New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI) is an international non-denominational Christian church network active in about 100 countries. NCMI affirms typical Baptist and Pentecostal beliefs, including biblical inspiration; the Trinity; the humanity, divinity and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and substitutionary atonement. Distinctive beliefs include the movement's view of church governance and the restoration of apostolic-prophetic teams. The statement avoids "entrapment in a fixed eschatological view on dispensationalism" and does not take a position on Reformed theology.

Partnering (previously "relating") local churches are not required to adopt NCMI's statement of faith, Based on their belief that the local church is autonomous, NCMI says it only speaks into situations or problems in a local church by invitation Churches cannot "join" NCMI, since NCMI considers itself fundamentally a team of people, not a network of churches. NCMI considers its role to be supporting and encouraging local churches with compatibility vision and values.

NCMI do not require money from partnering churches, although they do accept donations to support the translocal team. They also do not provide charitable status or tax exemptions for churches, as this would restrict autonomy. remarked that NCMI churches are "highly patriarchal in leadership; leaders tend to make unilateral decisions based on the 'leading of the [Holy] Spirit'."

Chris Wienand, former NCMI team member, wrote in 2009 of his NCMI experiences, "the recent years saw us preoccupied with an ecclesiology that was 'over realized'.... We preached 'model', 'pattern' passionately. But our God is gracious, kind and infinitely generous. He walked us back... to the gospel we had so sadly sent to the bookends of our convictions. After 25 years of pastoral ministry I had to admit to a wonderful community that I had erred."

Church planting

Church planting is a major component of NCMI's understanding of the local church and church growth. NCMI founder Dudley Daniel wrote, "an apostolic church has a mandate to see the church advancing in its witness to the world by fulfilling the Great Commission (), by planting churches in every town and village, making disciples of all nations." (Emphasis added.)

History

The NCMI team was originally founded by Dudley Daniel in South Africa in the early 1980s and is currently led by Tyrone Daniel.

Origins (1982–1990)

thumb|Map of South Africa

NCMI started in South Africa, around 1982 with a group of church leaders meeting together in Bryanston, a suburb of Johannesburg, to build relationships and discuss issues in their churches. Dudley Daniel emerged as key influence in developing this group. In January 1983 the group, then comprising about ten churches in greater Johannesburg, ratified a constitution for "New Covenant Ministries" based on "Bible Values" with the South African government, enabling them to recognize local churches, appoint church ministers or functions, and acquire property. At this time, all local church elders were members of the "covering body" of New Covenant Ministries and local congregations were autonomous.

Starting in 1983, the movement became "involved with missions, church planting, cross-cultural ministry, mission outreach, and mercy ministry to the poor [...] and to victims of disaster", including activities in neighbouring Swaziland, Mozambique and Lesotho. The movement also began to hold conferences and retreats for leaders of their churches, the precursor to Leadership Training Times, with Dudley Daniel providing much of the teaching.

By the late 1980s, the group had grown to about 70 relating church pastors. Around the same time, the apostolic-prophetic team emerged as a core group, distinct from the relating church pastors.

International expansion (1990–2004)

In 1990, the movement began to focus on international growth, appending "International" to its original name, "New Covenant Ministries". Daniel relocated his family to Australia in the early 1990s, coinciding with the official abolishment of apartheid in South Africa. In 1996, the "apostolic team" counted 13 men and their wives.

In the late 1990s Daniel moved to Los Angeles, California to "contribute to envisioning and equipping churches in the USA". By September 1999, Daniel was suffering from severe health problems. He and his wife returned to Adelaide in 2002.

{| class="wikitable floatright"

|+ Relating churches by region (2001)

|-

! Region !! Churches

|-

| Africa (outside South Africa) ||align=right| 5–6,000?

|-

| South Africa ||align=right| 200

|-

| Australia ||align=right| 25

|-

|}

By mid-2001, NCMI stated they had 7,000 relating churches located in over 80 countries around the world.

Attendance at the largest leadership training meeting in Bryanston grew from 1,000 people in 1990 to nearly in 5,000 in 2005, reflecting the movement's overall growth.

Manley wrote that, in 2001, of the eight original signatories to New Covenant Ministries, only three remained in the movement, with only Dudley Daniel and Rigby Wallace at the forefront. Around this time Coastlands International Christian Centre (Adelaide) functioned as an unofficial headquarters and regional base for Australasia, with Southlands Church International (Los Angeles) and New Covenant Church (Bryanston) as regional bases for North America and southern Africa respectively.

International Theological Correspondence College

In the mid-1990s, NCMI established the International Theological Correspondence College (ITCC), a correspondence college that worked in partnership with the South African Theological Seminary. The College offered a non-accredited program, containing only NCMI material and requiring no examination; and a fully accredited Diploma in Theology. In 2006, the College had 300 students enrolled. NCMI ceased operating ITCC by 2010.

Tenure of Tyrone Daniel (2004–present)

In 2004, Dudley Daniel and his Life Team selected Dudley's son, Tyrone Daniel, as the successor. By 2005 the team had grown to 280 people. Tyrone also became the lead elder of Coastlands International Christian Centre. He eventually transferred its leadership to his brother, Jon Daniel.

In 2010, Tyrone Daniel relocated from Australia to the United States and established a new church plant, Redemption City Church in Denver, Colorado. In 2017, he transferred the leadership to Terry and Sandy Kreuger.

thumb|center|upright=2.5|Countries in which NCMI was active (2006)

Structure

NCMI describes itself not as a group of churches, but a team of apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists (according to the list in ) who desire to help local autonomous churches grow into "all God has for them".

Committees

Manley states that by 2001, the initial idea of local church autonomy gave way to a "bulky" leadership structure of "distinct hierarchies. The NCMI team as a whole was partitioned into smaller teams with authority in specific matters or regions. He acknowledges that NCMI has made an effort to describe and encourage non-hierarchical leadership structures.

These "teams within the team" and their responsibilities were:

  • Governmental Teams
  • Life Team – personal accountability group for Dudley and Ann Daniel
  • Financial Team – oversight of international finances
  • Consultants Team – working with Dudley and the Life Team to "help give perspective to the broader ministry"
  • International Team – people able to travel and ordain elders
  • General Ordaining Teams – people operating in specific geographic regions
  • Non-Governmental Team – provide training and ministry in regional meetings, but excluded from "governmental responsibility" such as doctrinal issues, direction and discipline

NCMI continues to describe their structure as "teams within the team" with a variety of functions, but no longer provides details on how the teams are organized.

Conferences

A major part of NCMI's work is facilitated through conferences organized by NCMI. According to Black, "the effectiveness of the churches relating to NCMI is largely due to the high mobility of the Apostolic team and the ongoing connection through [Equips and smaller conferences]." These conferences have no fixed agenda, but include worship, ministry of spiritual gifts, and teaching, usually led by a member of the apostolic team.

Equip conferences

NCMI hosts periodic Equip conferences around the world, and numerous smaller events in local regions.

In 2006, Equip conferences were hosted in 33 countries, covering North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and southeast Asia.

Leaders attending conferences or visiting other churches pay their own travel expenses and accommodations, meaning their home church must have the necessary finances to support their travel.

Regional conferences

A few times per year, NCMI-partnering churches will organize short, smaller scale Geographical Training Times (or Regional Training Times), usually under the ministry of one or two members of the NCMI team. Unlike Equip conferences these are not promoted internationally.

Other conferences

NCMI also holds training times for prospective NCMI team members and church planters.

NCMI does not maintain an official headquarters. Based on the lack of an official headquarters and the relational network of autonomous churches, they say that they are neither a denomination nor a movement.

Since NCMI finds no biblical precedent for voting on decisions, NCMI team members do not vote but rather make decisions by arriving at a consensus. They discourage relating local churches from either voting among the eldership, or permitting the congregation to vote on any decision.

NCMI does maintain a website, various legal entities in countries in which it operates, and a post office box in Colorado, U.S.A.

Criticism

Allan Anderson, professor of Mission and Pentecostal Studies, wrote in 2005 that NCMI is "dominated by white South Africans, who lead many local churches and church plants around the world, preside over NCMI conferences, and predominate the membership of the apostolic team". Speaking of South African Pentecostalism in general and explicitly mentioning NCMI, Anderson contrasts the rise of expensive megachurches and "jet-set" apostolic networks in white, middle-class South Africa to the poverty of majority black Pentecostals. He says that as of 2005, South African Pentecostal churches were still divided along ethnic lines and were not "proactive with regard to such severe social problems as the AIDS pandemic, rising poverty and crime". In Anderson's view, these churches are "not making an impact nor addressing challenges posed by a rapidly changing [post-apartheid South African] society".

Notes

Footnotes

References

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Further reading

  • NCMI Gauteng – churches who partner with NCMI in Gauteng, South Africa
  • NCMI Let's Talk Magazine Archive
  • NCMI/ITCC Training Manuals Archive and New Resources