- Every Nation
-
Every Nation Every Nation Churches and Ministries 
Location 
United States
Philippines
United Kingdom
and more than 50 countriesWebsite www.everynation.org History Founded 1994 Clergy Senior pastor(s) Steve Murrell Every Nation Churches is an organization of non-denominational Christian churches. Its name embodies its goal of reaching "every nation in our generation" with the gospel.
Every Nation performs many of the same functions of a denomination. However, it operates more on the model of the Calvary Chapel movement, with an emphasis on relational ministry ties. It prefers terms like "family" or "movement" as way of emphasizing this distinction. This is common for many Charismatic organizations.
Every Nation has approximately 400 member churches in Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas.
Contents
History
Every Nation was established in 1994 when Rice Broocks, Phil Bonasso and Steve Murrell joined their ministries together to pursue the mission of church planting, campus ministry and world missions.
Previously known as Morning Star International, the ministry was renamed Every Nation Churches and Ministries in 2004 to better reflect the ministry’s vision to plant a church in “Every Nation in Our Generation.”
An additional reason given for the name change was a desire to avoid confusion with other ministries named "Morning Star" or "Morningstar," most notably Rick Joyner's MorningStar Ministries.[1]
Broocks had been president of Every Nation since its founding in 1994 but in 2006 was succeeded by Steve Murrell.[2] Broocks remains as co-chair of the International Policy Council which oversees the policy governance of Every Nation.[3]
Church planting
The mission statement of Every Nation is "To Honor God and advance His Kingdom through Church Planting, Campus Ministry and World Missions."[4]
Every Nation planted approximately 60 churches in 2008 and has plans to establish 70 to 80 new churches in 2009.[5]
Every Nation's strategy for church planting is called the “2010 Initiative",[6] The goal of the 2010 Initiative is for every local EN church to establish or “plant” at least one new church every three years. The ultimate outcome of this initiative would be that, by the year 2010, hundreds of new churches would have been established all over the world. The initiative also envisions that, eventually, all EN churches would be church-planting churches. Because Every Nation's ultimate vision is to eventually have a church in every nation of the world, a particular emphasis is placed on nations where it does not yet have any presence.
Examples of church-planting churches include the following: the Every Nation church in Manila, Philippines has planted churches in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The EN church in London has planted a church in Dublin, Ireland; a church in Nashville collaborated with a church in North Carolina to plant a church in New York and also planted a church in New Zealand; the EN churches in Sierra Leone have planted several churches in Liberia; and the church in Tarapoto, Peru has planted over a hundred churches in the Amazon Region of South America.
Campus Ministry
One of the three pillars of Every Nation Ministries' mission statement is "Campus Ministry." Every Nation believes that reaching the next generation is of utmost importance. Many believe that this generation of young people will be less than 4% believers in Christ. Therefore Every Nation believes that in order to impact society for Christ, they must reach students. There is a window of openness in a person's life while they are student age.
"Because of this window of openness, Every Nation Campus Ministries (ENCM) was founded to champion the destinies of young people on university campuses worldwide.
Today ENCM is reaching thousands of students through the hundreds of campus missionaries who have been sent around the world. From London to Manila, Melbourne to Cape Town, ENCM is training tomorrow’s leaders to impact the world for Christ!"
Structure
Every Nation Churches states that it "provides spiritual leadership for approximately 400 member churches worldwide." According to their website, this includes the following main responsibilities:[7]
- maintaining doctrinal orthodoxy;
- mediating leadership conflicts;
- assisting in the event of moral failure of a local church pastor or elder;
- helping with leadership transition in the event of the death or incapacity of the senior pastor; and
- encouraging member churches to uphold the vision, values and standards of Every Nation.
Every Nation member churches are fully responsible for the governance and direction of their respective local churches. Member churches responsibilities include:
- subscribing to the vision, values and standards of Every Nation;
- supporting official Every Nation conferences and events;
- contributing 10% of their general revenue to Every Nation which in turn provides for the global oversight function and for the development of resources to support the churches; and
- recognizing the role of Every Nation's International Ministry Team in the spiritual leadership of their local churches.
Inside the USA Every Nation is a convention of churches.[8]
According to Every Nation, spiritual oversight for the ministry is provided by the International Ministry Team (IMT),[9] which is a broad-based grouping of leaders drawn from seven geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and India, Latin America, North America, and the Pacific Islands. Members of the International Ministry Team also serve as regional directors for the geographic region of the world they represent. The primary responsibilities of the International Ministry Team are to provide a global perspective for the leadership and oversight of Every Nation; to train and develop new regional directors; and to fulfill their own roles as regional directors.
Roles and responsibilities for regional directors for the seven geographic regions include: providing pastoral support and encouragement for the leaders of their region; communicating the vision, values and policies of Every Nation; facilitating conferences and other regional events; helping to train and appoint local church elders; mediating church conflicts when necessary; and helping to coordinate regional church planting and missions efforts. Murrell serves as president of the IMT.
The International Policy Council (IPC)[10] is a nine member subset of the International Ministry Team which is tasked with overseeing Every Nation. It is co-chaired by Murrell and Broocks.
Doctrine
Every Nation adheres to basic Evangelical Christian beliefs and is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.[11]
Foundational core beliefs also include: salvation by grace – that is, that a person receives salvation by the grace of God alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide); the supremacy of Christ and Scripture (solus Christus[12] and sola Scriptura); the belief in the Trinity – that is, that there is one God, existent in three persons: the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit; and that everything they do is for the glory of God (soli deo gloria).[13][14][15]
However, like many non-denominational organizations, when it comes to issues that Every Nation considers non-fundamental or non-essential such as positions on eschatology the practice of its Bible school, ENLI, is to present the evidence and arguments for the differing theological positions but allow the individual to decide for himself or herself which position he or she will choose.[15]
ECFA Accreditation
In early 2008, Every Nation Churches and Every Nation Ministries were accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), one of the largest accrediting agencies for Christian ministries.[16]
As a condition of membership, ECFA members must agree to a stringent set of standards, including providing audited financial statements upon request. Prospective ECFA members also must be independently audited before submitting an application. As an accrediting organization, ECFA protects the integrity of its seal by requiring members to adhere to their Seven Standards for Responsible Stewardship.[17]
According to its profile on the ECFA site, Every Nation Churches 2009 revenues were $3,358,141 and total expenses were $3,097,551. [18]
Criticisms
Links to Maranatha
Broocks, Murrell, Bonasso and several other Every Nation pastors have significant past ties to Maranatha Campus Ministries, a controversial Charismatic organization from the 1980s.[19] Several Every Nation churches and ministries also have roots in Maranatha. Every Nation incorporated the entire Victory Christian Fellowship network in the Philippines overseen by Murrell,[19] and at least six of Every Nation's American churches operate under corporate bylaws dating to the Maranatha era. In addition, His People has roots in a former Maranatha church in Johannesburg.[3]
For its part, Every Nation has publicly renounced Maranatha's more controversial teachings and "unequivocally rejects" the "controlling discipleship, authoritarian leadership, and theological mysticism" prevalent in Maranatha. It also contends that Broocks, Bonasso and Murrell supported Maranatha's dissolution in 1990.[20] In a 2006 "Leader Letter", Murrell stated that in accordance with its "Discipleship Policy", Every Nation does not allow any teachings or practices that are "controlling, coercive, or intrusive, or that violate biblical principles (or) the priesthood of the believer ..."[20]
Links with New Apostolic Reformation
Missiologist C. Peter Wagner identifies Every Nation as part of the New Apostolic Reformation, an offshoot of the charismatic movement that actively seeks to restore the offices of apostle and prophet to the Church and its leadership. Rice Broocks authored a chapter about Every Nation in Wagner's The New Apostolic Churches,[21] a key book about the movement. Rice Brooks and Paul Daniel were members of Wagners "New Apostolic Roundtable" and Jim Laffoon was part of the "Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders" until approximately 2003. Wagner has also taught on several occasions at MSI/EN's own ministry school and at MSI/EN conferences.
Affiliated businesses
Global Cafe
In January 2005, Bethel World Outreach Center opened the Global Cafe in Nashville, a restaurant used for youth ministries and other church-related gatherings.
Inpop Records
Inpop Records, a major contemporary Christian music recording label, has strong ties to Every Nation, even though the two are separate entities. The label's president, Wes Campbell, is a member of Bethel World Outreach Center. Broocks is a major stockholder and board member, as is New York Jets quarterback Mark Brunell. Tony Boselli, a former teammate of Brunell's on the Jacksonville Jaguars, is also on the board. Brunell and Boselli are members of Champions for Christ, and helped start an Every Nation church in Jacksonville.[22]
The Newsboys are one of Inpop's best-known artists. The group's lead singer, Peter Furler, is a member of Bethel, and Campbell doubles as the group's manager. At one point, the Newsboys web site included a link where visitors could purchase Biblical Foundations, a Bible study workbook published by Broocks and Murrell. It is popularly known as "The Purple Book". The link asks the question, "Have you done The Purple Book?" The site also included a letter from Furler describing how "doing The Purple Book" has changed him.
Affiliated organizations
- Campus Harvest Ministries
- Champions For Christ (CFC) (now known as 925 Athletic Ministries) as of December 2008
- Every Nation Churches/Ministries (ENC)
- Every Nation Leadership Institute (previously Victory Leadership Institute) - A two-year, local church based Bible school.
- Force Ministries
- Victory Campus Ministries (now Every Nation Campus Ministries) Courses include those such as New Testament, Old Testament, Discipleship, and Leadership.
- Victory Christian Fellowship in the Philippines
- His People Churches (based mainly in South Africa)
- Morning Star International (MSI; now Every Nation Churches)
References
- ^ Every Nation - FAQ on Name Change
- ^ Every Nation - News item on Murrell as new president
- ^ Every Nation | International Policy Council - Church Planting, Campus Ministry, World Missions
- ^ Every Nation - Mission Statement
- ^ "Every Nation Church Planting". http://www.everynation.org/churches. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
- ^ Every Nation - 2001 Initiative
- ^ Every Nation - Churches
- ^ IRS guidelines on 501c3 status
- ^ Every Nation - Global Oversight Structure
- ^ Every Nation - International Policy Council
- ^ http://www.nae.net/
- ^ Every Nation in Our Generation by Rice Broocks, p.70-71
- ^ Every Nation - Statement of Faith
- ^ Spiritual Foundations, Year 1, ENLI Curriculum
- ^ a b Theology 2, Year 2, ENLI Curriculum
- ^ Every Nation | Every Nation Receives ECFA Accreditation - Church Planting, Campus Ministry, World Missions
- ^ Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)
- ^ Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)
- ^ a b Unofficial Page of "Friends and Former Members" of Maranatha at [1]. Maintained by Jay Rogers, the former editor of The Forerunner, Maranatha's former mouthpiece publication.
- ^ a b Every Nation FAQ on Maranatha ties
- ^ Rice Broocks, "Morning Star International" in C. Peter Wagner (editor), The New Apostolic Churches ISBN 0830721371
- ^ Brunell’s records aren’t all from football. Washington City Paper October 5, 2006 [2]
External links
Categories:- Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity
- Religious organizations established in 1994
- Evangelical denominations in North America
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