Living hope in Christ for all nations! (1 Peter 1:3)
System of Church governance
New Life City Church adheres to the reformed paradigm in this regard, the principles of the Presbyterian system of Church government. It is based on the concept of the Church from the Kingdom perspective. The underlying principles of the concept of the Kingdom for orderly church government are the following:
Christ is the king of the Kingdom of God and Head of the people of God, the church (Mt. 16:18; 1 Cor 15:24-28; Eph. 1:22).
The Kingdom becomes visible in the obedience of the people to the Word and Spirit.
The church as the people of God is the fruit of the faithful obedience to God as He reveals Himself in his word.
The church exists for the honor of God and the coming of the Kingdom. The church is functional and not an end in itself. The church is primarily the local church.
It is clear from the above-mentioned that Christ is the head of the church and that he governs it through the Holy Spirit and his Word. He does so by calling the gifted believers to be the presbuteroi (elders) with the main task of being servants in the service of the king. And the elders should always execute his supreme will with regard to the church, the kingdom and the world (Eph 4:11 and 12). We recognize the existence of four offices in accordance with article 2 of the church order, viz.: Ministers of the Word, Professors at the Theological School, Elders and Deacons.
New Life City Church is governed by the teaching and ruling elders who are called the Church Council. And thus the minister(s) and elders should meet on a regular basis according to Article 37 of the church order, their main task are:
To supervise the minister(s) of the Word and Sacraments (Acts 20:28-31).
To supervise the life, work and doctrinal viewpoints of all the other office-bearers in the church.
To build up the congregation and personal faith of the believers by means of house visitation.
To evangelize people to accept the Christian faith (Mt 28:19-20).
To fulfill the duties described in article 16 with regard to the execution of church discipline and the maintenance of good order in the church.
New Life City Church has the office of deacons whose main tasks entail the following:
The collection of contributions for the poor.
The distribution of these contributions.
To act communally to prevent injustices and disorderliness.
To do house visitation with the sole purpose of comforting those in need with the Word of God and inspire Christians to take care of the needy.
To report to the Church Council and, if necessary, to the congregation about their work.
To work not only in the church but for all in need (Gal. 6:10).
Deacons should therefore meet from time to time for them to accomplish their calling (ref. Article 40 of the church order). According to Article 37, they form part of the “broader church council”, thus their meeting with the church council to deal with specified issues.