ECC Vision
Growing self-worth while maximizing potential in every soul we encounter, through pratical and purpose-filled Christ-Centered living.

ECC as a Church

It is viable to categorize the Church into two aspects:
(a) Church as the organization
(b) Church as the organism

Church as an Organization

This is a case where the ECC (body of Christ) legally congregates regularly to worship and praise the Lord Jesus Christ. As a congregation we will have organizational structures that include – articles of incorporation, ECC by-laws, leadership hierarchy etc. The articles of incorporation are legally recognized by the governmental authority while ECC by-laws are also legally recognized by governmental authorities. These contain ECC’s entire module of operation- (manual). They address issues of membership, general parameters of operation, leadership etc.

The benefit of an organization include among others:-
- Legally perusing set objectives and goals under the protection of the authorities.
-Growth of the organization by building on the structures that form it.
-Develop and promote gifting and talents among the membership by encouraging open and active participation within the organization.

Church as the organism

The Church, (ecclesia) is a living organism.

The birth of the church is well recorded in John1:1-12 and John3:16.
Like any natural living organism, the church has a Head which is Jesus the Christ.

The Body
1Corintians12:12-20

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body…whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. I f the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The growth of any body is sorely dependant on the collective participation of all members that make up the body, from the head all the down. The function of each individual member is unique and specific.

Our Model is based on a structure of Excellence, Integrity and Authenticity

As a church we shall endeavor to build ourselves up within the precincts of excellence, integrity and authenticity.

Excellence
The Lord is constantly molding us into a vessel that fits to the purpose for which He has for every single one of us, (Jeremiah 18:1-6). His goal is to achieve an excellent fulfillment of His purpose on earth through His people.
Col 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you go(Ecclesiastes 9:10)

Integrity (Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Psalm 119:11)
God has placed us in a world full of choices It is important how we decide to exercise our freedom of choice. We ought to accept the consequences of our responsibilities. In other words, integrity is more complicated than just not stealing and not lying etc. It's what we do when no one is looking. That's where real freedom resides, and that's where we often compromise our integrity. God’s law written in our hearts protects the abuse of the freedom to choose that God has given to us.

Authenticity
In order to have relevance and impact as Christian believers in our community we must learn and understand who Jesus Christ, the head of the church was all about. We must clearly understand what His mission on this earth was.

Church Membership
(excerpts taken from Pastor John Piper’s “5 strands of evidence”)

Are you a “Lone-Ranger Christian believer?

There is a biblical evidence for active and accountable local church membership.

At Empowerment Christian Center (ECC) we believe in church membership. ECC will recruit new members through:-new visitors to the church, one on one, through the church’s regular outreach for souls and other forms of outreach. New members will fill in a church membership form and required to go through a new member orientation class/lesson where they will be informed about the church, its vision and believes. They will also learn about the opportunities available to serve the Lord.

Evidence of membership in the church of Jesus Christ

There is the universal (invisible) church and the local (visible) church. Neither one exists to the exclusion of the other. However, there is no universal church without the local church.

The New Testament proves the evidence for church membership. Each of the following reveals something in the New Testament which would be minimized or denied if there was no definable local church membership.

1) The Church Is to Discipline Its Members
Church membership is implied by the way the church is supposed to discipline its members. Consider the implication of Matthew 18:15–17 where “the church” (ecclesia) appears to be the final court of appeal in matters of church authority as it relates to membership.
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
If there is no church membership, how can you define the group that will take up this sensitive and weighty matter of exhorting the unrepentant person and finally rendering a judgment about his standing in the community? It’s hard to believe that just anyone who showed up claiming to be a Christian could be a part of that gathering. Surely, “the church” must be a definable group to handle such a weighty matter. You know who you mean when you “take it to the church.”

2) Excommunication Exists
Church membership is implied by the simple fact that excommunication even exists. Paul implies this in 1 Corinthians 5:12–13 where he deals with the necessity of putting someone out of the church. He says, “What have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’”
There are two implications here: One is that there is an “in the church” group and an “outside the church” group. Being in the church is definable. The other implication is that a person can be removed from being “in the church.” Such a formal removal would not be possible if there were no such things as a clear membership.

3) Christians Required to Submit to Their Leaders
Church membership is implied in the biblical requirement of Christians to be submitted to a group of church leaders, elders, or pastors. The point here is that without membership, who is it that the New Testament is referring to who must submit to a specific group of leaders? Some kind of expressed willingness or covenant or agreement or commitment (that is, membership) has to precede a person’s submission to a group of leaders.
Consider the way the New Testament talks about the relationship of the church to her leaders.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. (Hebrews 13:17)
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. (1 Thessalonians 5:12–13)
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. (1Timothy5:17). There has to be a definite commitment for some to be led as others are chosen to lead.

4) Shepherds Required to Care for Their Flock

Church membership is implied in the way the New Testament requires shepherds to care for the flock in their charge. Consider Acts 20:28 where Paul tells the elders how to care for their flock. a group of members—Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Note This verse admonishes us that our first responsibility is to a particular flock.

How are they to know who their flock is? Who are we as elders and pastors responsible for? For whom will we give an account to God?

Consider the way apostle Peter speaks to the elders in 1Peter 5.it gets even clearer Verses 2–3: “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

“Those in your charge” implies that the elders knew whom they were responsible for. This is just another way of talking about membership. If a person does not want to be held accountable by a group of elders or be the special focus of the care of a group of elders, they will resist the idea of membership. And they will resist God’s appointed way for them to live and be sustained in their faith.
5) The Metaphor of the Body
Church membership is implied in the metaphor of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:12–31. The original meaning of the word member is member of a body, like hand and foot and eye and ear. That’s the imagery behind the word member in the text. Verse 12: “Just as the body has many members, so also are the members of the body of Christ.”
So the question this imagery raises for the local church that Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 12 is: Who intends to be treated as a hand or foot or eye or ear of this body? There is a unity and organic relationship implied in the imagery of the body. There is something unnatural about a Christian attaching himself to a body of believers and not being a member of the body.

Expectation for All Believers
So for these five reasons and more we believe that membership is a New Testament expectation for all believers. Each of us should be a member of a local body of believers.
• We should take responsibility to discipline those of the body who do not repent from public sin that brings reproach on the name of Christ.
• We should declare ourselves part of the body so that if we are wayward, we ourselves would be liable to such exclusion.
• We should take our position under the leadership and authority of a particular group of elders.
• We should declare ourselves part of a group who expect to be watched over and cared for by a particular group of elders.
• And we should find our place in the organic whole as a body part—a member—of a local body of Christ.
That is God’s plan for us and for this church. That’s what we mean by membership. All of those aspects of membership are rooted in the truth that the local church is an expression of the universal church. Part of what it means to belong to the body of Christ is to belong to a body.

A Blood-Bought Gift of God’s Grace
I close by urging you to pray and to think this through for your own life. The New Testament knows of no Christians who are not accountable members of local churches in the sense that we have just seen. “Lone-Ranger Christians” are a contradiction because becoming a Christian means being united to Christ, and union with Christ expresses itself in union with a local body of believers. It seems to us that in the New Testament, to be excluded from the local church was to be excluded from Christ. This is why the issue of membership is so important.
Are you an accountable member of a local church? Not just: Is your name somewhere? But, are you committed to discipline and being disciplined according to biblical standards? Have you publicly declared your willingness to be shepherded and to be led by the leaders of a local church? Do you see yourself and your gifts as part of an organic ministering body? Do you show by your firm attachment to Christ’s body that you are attached to Christ?
Church membership is a blood-bought gift of God’s grace. More than most of us realize, it is a life-sustaining, faith-strengthening, joy-preserving means of God’s mercy to us. I urge you not to cut yourself off from this blessing.