I. HISTORY

It is pointless to tell you about our church and where we are going if we did not first tell you where we have been. Since this church began, miracles have happened time and time again. Just like God had the people of Israel set up stone memorials so that future generations could remember what God had done in their midst, this section is to keep us from forgetting what God has done among us.

· HOW DID IT START?

Covenant Community Church was actually born a few years ago at a lunch table at a “hole-in-the-wall” burger joint in downtown Oklahoma City. This was a place that Pastors Michael and Jake frequented to talk about how discouraged they were with “church.” What if God could build church like the book of Acts talked about? What if God could establish a spirit-filled congregation that new what it meant to be authentic Christians? What would it be like to have a church full of mature believers?

The question then became, where will this great church be? New York City? Los Angeles? But God gently spoke to Michael to go back home to Madisonville to a people who had been spiritually devastated and rebuild the broken down walls. So, thus began our journey.

· THE NEXT STEP

We began running ads in the Madisonville Messenger which made the religious community nervous but was very refreshing to the unchurched community. The talk began--a new kind of church in town--one with integrity, one for the lost, one on a mission.

We then planned a meeting at the fairgrounds. To our surprise 150 people came out to hear about this new church coming to town.

God sent us five families who were willing to begin home groups before we had any property. The Cowan’s, the Clapp’s, the Reddick’s, the Arnett’s and the Puckett’s (to whom we are still very grateful) opened up there homes to a weekly Sunday morning meeting. This allowed us to grow to 75 family members before we even had property or any full-time pastors.

· FACILITIES

We started dreaming of the possibility of buying the old Kroger facility. It had enough parking and space to hold us for a long time we initially thought. The only problem was that there was no way for a new church in Madisonville to acquire that amount of money. We do serve a great God, however, who truly worked a miracle and allowed us to get financing for the entire property.

We had our work cut out for us. The building was nothing but a shell and we had to be ready for service very soon. Our home groups came together to raise money and we had a garage sale in our new building.

Construction began and went quickly and smoothly. We put up our very first billboard in town and ran one more ad to introduce our staff. We were finally ready for opening Sunday, August 13, 2000. We had planned and worked. All we could do now was wait to see who, if anyone, would show up. To our amazement once again, over 300 people came to that very first service.

· AMAZING BLESSINGS

We ran an ad the following week letting everyone know what God was doing--we hit the ground running. Our church hasn’t looked back since. Just two months after opening, we had 5,000 people on our property for our fist annual KIDSFEST which was the largest gathering in Madisonville that whole year. We continued to establish new ministries and to reach out to our community through a number of different avenues. We had servant evangelism outreaches, Easter egg hunts, over 7,500 people on the property and over 10,000 watch our fireworks for Freedom Fest. Word spread quickly that everyone was welcome at that “Kroger church.” Hurting people have been flooding our doors since day one.

· PHASE II

God blessed us to the point that our facilities were no longer suitable. We had knocked out a wall and made every provision possible. Having exhausted every option, it was time to step out in faith and move to the Kroger side of the building.

Construction began again. Our people did great work and got us in the building for our Easter service. We didn’t have any carpet, but we had room for the harvest. That Easter 800 people walked through our doors. We were once again amazed. We are continuing to complete construction and God has given us a great facility. We have given our old facility to our youth and children. They have a wonderful place to worship God. The youth and children programs are exploding just as our adult church is exploding. We are now averaging what was our record attendance that first Easter Sunday. We have added two more services, many pastors, and many ministries. Our parking lot that at one time looked so huge, now looks very small. We currently minister to 1,200 people who call this their home church. We have been able to impact, through one avenue or another, 20,000 people in 22 months. If we remain focused on what this church was founded upon, there is no telling what God can do right here in Madisonville.

II. PURPOSE OF OUR SERVICES

Your visit to our church was more than likely on a Wednesday night or a Sunday morning. Many churches have services on Sunday and Wednesday simply out of tradition. The service on Wednesday is very similar to the service on Sunday, just on a smaller scale. Not at Covenant Community--we have two services for a purpose. It is not tradition for us but intentionality.

· IMPACT SERVICES

Our Sunday morning services are what we call “impact services.” As the name suggests, these are designed for the unchurched--your impact people. When you invite someone to our church, make sure to bring them on Sunday morning. We will deal with topics that are relevant and speak the language of the unchurched. Many churches use so much Christian jargon on Sunday morning, the unchurched don’t understand what is being said. We fear that when unchurched people visit a church that does not focus on their unique needs, they may walk away sensing the presence of God, but not taking anything relevant and practical home with them. We don’t want this to be the case at Covenant Community Church. So, bring your unchurched friends and family on Sunday morning to a service designed just for them. They will feel comfortable, sense the presence of God, and take home a life-applicable lesson spoken in their language.

· NEW COMMUNITY

Our Wednesday night services are called “New Community.” These services are designed for believers. Once someone gives their life to God, attending on Wednesday nights is very important. This is where we deal with the deeper issues of Christianity. We delve into the meat of the Word of God. We believe that attendance on Wednesday nights by believers is vital to their growth.

III. GUARDING OUR COMMUNITY

Our services have grown in numbers tremendously. Guarding all of this takes a well thought out, intentional philosophy. We would like to explain our philosophy in this section. It is necessary that you understand from the very outset what drives our church. Our philosophy, core values, and doctrine are part of the engine that not only keeps our church running, but steers it in the right direction. We want to be very clear from the very beginning about what we believe and where we are headed. We want you to know that we have a reason for what we do. We aren’t simply doing church for church’s sake. This section is the non-negotiable aspect of our church.

A. Purpose- Objective; Resolution; Intention; Aim

Our Purpose:Mature Lives

We desire to see the lives of those in our community developed into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ through an emphasis on strong relationships and quality Christian education.

B. Mission- Group sent by church government to perform a special duty; mission head quarters.

Our Mission:Authenticity

We desire to present authentic Christianity to our families, community, country, and world.

C. Clear Aim- An easy way to sum it all up is to simply say that our aim is to turn the irreligious into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

D. 5 Gs-

You may be asking yourself, “Okay, I want to be a mature believer. What does that look like?” We make it simple for you by teaching you to use your daily lives as a tool in God’s hand. Actually, just take a look at your own hand. Each finger represents a “G.” The 5 G’s are Grace, Growth, Groups, Gifts, and Giving. If we can strengthen each of these areas of our lives, we can become a mature believer. How do you know if you are maturing? It’s simple. Are you following the 5 G’s?

1. Grace- Have you come to know the grace of God;

and are you sharing that grace with others

by putting six unchurched friends on an

impact list?

2. Growth-Are you growing in your relationship with

God and others?

3. Group- Are you an active part of an accountability

group that meets together on a regular basis?

4. Gifts- Have you filled completed a gift assessment? Do

you know your spiritual gifts, and are you operating in

them?

5. Giving- Are you committed to giving your tithe and

offering to the church?

This is so important that all of our small groups work their way through a book on each of the G,s before they move on to a new curriculum.

E. Essence of Community

Essence- Inherent and essential nature of elements: extract: perfume.

Community- Social group whose members reside in the same locality.

The next question may be, “Okay, then what does it mean to be authentic?” This is also very simple. We believe that authenticity is simply taking the mask off and being real. Realizing that we are all nothing but a group of broken people who have come together to create a beautiful mosaic is the very essence of our community.

So, how do you know if you are being authentic?

Are you.......

Knowing and being known?

Loving and being loved?

Serving and being served?

Celebrating and being celebrated?

F. Judging Spirituality

Even if you are doing all of this, we believe there is only one way to accurately judge spirituality. It isn’t about keeping rules and regulations, but it is based on Mark 13:31. You judge your progress only by asking yourself two questions: 1. Am I more in love with God today than I was yesterday? 2. Am I more in love with people today than I was yesterday? The goal is to be able to answer “yes” to both of those questions. If you can, then you are truly progressing spiritually.

IV. CORE VALUES

Core- Central or important part

Value- Worth, Merit, or Importance

The following ten values are the core of our church. These are the specific aspects that we feel God has called us to uphold. These are also non-negotiable characteristics of our church. Our values help us determine what ministries to start, where to spend our time, where to spend our money, and so much more.

1. Family - We believe there is nothing more important than strong, united families.

-We believe in the early Christian formation of children and youth.

-We believe in providing programs relative to the needs of all age

groups.

-We believe that the local congregation involvement should be an

enhancement to the home.

2. Excellence- We believe excellence honors God and inspires greatness.

-We believe that every department must strive for excellence.

-We believe that excellence in our ministries and lives is a proper reflection of God at work in us as believers.

3. Relationships- We believe that loving relationships should permeate every aspect of church life.

-We believe in the unity of the body of Christ.

-We believe the church is family.

-We believe in the power of small groups to facilitate strong

relationships.

-We believe integrity in the lives and ministries of our members requires that we provide for accountability relationships.

4. Equipping- We believe in equipping the Saints for ministry and life

by helping them to operate in their spiritual gifts.

-We recognize and encourage God-given gifts in all women and all men regardless of background.

-We believe and strongly affirm education.

-We believe that through the educational process, the body, mind, and spirit are all enhanced for the greater development

of the Kingdom of God.

5. Devotion- We believe that full devotion to Christ and His cause are

normal for every believer.

-We value our right standing before God through Christ as being

righteous, without sin; and we contend for a life free of willful sin and disobedience to Christ.

-We believe in a personal, daily relationship with Christ.

-We require our church leadership to exemplify a history of personal faithfulness to their marriage vows from the point of conversion on.

-We believe that every Christian should mature and use his/her gifts in the local church.

6. Sound Doctrine- We believe that teaching and doctrine should be

balanced on the historical roots of Christianity that shaped the theology

and orthodoxy of faith. Sound doctrine is held in high esteem.

-We believe that we should express its faith with a balance of head and heart; intellect and emotion.

-We believe that our Biblical principles are not dependant on affirmation or acceptance by culture.

-We believe in a balanced message of prosperity which includes the Biblical pattern of tithing a tenth of our income and giving offerings toward the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

-We believe in the spontaneity of the workings of the Holy Spirit- balanced, proved, and established on the Word of God.

7. Prayer- We believe in the power of prayer and that prayer makes a

critical difference in all that we attempt to achieve.

-We believe that prayer is a vital key to success in our personal and

professional lives.

-We believe in having an intercessory prayer ministry that holds up our church in prayer on a regular basis.

8. Character- We believe that chracter is more important than talent.

-We will spare no effort to be reliable and accurate on all accounts spoken or sold.

-We believe power is potentially dangerous. Our leaders must be careful not to abuse those they lead and must have a strong

accountability system.

-We believe the church must uphold its character with accountability also. Our relationship with world-wide organizations much larger than ourselves is non-negotiable. We are a member

two such organizations. The systems of accountability within and outside the church are valued and considered essential to the maintenance of our church.

9. Evangelism- We believe that an effective church serves its community

and treats everyone with love, respect, and dignity.

-We believe in the church as a force. The church should not be a private, personal matter. His body should be His heart, hands, and mouth in our community.

-We believe in the liberty to express our unique, God-given call to our community as a congregation.

-We believe in focusing more on meeting the needs of people than on preserving or growing our institution. Buildings, programs, ideas, and goals are all secondary to people.

-We believe in being culturally relevant, yet remaining doctrinally pure.

10. Worship- We believe that vibrant praise and intimate worship achieve

an atmosphere of expectancy by bringing us into the presence of God.

-We believe that as believers, we have a responsibility to respond to the presence of God during worship.

-We believe that worship should be done in Spirit and truth with all of heart.

-We believe that heart felt worship prepares our hearts and minds to receive the Word of God.

V. DOCTRINE

Through our study of the unchurched, we have found that one of the number one drawing factors is a church that knows what it believes and is very passionate about those beliefs. Seekers want absolutes. They want to know that there are ethical values and Biblical doctrines that do not change. They are absolute no matter what the situation. This is so important that it is one of our core values.

All of this considered, we declare that Covenant Community Church

embraces the entirety of the Bible to be completely and equally inspired, and that it is the written Word of God. Covenant Community has adopted the following

Declaration of Faith as its standard and official expression of doctrine:

WE BELIEVE:

-In the verbal inspiration of the Bible.

-In one God, eternally existing in three persons, namely, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

-That Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Virgin Mary: that Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead: that He ascended to heaven and is today at the right hand of the Father as the Intercessor.

-That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and that repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins.

-That justification, regeneration, and the new birth are wrought by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.

-In sanctification subsequent to the new birth, through faith in the blood of Christ; through the Word, and by the Holy Ghost.

-Holiness to be God’s standard of living for His people.

-In the baptism with Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation.

-In speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

-Divine healing is provided for all in the Atonement.

-In the Lord’s Supper and washing of the saints’ feet.

-In the premillennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth for a thousand years.

-In the bodily Resurrection, eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked.

-That personal transformation takes place in the context of small groups.

VI. WE BELIEVE IN ACCOUNTIBILITY

· Personal Accountability = Small Groups

𠇊 church of small groups, not with small groups.”

Covenant Community is a fast growing and healthy congregation. Some

suppose a large church must be impersonal and uncaring. Nothing could be farther from the truth! An uncaring and impersonal church would never grow. The church in the New Testament began with over 3,000 people and experienced numerical growth on a daily basis. Despite the expanding mass of people, the church remained loving, caring, and healthy-- just as Covenant Community seeks to do.

The answer is found in the balance of large group celebration and small

group fellowship. In short, the church in Acts was large and small at the

same time. This is the vision of Covenant Community Church. God has

called us to grow large enough to impact the world while staying small

enough to care for every individual.

If you desire the power and blessing of New Testament Christianity,

we invite you to take the next step and link up with one of our many small

groups that have been developed to suit your lifestyle. You will never be

the same.

Sign up at the Connecting Point for one of these life changing groups and

you will be contacted for placement in a group that best fits your needs.

· Elders = Church Government

As stated in our core values, we believe strongly in accountability. The Council of Godly Covenant includes the Pastoral Staff who are the elders of our church. The Financial Advisory Committee is made up of three people who hold our church account able on a monthly basis for every penny spent. The Voice of the People is a committee elected by the members of Covenant Community to be a representative voice. The Voice of Timothy is a group of young men and/or women who act as a progressive voice representing our congregation. The Pastor’s Prayer Council is the group of men over the age of 55 who meet weekly to hold our Pastor accountable is his personal and professional life.

· Corporate Accountability

We feel that it is a necessity to submit ourselves to an organization

larger than we are for accountability and guidance. We have aligned ourselves with two such coverings: 1.)Willow Creek Association; 2.) Church of God (Cleveland,TN) which is a movement consisting of over 8 million members and 31,000 churches in 176 countries around the world. Being part of a world wide, excellent ministry provides a system of accountability for every church leadership position, not excluding the Senior Pastor. It is not our desire to have a church run by one family, idea, or person.

VII. MINISTRIES

Covenant Community has over 100 different ministries to facilitate the needs of our church and the interests of our people.

VIII. GET CONNECTED! (SEE PAGES 15-34)

Sometimes in a fast growing church it seems hard to get connected. We want to make it easy for you to get involved and begin working in your fourth G-- gifts. Here is the process you will need to go through to get connected in our church.

IX. CHURCH DISCIPLINE

We believe the Biblical idea of discipline is spelled out very clearly in Matthew 18:15-17:

"If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

According to this Scripture, we have adopted the following steps when dealing with a discipline matter:

Step 1- The offended party goes by him/herself to confront the individual. If the individual is unwilling to change, then we move on to Step 2.

Step 2- The offended party chooses one or two other strong unbiased Christians to confront the individual again. If there is still no repentance, we proceed to step 3.

Step 3- The offended party gets a church representative to confront the individual one more time. If there is still no willingness to change, we would go ahead with the last and final step.

Step 4- The individual would be removed from the congregation and a restraining order placed against him/her to ensure he/she would not return to the property.

X. SHEPHERDING

We want to be able to take care of the people God gives us. The pastoral staff cannot effectively keep track of the large number of people that God has entrusted to us. In order to deal with this wonderful opportunity we are recruiting and training community shepherds. Our goal is to place one shepherd over twelve families in our church. It would be the shepherd’s responsibility to pastor those twelve families. They will look for them at services and be available to take phone calls, do hospital visits, etc… We are doing our best to make sure that no one falls through the cracks. If you do not have a shepherd, or you would be interested in becoming a shepherd, please let us know.

XI. OUR MINISTERS

God has blessed us with a wonderful staff. We are committed to a strong work ethic and high standards of moral integrity. We want to lead the way in our church. We know we cannot lead anyone to places we haven’t been.

A. Credentials

Each of our staff members is required to go through a strenuous process of credentialing. There are three levels in this process- Exhorters, Licensed, and Ordained Bishop. This process takes at least eight years. We want our ministers to earn their license in a credible organization. The organization we use is the Church of God.

B. Office Hours

Our staff is available to you during the week. Our office hours are 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, and 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Wednesday and Friday. We would ask that you make an appointment to see a pastor if at all possible.

We all have many meetings during the week, so nights and weekends we must create time for family and personal refreshing.

C. Role

We believe that the Biblical mandate for our staff is to equip the saints for ministry. Our desire is that Covenant Community be team led by laypeople who are being equipped by the pastoral staff.