Manna-Fest Authority Structure

The Authority Structure of

Manna-Fest

Structure is important to any flow of ministry. The life giving flow of a river becomes destructive when it flows outside the boundaries of God-given structure. Structure keeps flow headed in the right direction. Structure provides the means whereby accountability can function to keep the flow pure.

Because the Lord expects us to do all things decently and in order and to prevent confusion and, as much as possible, the opportunity for division among those who are leading Manna-Fest, the following will constitute a definition of the basic structure of Manna-Fest. Also included will be guidelines for conducting the “business” of Manna-Fest.

I) THE MINISTRY OF MANNA-FEST:

The ministry of Manna-Fest will be guided and governed at all times by the “Mission Statement” as posted on the Manna-Fest web site. NO ministry of the Word or Spirit will be allowed to stand unchallenged which violates the letter or the spirit of that “Mission Statement.”

II) THE CLASSIFICATION OF MANNA-FEST MEETING TYPES:

Because of the growth of the meetings and in order to broaden the base of the number of voices which are primarily responsible for ministering at the Manna-Fest meetings, a distinction is being made in the scheduled meetings by dividing them into three classifications.

1) “NATIONAL MANNA-FEST MEETINGS”: This first category of meeting will be the week long meetings which are to be held in Annapolis, Maryland. These meetings include the general (or non-need specific) meeting and two specialized (or need-specific) meetings.

The general Manna-Fest meeting will be held in Annapolis each year (usually in November). The general meeting will begin on Monday night and continue through Friday night. This meeting will emphasize and follow the format and flow of ministry as defined in Manna-Fest’s “Mission Statement.”

The specialized (need-specific) meetings will adhere to the format and flow of ministry defined in Manna-Fest’s “Mission Statement”; however, the content of the ministry will PRIMARILY (but not exclusively) focus on a specific topic which is critical to preparing the church for participation in world-wide, endtime, Apostolic revival and harvest.

The first of the specialized meetings is Manna-Fest’s “Hope for the Hurting” which will promote the ministry to Shame. Attendees will be instructed in the Scriptural basis of Shame and provided with guidelines for effectively ministering to those with Shame. In addition, the meeting will be concluded with a prayer for the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord to empower for this ministry (as defined in Luke 4:18).

The second specialized meeting is Manna-Fest’s “Soul-Winners’ Boot Camp.” This meeting, which will be held in the summer time, will focus on inspiring and training saints to be soul-winners and will conclude with a Holy Ghost crusade on Saturday night. The minimum age for participation in this meeting will be 15 except for children accompanied by at least one parent or their pastor. This meeting IS NOT just for teenagers or young adults. It is for anyone (single or married) who wants to be fruitful in the Kingdom of God.

2) “REGIONAL MANNA-FEST MEETINGS”: The Regional Manna-Fest meeting makes the ministry of Manna-Fest available to areas of the country which are not within a reasonable driving distance of Annapolis. The Regional Manna-Fest meeting will be typically Wednesday night through Friday night in length. For the Regional meetings and / or any other meeting to be identified as a “Manna-Fest” meeting, at least two Elders which are either Supervising and / or Senior Elders must be present for the duration of the meeting. Due to the necessity of oversight and to maintain the credibility of Manna-Fest, there shall be no exceptions stipulation.

It should be noted that the pastors of the host churches for the Regional meetings DO NOT have to be Elders of Manna-Fest in order to host a meeting. However, a Manna-Fest Elder will be designated to be the liaison between the host church and the Manna-Fest Co-ordinator in order to assist the host church in properly preparing the host church for Manna-Fest.

3) INTERNATIONAL MANNA-FEST MEETINGS: Any meeting conducted outside of the United States and Canada can be identified as a Manna-Fest meeting if it has at least two Elders of any category of Eldership present. Also, the meeting can be considered a Manna-Fest meeting regardless of the format which the situation requires.

III) THE AUTHORITY STRUCTURE FOR PROVIDING OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY:

Because of the growth of the number of meetings being held and in order to maintain the integrity of the commitment to the “Mission Statement” of Manna-Fest, it is necessary to clearly define both the authority under which Manna-Fest operates and to clearly state the structure by which the leadership structure both receives and provides accountability. Faithfulness to God and His Word must be maintained at all cost, both for the Elders personally and in this ministry to the Lord’s body. Therefore, for the sake of protecting both those who are ministering and those who are receiving ministry, the structure of leadership, authority, and accountability is defined as follows:

1) “Manna-Fest” exists and operates under: first, the authority of God and His Word; and second, with the permission of the General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church Int. At any point that Manna-Fest is in violation of the first or permission is withdrawn by the second, Manna-Fest will cease to exist.

2) The SUPERVISING ELDERS OF MANNA-FEST: currently William Sciscoe, Tony Bailey, Franklin Howard, Larry Schoonover, David Shatwell and Chester Wright

These Elders will be responsible for the general oversight and final decisions on the future direction of Manna-Fest. They also will be accountable to the General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church Int. specifically and the Apostolic movement in general for all that occurs in these meetings. At least two of these Elders will be present at all National Manna-Fest meetings (see #1 above) and all Regional Manna-Fest meetings (see #2 above). One or all may or may not attend all or any part of any of the meetings described in #3 above. Other elders may become Supervising Elders as the Lord directs and with the unanimous agreement of all of the current Supervising Elders. All candidates for Supervising Elder must first serve at least one year in one of the other elder capacities before they will be considered.

3) SENIOR ELDERS of Manna-Fest: currently Mark Morgan, Rick Gonzalez, Dannie Hood, and Jonathan Suber

These Elders will be primarily responsible for the majority of the ministry in all Manna-Fest meetings (along with the Supervising Elders). In addition, in the absence of all of the Supervising Elders, those Senior Elders present will be collectively responsible for the oversight and the direction of the meetings and will be accountable to the Supervising Elders for all that occurs in the meetings. For any meeting which wishes to be included under II) #3 above as a “Manna-Fest” meeting, at least two elders who are either Supervising Elders or Senior Elders must be in attendance at the meeting. Additional Senior Elders may be added to the list above at the Lord’s direction and as the growth of the meetings require by the unanimous agreement of the current Supervising Elders. To be considered for Senior Eldership, the candidate does not have to be a Manna-Fest Elder first.

4) MANNA-FEST ELDERS: currently Bruce Bartel, Luke Camlic, James Carney, Richard Collins, Dennis Davis, Mark Delmas, Jim Dillion, Mike Dobbs, John Hanson, John Hemus, Mark Hemus, Ronnie Melancon, Glynn Middleton, Steve Rhoads, Andrew Smith, Alan Stewart, Tim Wallace, Sean Whaley, Alice Wright, David Wright, Joel Wright, Mike Yu

All of those included in this level of responsibility are participants in and responsible for the support, direction, and promotion of the Manna-Fest meetings. As the Lord directs, each Elder will be used to minister in the meetings which they attend. They will assist the Supervising Elders and the Senior Elders in the oversight of and ministry in each meeting in which they are present. These Elders have a standing invitation to attend any and all Manna-Fest meetings regardless of where the meeting is being conducted.

5) MANNA-FEST CO-ORDINATOR: currently David Wright

Manna-Fest Co-ordinator is responsible for keeping the records of Manna-Fest, assisting the host churches in preparing for their meeting, communicating with the Elders, and overseeing the general promotion of Manna-Fest.

6) It is understood that all Elders present and the meeting itself are under the direct authority of the host pastor at all times.

7) In order to avoid confusion and to avoid participating in ANY discord in any local church, NO saint is allowed to attend any Manna-Fest meeting in which their pastor is not present without the specific written permission of his or her pastor. The decision to make any exception to this can be made by a Supervising Elder AND the host pastor ONLY. If anyone has knowledge of a saint in attendance WITHOUT their pastor’s permission, they should notify the most senior elder present immediately.

8) NO Manna-Fest meeting will be scheduled or conducted in any district of the United Pentecostal Church Int. without first obtaining the express permission of the District Superintendent of the district in which the meeting is hosted.

9) In any Manna-Fest meeting regardless of its category, the scheduled meeting times and what, if any, fasting which is to done during the meetings will be jointly decided by the two most senior elders present and the host pastor.

10) In order to maintain unity among the Eldership and to provide an opportunity to find the mind of God for the future of Manna-Fest, all elders of any category must attend the November Manna-Fest meeting held in Annapolis. This attendance is mandatory in order to continue as an Elder of Manna-Fest. Exceptions to this requirement must be approved by the Supervising Elders in advance of the meeting except in the case of a bonafide emergency. It is requested that all Elders plan to attend the whole meeting

IV) THE BUSINESS OF MANNA-FEST:

1) All expenses for Manna-Fest meetings are to be born by Manna-Fest. The host church is not responsible for any Manna-Fest expenses. The host church is responsible for advertizing and promoting the meeting held in their church as the Lord leads. THESE AND ALL OTHER EXPENSES WILL BE REFUNDED UPON REQUEST.

No member of the Manna-Fest team will receive an honorarium for their participation in the Manna-Fest meetings except those Elders who are Evangelists, Home Missionaries, and Foreign Missionaries. These Elders will receive an offering when in attendance at any meeting whether they minister in the meeting or not. The amount of the offering will be determined by the Supervising Elders and the check for the offering will be issued by Manna-Fest directly. This offering should not be given out of the funds collected at the meeting.

2) Travel expenses, motel, and food expenses only will be reimbursed to any elder attending any meeting UPON REQUEST. Expenses which are incurred by any elder who is attending a Manna-Fest meeting which is held outside of North America are to born by the individual Elder. Manna-Fest will not be responsible for any international expenses.

3) Each individual Manna-Fest meeting will be financed by a $25 registration fee charged to all attendees to the DAY sessions. This includes the members of the host church. Anyone neglecting or refusing to pay this fee will be forgiven the debt. Neither the Elder nor any of his family members who attend any meeting will be charged the registration fee.

The night services are open to all, but a free-will offering will be received in the night services to cover the expenses. ABOSOLUTELY NO PRESSURE is to ever be applied to compel people to give. It is preferred that the pastor of the host church receive the offering in order to assure that his people and those in attendance will not be pressured to give.

All funds should be turned in to Manna-Fest and checks for expenses and honorariums will be issued by Manna-Fest upon request.

4) No other offerings other than those specified in #3 above will be received for any other purpose without the specific permission (given in advance) of the two most senior elders present AND the host pastor.

5) All funds received in #3 and #4 above will be deposited in the Manna-Fest account held in trust by Antioch, The Apostolic Church and a report of the disbursement of these funds will be made at the November Manna-Fest meeting. This report will include the previous 12 months prior to the November meeting in Annapolis.

The excess of income over expenses of any Manna-Fest meeting will be deposited into the Manna-Fest account to be used specifically to assist those meetings which fall short of covering their expenses.

6) The audio and / or video tapes of ALL Manna-Fest meetings are the property of Manna-Fest. The host church is requested to give (or send) the masters of each tape to Antioch, The Apostolic Church. All profits from the sale of Manna-Fest tapes made at all meetings listed in II) #2 and #3 above will be deposited in the Manna-Fest account. All elders in attendance will receive a full set of the tapes of the Manna-Fest meetings which they attend at no charge — UPON REQUEST ONLY.

7) Any elder, elder’s church, or host church of any meeting can GIVE to Manna-Fest by either NOT requesting reimbursement of any or all expenses or by the giving of a cash offering.