Fields of Zion International is building communities by strengthening the body of Christ through effective spiritual and civil leadership. Building The Assembly from the ground up by establishing Intentional Christian communities.
Twelve Apostles – What is their common characteristic? Why did Jesus pick them? They all had the potential to be the leaders who would plant His church.
Jesus built teams or “Assemblies”. For what purpose? To establish His kingdom on the Earth!
Jesus’s kingdom is likened unto a city… And what makes a city? Foundations, walls, streets, buildings… Water lines, power lines, sewage lines, garbage trucks… Farms, fields, crops… Banks, businesses, transportation… Parks, schools, houses of worship… Bridges, culverts, communication, manufacturing, repair and maintenance shops… Infrastructure and people!
What is a city, the people or the infrastructure?
In reality it’s both the people and the commonality of their land they share.
What is a community? A group of people who share something in common, or work together with a common purpose. A community can be both spiritual and/or physical.
The Five-Fold Ministry
The “five fold ministry” is only a part of “The Assembly of Christ.” It serves in part a leadership role within the church, but is not the fullness of God’s government. Jesus’s kingdom has a government. It is not only spiritual or physical, but both!
“The church” is the community… “The great assembly.” Within “the assembly” are smaller assemblies with specific roles including both spiritual and civil governance. The five – fold ministry is an assembly within the greater assembly, having a specific function and purpose. Yet it is not the completeness of God’s city nor His government.
What else is needed for the city to function? in order for The Church, the great assembly, to function as a city… as a body… other needs must be addressed. Agriculture, treasury, communications, education, commerce, development, transportation, defense, energy, health and more.
Building the Assembly
What if every local church community had a person dedicated to the duty of organizing the communities agricultural (food) needs? What if that person had a team of people who work with them to ensure the community’s food needs were met? A minister of agriculture!
What if within the local assembly, there were smaller assemblies, each working in harmony to ensure all the communities, and more importantly, that the individual needs of each member were met? Not just their spiritual needs, but also their physical needs? what if each local body had not only a pastor, but also Minister of finance, commerce, education, development, transportation, defense, communications, energy, agriculture and health… And each minister had a team… An assembly, whose focus was their area of expertise?
How much more effective would the spiritual leadership team (pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists, teachers) be with these burdens lifted? The church (body of Christ) needs assemblies to function. However, until now the church in general has been very ineffective at building a truly working assembly.
My vision, which I like to refer to as a kingdom culture, is to see a working assembly in every community… not the broken down denominational system we have now. Instead a system which builds on the strengths of individual members and bodies working together… The church at Philippi, at Rome, at New York, at America, at Australia and Asia etc. But, how do you build assemblies for each local church. That’s a lot of assemblies! So what is the most effective method of building assemblies?
An Assembly line!
At Fields of Zion International, we are working to build a working pattern, which local churches and bodies can implement to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of their community by teaching them how to build assemblies. While at the same time providing the tools needed for training effective leaders.