Shekhinah International Ministerial Alliance

"Servanthood Discipling toward fulfillment of the Great Commission of Jesus Christ"
Elder Dennis G. Peterson, Ecumenical Patriarch

Nehemiah, a contemporary of Ezra the priestly scribe, and co-author of the Hebrew manuscript that bears his name, was a royal cupbearer to the Persian king, Artaxerxes. This servant of the Lord was a praying man who desired to reverence God, and as such, confessed that he and his people had forsaken their first love. During his petition to God, he enumerated the sins of Israel as well as the Lord's commandments and promises. Based upon God's promises to Moses of covenant and mercy for "them that love him and observe his commandments", Nehemiah successfully sought the prosperity and peace of Israel. The moral of this story is that we, with full faith and assurance through God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, can abide within the reality that the Lord God will always maintain his covenant with his people, both clergy and laity. It is comforting to know that YAHWEH is the God of the initial as well as the second and third chance.

In the name of the Lord Jesus, I urge you to recall earlier days, in which, during your response to God's invitation and commissioning into the gospel ministry, you endured numerous tests, suppressions, and oppressions. Upon arriving at that special moment of consecration into the Christian ministry, you knew that ordination was an act by which the Church symbolizes a shared relationship of vision and mission between you, itself, and God. By the laying on of hands, you received authority to teach and preach the Word of God as a primary function within the Church. By virtue of ordination, you also were granted authority to administer the sacred mysteries of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ within the congregation. Such Sacramental privilege was not intended to be one of mediation in which you were to offer on behalf of the congregation to God, but a ministry of guidance of corporate and public expression of Christian thanksgiving and adoration. You felt the full import of that sacred and blessed privilege to administer the symbolic mysteries within the assembly of God. Thirdly, as an ordainant of the Body of Christ, you were assigned the trilateral task of equipping the congregation toward engagement in authentic ministry; to exercise pastoral oversight, and to administer the Order of the Church through enforcement of its rules and regulations within every aspect of its corporate life and witness.

You have endured numerous experiences. Some of us, despite apparent gifts, talents, skills, and commitment toward Christian ministry, were not fully recognized because we lacked scholarship or possessed non-recognized academic credentials. Others suffered reproach and discrimination on account of gender bias, cultural differences, and class distinctions; or were stigmatized due to political correctness, social-economic status, and/or possible fraternal/sorority social affiliation. There are those among us who encounter the proverbial "glass ceiling" within ecclesiastical institutions we serve because we lack similar collegiate affiliation, family connection, longevity of service, or have not had ample time or opportunity to matriculate institutional levels of ministry. There may be those of us who suffer from ministerial ineptitude, administrative incompetence, or who regrettably have moral failings and consequently no longer qualify for institutional ministerial service. Never the less, we should hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering and not throw away our confidence in Jesus Christ. It is written: "For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: But if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of our souls. Therefore, we shall not cast away our confidence regarding the covenant we have with God in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 10:36-39, 35)"

Attention Christian Ministers and Lay Workers:
As "iron sharpens iron" we, your fellow bondservants of Jesus Christ cordially welcome your participation as we commit ourselves to the practicum of spiritual authority, vocational responsibility, and professional accountability. We assemble ourselves twice monthly to engage one another Biblically, spiritually, intellectually, and professionally in a nonthreatening environment of Christian truth and experience sharing wherein Spiritual Covering is provided as we give and receive authentication and scriptural discipling without condemnation through:

Shekhinah Christian Life Ministries, International
C/o Executive Connectional Board
Attn: Secretary General
P.O. Box 12861
Durham, North Carolina 27709-0962

Prerequisites for Participation:
Ministers of the gospel and professional/semi-professional lay business persons who desire to associate with Shekhinah Christian Life Ministries, International through the Ministerial Alliance should have an attested personal experience and dynamic relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, resulting in acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth as Son of God, Lord and personal redeemer; 2) demonstrate a willingness to persevere toward a demonstrated lifestyle of spiritual authority, vocational responsibility, and professional accountability that is consistent with the disciplined example portrayed by Jesus Christ within Holy Scripture; 3) be a certified resident of the State and municipality in which membership is established; 4) be a loyal member of an accepted and approved Christian church or denomination; and 5) maintain a consistent ministry record and witness as a dedicated practitioner of Biblical Christian faith within such local congregation of said denomination.