Team Charter

🎯 Purpose

This formation team exists to discern, develop, and practice Spirit-gifted proclamation together—including teaching, testimony, exhortation, and prophetic encouragement—for the building up of the church and its witness in the world.

Shaped by the Book of Acts, we train as a "speaking faithfully team," recognizing that proclamation in the early church was often shared, sequential, and communal, not isolated or individual. The movement began with men and women praying together in the upper room (Acts 1:13-14), waiting for the Spirit who would equip them all to speak.

🕊️ Acts-Shaped Vision

The book of Acts reveals God's pattern for proclamation and community. These are the rhythms that shape our formation team:

• 👥 Barnabas and Paul enter cities as a team, taking turns speaking and strengthening believers (Acts 13:1-3, 14:1-7)
• 🗣️ Peter speaks with the Eleven standing beside him (Acts 2:14)
• 💬 Prophetic voices speak within community and are discerned together (Acts 13:1-2, 15:32)
• 📖 Teaching, testimony, and exhortation occur in synagogues, homes, public spaces, and journeys (Acts 2:42, 5:42, 20:20)

• 🧭 The Spirit directs the mission—sending workers, redirecting plans, orchestrating outcomes (Acts 13:2, 16:6-7)
• 🌱 Tragedy becomes expansion—persecution scatters believers, spreading the gospel (Acts 8:1-4)
• 📜 Suffering produces formation—Paul's imprisonments yield his greatest letters (Acts 21-28)

• 🔥 Pentecost reunifies scattered tribes—Jews from every nation hear the gospel (Acts 2:5-11)
• ✨ Unexpected people join—Samaritans, Ethiopians, Roman centurions (Acts 8-10)
• 🌐 Diversity without conformity—Gentiles join without becoming Jewish (Acts 15:1-29)
• 👑 Equals under King Jesus—communities where "Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female" are treated equally

• 🎁 Radical sharing—selling possessions to care for the poor (Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-35)
• 🍞 New families eating together—economic barriers broken down in daily fellowship
• ❤️ Paul risks his life—to deliver a relief gift to Jerusalem's poor (Acts 21)

📖 Core Values We Practice

👥 Men and Women Speaking Together

Following the witness of Acts, this team affirms that men and women are gifted by the Spirit to speak God's word in a variety of faithful contexts.

Without forcing agreement on contested questions of church order, we provide a formation space where all participants can grow in their Spirit-given gifts.

🤝 Shared Formation & Mutual Discernment

This team understands proclamation as a communal work. While individuals may be tasked to speak publicly, preparation, shaping, and review are shared.

🛡️ Cultural Guardrails

These commitments protect the team from common pitfalls and keep our culture safe, humble, and formative:

• No one prepares alone – Preparation is communal; no solo building
• No shaming, ranking, or comparison – We celebrate each person's unique growth
• All proclamation is tested by the community – Even prophetic impressions are weighed and discerned (Acts 17:11, 1 Cor 14:29)
• Feedback begins with affirmation – We name what's working before addressing growth areas
• Growth is expected; perfection is not – We're in formation, not performance
• Humility, teachability, and love are marks of maturity – Character matters more than eloquence

"We are only human beings like you." — Paul and Barnabas, Acts 14:15

⚔️ Costly Witness

In Acts, following Jesus meant suffering—arrest, beating, persecution, even death. Yet the Spirit transformed every hardship into kingdom expansion.

• Stephen's martyrdom scattered disciples, spreading the gospel beyond Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-4)
• Paul's imprisonments produced his greatest apostolic letters (Acts 21-28)
• Suffering for Jesus is formation—it shapes us into his image (Acts 14:22)
• The Spirit orchestrates good—even from persecution and setback

This team doesn't seek suffering, but we recognize that faithful witness may bring opposition. We commit to supporting one another through hardship, trusting the Spirit to transform trials into growth.

✅ What This Means Practically