UNDERSTANDING EFC GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND REGIONAL ASSEMBLIES Nov

UNDERSTANDING EFC GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND REGIONAL ASSEMBLIES Nov. 15, 2008 Jay Kuo Moderator, EFCGA 1

General Assembly History 1970: EFCLA 1982: General Assembly (5 local churches) 2008: 88 local churches and 5 organizations Functions Shared vision (9025, 2050) Connection Service Mission (Taiwan mission) 2

EFCGA Organization 3

GA Budget Allocation Annual income: 750 K 4

Challenges of GA Challenges No. of local churches increases significantly over years Geographic distribution is very broad Multi-languages and multi-cultural background Communication to/from local churches becomes ineffective Solutions Regional Assemblies (from 2 -level hierarchy to 3 -level hierarchy) Web-based ministry Conference call 5

Values of GA Resource-rich vs. resource-limited churches Resource sharing, e. g. , Christian education, worship service, etc. Vision Demands broader perspective and height in decision making Vision sharing, encouragement and mobilization Compliance Quality & standard (SOP) Resolution of disputes Bylaws 6

GA Role Adjustment Decreasing social functions Difficult to have the joint sports event, joint retreat among southern California EFC churches Leaders unified more by common vision rather than social relationship Increasing importance of structured organization & management Good structure allows an organization to grow More effective modern communication tools Web-based/multimedia-based Quarterly conf. call, monthly video and weekly newsletters Training of new generation leaders 7

Regional Assemblies North America Southern California (3) East, Middle, Southwest regions Non-S. C. (3) East, South, Mid & North regions New Zealand & Australia (2) New Zealand region Australia region Taiwan North TW region South TW region 8

Functions of Regional Assembly Regional mission planning and execution Regional resource/experience sharing Regional ministerial association Regional co-worker fellowship (? ) Receiving advices from senior lay leaders of other local churches in the same region Preventive and proactive approach (versus afterfact and reactive approach) to foreseeable problems Development of co-workers with broader viewpoint 9

Formation of Regional Assembly Ex Officio members Senior pastors (or pastor/minister in charge) Chairperson of church council Selected members 3 -5 senior elders/deacons from local churches of the region It is preferred they are not incumbent elders/deacons 2 years per term and can be re-selected twice 10

Administration of Regional Assembly Officers Regional Regional Pastor-in-Charge Chairperson Secretary Treasurer Mission Director Meetings At least twice per year Can be conducted by conference call 11

Successful Stories Regional Assembly functions very well in New Zealand Australia North Taiwan South Taiwan There is room for improvement in N. A. Regional Assembly Where to start Regional ministerial association Mission planning 2015 Mission goal (a bottom-up approach) Can we increase from 44 to 66 (50% increase) or higher in N. A. ? To be finalized in 2010 bi-annual meeting 12

Conclusion Re-organization of EFC Role re-defining of General Assemblies Increasing importance of Regional Assemblies Strong General Assembly (GA) and Regional Assemblies (RA’s) will benefit EFC’s mission as a whole Mission vision and strategy Execution and resource sharing (people, money and media) 13