to reproduce new churches.

II. Teams are the center point of our church life together. Implications:

A. The bulk of church life happens for us in the church-plant team. B. Our primary spiritual accountability is to the church-plant team. C. Because our teams are reproducing themselves our accountability and church life will usually be centered in the synthesis between church plant team and the emerging church. III. Although teams are the center, we still need some whole body (entire RMO) functions (worship, fellowship, teaching, etc.). Implications: A. Cell-church model may be a useful way to think about our structure. B. These times are more flexible and voluntary. (Our original term “Celebration” was adopted from cell-church/missiological literature and described the times when church cells assemble for large group worship. It is meant to be a celebratory time).

IV. We also need whole staff functions (RMO, WIS, etc.) where co-workers fellowship together. Implications:

We are a work community as well as a worship community and our work community shares a common bond of faith. We need to fellowship and worship periodically as an entire staff.

V. Whole body (and whole staff) functions need to be integrated with team life and function as a complement rather than a competition. Implications: A. The group that plans whole body (staff) worship and events needs to have communication or representation from the individual church plant teams. B. Think team first, not individual. (My questions about RMO church structure and ministry should first ask, “What does my team need?” VI. Staff children need to find their place in the RMO/Church plant so that they participate in and receive from the life of the church. Implications: A. Just as with adults, teams need to be the starting point for the church experience of our children. B. Individual teams are free to take different approaches to how the spiritual needs of our children are provided for. C. Whole body functions may opt for babysitting or adults only participation in some cases but this should be done thoughtfully rather than automatically. Children and teens should be welcomed into this time as appropriate.

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