Clarifying Expectations
Over the past several years, we’ve been in dialogue with many of you and received feedback that there is not a lot of clarity regarding what is required for an Antioch pastor/church, and what is optional. We sent out a clarity document for our events, but I realized that we need to expand this to include other expectations vs. recommendations regarding Movement participation. I am including the expectations for Movement events at the end of this document so that you can see it all in one place.
Below is a brief outline of what is required, highly encouraged, and encouraged. For the requirements, these are each important for us to maintain unity. For the highly encouraged, we’d really like you to participate in each of these but recognize there may be seasons when you need to do something different based on the needs of your congregation. The final category is what we offer to support you, and you are free to determine whether these represent a good fit for your congregation.
What is most important that we all do together? Required for Antioch Churches1
- Incorporate the Five Circles of Church in your ministry philosophy2
- Adhere to the Antioch governance and oversight model
- Adhere to Antioch’s vision, values, doctrine, and stated positions
- Participate in the required Movement events (Team Leader Gathering, USCON – see below for the required vs. recommended events)
- Follow the Antioch Missions agreement when sending international (reference the Missions Agreement)
- Contributing 1.5% of income (operating budget) to the MSO to support missions
What do we hope you’ll join? Highly Encouraged for Antioch Churches
- Participate in a Lead Pastors roundtable
- Participate in the monthly pastor Zoom calls
- Participate in the US Leadership Track (vocational pastors across the Movement)
- Integrate the Movement word of the Lord
- Participate in the Movement prayer & fast (generally Mon-Wed, last week of February)
What do we provide to help out? Encouraged as a resource for Antioch Churches
- Movement-wide ministry cohorts (worship, kids, youth, etc)
- Regional World Mandates
- Revival and Reformation
- Various resources created for churches (see Antioch.org for more)
- The AMI payroll system for missionaries
- Acts of Mercy
- Engage the Nations (ETN)
Antioch Movement | Gathering Rhythms
We believe that we are better together, and there is no substitute for time spent in worship and face-to-face connection. Events always feel like a sacrifice but, once we are there, our constant testimony is “I’m so glad we did this!”
The following rhythms represent the normal event cycle for the Antioch Movement, the estimated cost, and how to prioritize. Our main conferences occur on a two-year rotation, and we intentionally alternate to space out the cost.
Main Conferences (these are required for all Antioch Churches):
USCON – This occurs every other year, generally in Waco, and is open to all staff and elders at Antioch US Churches. At a minimum, we ask all lead pastors to attend; however, we highly encourage you to bring your whole team.
The 2023 cost was around $100 per adult, plus travel and accommodation. Kids ministry is provided at an additional cost per child of approximately $125-150 per each child.
Team Leader Gathering – This occurs every other year, generally in an easily accessible international location. We ask all lead pastors to attend. If your church has multiple overseas teams, we invite your Missions Director.
The 2022 cost was $950 per adult, plus travel (which is substantial due to international flights). Kids ministry is not provided.
Roundtables (these are requested for all Lead Pastor couples)
Roundtables occur on an annual basis. These are for Lead Pastors, and there is a men’s and women’s Roundtable so that both spouses can attend (at different times). We highly encourage everyone to be involved and for churches to budget to pay for their lead pastor couple (both spouses) to attend their respective Roundtables. They generally occur near Waco.
Pastors are assigned to a permanent Roundtable. Please speak with Sean Richmond and Laura Seibert for a general idea of when yours meets.
The typical cost is $500 for men and $550 – $600 for women, plus travel.
**If cost is an issue, we do have limited scholarships.
Ministry Cohort Gatherings (these are recommended for relevant staff)
Ministry Cohort Gatherings are annual or every other year events for ministry areas such as worship, kids, youth, ADS, etc. We generally host the gatherings in Waco immediately before or after USCON in order to cut down on travel costs. Due to the need for ongoing development, we host some gatherings in the off year. Because of the cost, these gatherings are not required, but we do encourage them as a significant way to develop your staff.
Cohorts generally provide ongoing communication, resources, and virtual meetings in addition to the gatherings.
The cohort gathering cost varies group-to-group, but generally travel is the largest expense and accommodations are provided.
Regional Conferences (these are required for missionaries, and requested for Missions Directors if you have people in the region)
We host three regional conferences (rCONs) for international missionaries. One for the Middle East, Europe, and Africa; one for the rest of Asia; and one for Latin America. All international missionaries are required to attend their relevant conference. Sending churches are highly encouraged to send a representative if they have missionaries in the region. Please contact the International Field Office (IFO) for more specifics regarding US staff attending a Regional Conference (rCON).
Kids and Youth ministry is one of the most important aspects of these events since most missionary kids have little/no access to this during normal life. To facilitate this, we ask sending churches to send volunteers according to the number of kids or youth represented from their church. This ratio is communicated in advance to each sending church.