Ministry Philosophy

Ministers Fellowship International exists to facilitate and nurture meaningful relationships among member ministers, equipping and enabling them to be more effective in their callings, for the purpose of building and multiplying strong local churches around the world.

MFI is not a denomination. It is a fellowship.  For this reason, MFI does not credential ministers, hold church properties or maintain a central mission board.  All of these are functions of the local church.  MFI exists for the support of local church ministers and their churches. 

MFI is a fellowship of ministers of like vision and doctrine who voluntarily associate themselves with other ministries for the purpose of fellowship, encouragement, vision, expansion, equipping, and strength. By becoming a member of MFI, you are able to receive resources and strength from others. This is a two-way street in that you are also in a position to be a source of strength and resource to others in the Fellowship. MFI provides a structure and a context where meaningful relationships can be cultivated and where every member is looking out for each other.

One of the strong doctrinal foundations of MFI is its conviction that every local church is autonomous. Each local church is to be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. We desire to be a catalyst to bring pastors and church leaders together in affiliation for the purpose of fellowship, relationship, and strength. However we will not violate the structural integrity and authority of the local assembly.

MFI safeguards the local church by organizing the Fellowship in a way that prevents the things that give control. There are two things MFI will not do:

• MFI does not own local church properties. The local church is the rightful owner of its own properties and MFI does not involve itself legally with church properties.

• MFI does not control local church missions. The local church is to be the sending body for missionaries. Local churches may voluntarily cooperate with each other on missionaries and mission projects, but MFI as an organization does not send missionaries or plant churches. This is the ministry of the local church and MFI is dedicated to strengthening the local church as it fulfills its own ministry vision.

In spite of the fact that MFI does not subscribe to organizational control, it does recognize that ministers need a sense of spiritual family and identity. They need to be part of a vision greater than themselves. They need committed relationships with like-minded ministers who can be a source of strength and resource in their time of need.

MFI is just that for many pastors and leaders. When leaders come into MFI, they come into a spiritual family of brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers who can provide wisdom, counsel, and relationship when they need it. They become part of a worldwide vision that continues to grow into the future.

MFI provides a context for spiritual relationship and accountability in a balanced fashion without having any official or legal control over any minister or church. As a fellowship of ministers, MFI provides a context for ministers to find strengthening and support relationships with other ministers. However, these relationships are voluntary and unofficial and are not intended to replace the legal and official authority of the local church. 

All ministers, including the senior pastor, should be under the legal authority of and accountable to their own church elder board. If a pastor has no elder board, then he should be submitted to the accountability of a covering church while that elder board is in the process of forming.

If a local church's lead pastor or leadership team invites MFI leaders to be involved in a decision-making matter in that local church, any given suggestions would be submitted to the leadership team as advice. Any decisions or actions would be the function of the local church eldership.