Living Stones:
A Movement of Reformed
Churches in Canada

An Overview of the Polity

Our Mission

PLANT GROW FLOURISH
“To plant and grow expressions of the Body of Christ that produce flourishing disciples of Jesus.”

Preamble

God in Christ Jesus has called people from every walk of life to advance His kingdom here on earth through faithful obedience and service. As a people of God, the Church exists to fulfill God’s mission in fellowship through empowerment, edification, mentoring, and accountability, so as to disciple men, women, youth and children to grow in their faith and discern their gifts, serving together as one body, united through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, exalting the name of Jesus, and bringing glory to God the Father.

We also maintain that the best form of governance as God’s church is presbyterianism 1, in which covenant partners (full communicant members) and non-covenant members (adherents) are active participants together in God’s work. Therefore local expressions of communities of faith (congregations), are established by the Holy Spirit, and may vary in size and function according to context. When we speak of context, we are speaking of three particular aspects of context.

The first aspect is geographical. In some cases, long distance between different expressions of communities of faith will be such that it becomes a limiting factor in enabling gathering together with other communities and the greater body, or distances between members of the community of faith may also be a deterrent for travel. Therefore creative ways of communicating, worship, fellowship and extending pastoral care will be necessary.

 1 https://www.britannica.com/summary/presbyterian

The second aspect is size. Every expressions of community of faith will vary in size, and in some cases the numbers could be as small as the equivalent of a house church of a few. This will limit some in implementing the suggested normal structure spoken of in this summary and in the longer more detailed document of our polity. Flexibility along with creativity will be necessary, while maintaining the Essential Tenets and the spirit of the Constitution of Living Stones.

The third aspect is cultural. Living Stones is made up of individuals and communities from different cultural backgrounds, and as such, meaning of words and or the function of an office can differ slightly, or perhaps greatly. With this in mind, we hope to clarify the meaning of words and offices such as to not limit individuals or communities in being the fullest expression of God’s presence in Christ Jesus in their respective context, but rather, to help maintain a consistency of reformed understanding and practice in all areas of ministry and its expressions within Living Stones.

We also believe in promoting and exercising prayerful spiritual discernment as a first priority as “living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 2:5). The Robert’s Rules 2 of conducting a meeting are to be used in a limited capacity, and as a last resort for a vote when spiritual discernment has not yielded a way forward.

2 https://www.ccri.edu/acadaffairs/pdfs/Appendix%20IVRobertsRulesOfOrder.pdf
https://assembly.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/roberts_rules_simplified.pdf

Living Stones has constituted itself into a three-tier structure in the service of our Lord and Saviour

1. Structure

The Congregation – is the grass root strength of Living Stones and exists as a local expression of fellowship of believers. Ordinarily, these expressions include the calling of a Pastor, the election of Ruling Elders along with the membership of individuals and families as both covenant partners and non-covenant partners. However, we do recognize that there may be other expressions of fellowships that deviate from the above description, who no less are committed to upholding the word of life in their respective context, and whose local structure may differ, while still maintaining both the Essential Tenants and Constitution of Living Stones to fulfill Christ’s mission in the world.

Normally, a congregation would be provided leadership through a Council of Elders (COE), comprised of men and women serving together as ruling Elders and as pastor, and in some cases, also with an Associate Pastor. Where this structure is not possible, either due to context (i.e. house church, senior’s home, remote areas, etc.), then an approved alternative structure may be used. Approval is overseen by the Regional Elders (RE), in which the fellowship is associated.

All congregations associated with Living Stones do so to enhance Christ’s mission summarized in “PLANT…GROW…FLOURISH…” Ownership of land and buildings resides with the local congregation, as well as any other assets acquired by the congregation.

Regional Elders (RE) – exist to provide support, fellowship, and oversight to all expressions of fellowship (congregations) within its geographical bounds, or whatever defining boundaries have been established (i.e. cultural, etc.). The RE’s main purpose is to equip all expressions of fellowship to grow spiritually so as to make disciples who make disciples in advancing God’s kingdom. The RE exercises this oversight by guarding against any and all aberration of theology that may seek to alter the Essential Tenants or stand in opposition to Living Stones’ Constitution.

National Engagement Conference (NEC) – is the fellowship of all members of RE’s and of any member associated with Living Stones, once a year. Though it may be necessary to conduct some ecclesiastical business, its primary purpose is to network, encourage, educate, edify, empower, mentor, ensure accountability, and engage in collective mission work for the advancement of God’s kingdom.

2. Fellowship and Peer Accountability

Fellowship for encouragement, edification, mentoring, learning and accountability is vital to a healthy church. Having said that, we recognize as Living Stones makes a beginning our numbers will not require all the various levels of fellowship groups spoken of in our polity. Therefore, our beginnings may be modest in numbers and subsequently what is intended by the various groups listed below may be better served initially, by the first Mission Affinity Group. As God’s blessing enables growth, other groups may be added as needed to best serve the whole body for the glory of God.

Is the mechanism through which communities of faith (congregations) can be in relationship with one another for the purpose of encouragement and accountability. This fellowship will be vital right from the moment that Living Stones is established. Our numbers will be small and we will most likely be spread over long distances of one another. Creativity will be an asset to find ways to engage in fellowship to support one another in fulfilling God’s mission.
As more and more expressions of faith (congregations) are planted or joined the fellowship of Living Stones, it may be necessary to establish a fellowship group that is focused on leaders, ordinarily, pastors and associate pastors. The when, how and so forth of these groups can be discerned by the RE and presented at a National Engagement Conference for consideration.
Like the Pastoral Covenant Groups above, this team will most likely not be needed at first, but may prove useful when sufficient numbers of RE have been established to serve the growing Body. Its purpose is to serve as a body to work with other REs and exercise the authority of specific functions given to it by the RE.
In the future, when Living Stones has grown with an oversight of a large number of REs, it may be necessary to establish a standing group whose ministry is the exercise of discipline and associated matters within its bounds. Till then, this commission will not be needed as Living Stones makes a beginning.
This is an executive of the RE in function and would be implemented only when growth warrants.

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