The heading is FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) because that’s a heading that people look for and understand. But in fact, these are really only “Occasionally Asked Questions”. We have attempted to make each answer stand on its own – so if you find yourself reading through all of these expect some repetition.
The four categories: Doctrinal, Historical, Organisational and Provocative are to guide readers into areas of interest. Some questions appear in more than one category. The Provocative questions deal with questions we get that may or may not have an agenda behind them. Either way, we are happy to answer.
Unfortunately, some of the answers will be lengthy. Each question is treated as fully as we can, deciding that if someone was interested enough to ask, we would try to tell the whole story in our answer.
We don’t consider numbers to have any meaning. The church of bible times was small.
Nevertheless, for those interested:
Australia: 31
Canada: 1
Democratic Republic of Congo: 4
Fiji: 7
Italy: 2
Kenya: 1
Liberia: 1
Malawi: 619
Mozambique: 104
New Zealand: 8
Papua New Guinea: 245
Poland: 1
Rwanda: 1
Solomon Islands: 5
South Africa: 1
Tanzania: 2
Uganda: 2
United Kingdom: 3
USA: 1
Zimbabwe: 4
TOTAL: 1043 assemblies over 20 countries
We have independent organisationally-autonomous assemblies, each with their own organisational identity (eg Trust Deed, incorporation) and finances. There are no financial collections from each church assembly going back to a central coordination body.
Our unity is based on our doctrinal understanding, not on pooling finances or property. The vast majority of our assemblies do not own a property at all. The only organisational central fund maintained is a Mission Fund to which members and assemblies can contribute as and when they see fit.
Each assembly is led by a local pastor, with some larger assemblies having more than one pastor.
Many assemblies also operate House Meetings – these are smaller groupings which allow for more individual contact with church members. These House Meetings are lead by a House Leader, who works under the leadership of the local pastor.
Yes.
Child safety is important to our Church. Child safety is raised at each pastors conference, and our policy is that the matter is treated carefully and in full accordance with the requirements of each country in which the RCC operates.
If a perpetrator or incident is made known to anyone within one of our assemblies in Australia it is a requirement that this be reported to authorities. We expect the same to happen even in those countries where this is not a requirement.
The RCC operates no confidential confession arrangement, and fully complies with naming alleged perpetrators to authorities, and reporting any incidents.
As an example of a local assembly policy, this is the Child Safety Policy that operates within our assemblies in Melbourne: Melbourne Assemblies Child Safety Commitment (pdf, opens in separate tab). Requirements in Victoria (Australia) include all those working with children to have a ‘Working with Children’ police check.
Note that while there are different government requirements in different states and countries, we expect all assemblies to adhere to the spirit of our policy.
Matthew 19:14
Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.
Yes.
It is the policy of the RCC to cooperate fully with government requirements. This includes the reporting of known criminal conduct.
The RCC operates no confidential confession arrangement, and fully complies with requirements to name alleged perpetrators to authorities.
Example: Child Safety
Child safety is important to our Church. Child safety is raised at each pastors conference, and our policy is that the matter is treated carefully and in full accordance with the requirements of each country in which the RCC operates.
If a perpetrator or incident is made known to any of our assemblies in Australia it is a requirement that this be reported to authorities. We expect the same to happen even in those countries where this is not a requirement.
As an example of a local assembly policy, this is the Child Safety Policy that operates within our assemblies in Melbourne: Melbourne Assemblies Child Safety Commitment (pdf, opens in separate tab). Requirements in Victoria (Australia) include all those working with children to have a ‘Working with Children’ police check.
Note that while there are different government requirements in different states and countries, we expect all assemblies to adhere to the spirit of our policy.
Romans 13:1-7
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Yes.
Criminal Accountability Requirements
It is the policy of the RCC to cooperate fully with government requirements. This includes the reporting of known criminal conduct.
The RCC operates no confidential confession arrangement, and fully complies with requirements to name alleged perpetrators to authorities.
Example: Child Safety
Child safety is important to our Church. Child safety is raised at each pastors conference, and our policy is that the matter is treated carefully and in full accordance with the requirements of each country in which the RCC operates.
If a perpetrator or incident is made known to any of our assemblies in Australia it is a requirement that this be reported to authorities. We expect the same to happen even in those countries where this is not a requirement.
As an example of a local assembly policy, this is the Child Safety Policy that operates within our assemblies in Melbourne: Melbourne Assemblies Child Safety Commitment (pdf, opens in separate tab). Requirements in Victoria (Australia) include all those working with children to have a ‘Working with Children’ police check.
Note that while there are different government requirements in different states and countries, we expect all assemblies to adhere to the spirit of our policy.
Other Government Requirements
The RCC requires and expects all of its assemblies to fully comply with the laws of their respective countries.
This includes matters like finance, and health and safety. For example, in the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, our assemblies in Victoria Australia were required to close down our face-to-face meetings and allowed only a five-person team to be at our premises to put out an online meeting. We were audited for compliance and were noted as fulfilling all government requirements. Further, once face to face meetings were restarted, the Victorian Government required the wearing of face masks as a condition of meeting together. We also fully complied with this requirement.
Further to consideration of what is right, further to recognising that government requirements form part of our “testimony” (how the rest of the world sees us), we also note that the Bible makes it clear that this is how we should operate:
Romans 13:1-7
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Yes.
Child safety is important to our Church. Child safety is raised at each pastors conference, and our policy is that the matter is treated carefully and in full accordance with the requirements of each country in which the RCC operates.
If a perpetrator or incident is made known to anyone within one of our assemblies in Australia it is a requirement that this be reported to authorities. We expect the same to happen even in those countries where this is not a requirement.
The RCC operates no confidential confession arrangement, and fully complies with naming alleged perpetrators to authorities, and reporting any incidents.
As an example of a local assembly policy, this is the Child Safety Policy that operates within our assemblies in Melbourne: Melbourne Assemblies Child Safety Commitment (pdf, opens in separate tab). Requirements in Victoria (Australia) include all those working with children to have a ‘Working with Children’ police check.
Note that while there are different government requirements in different states and countries, we expect all assemblies to adhere to the spirit of our policy.
Yes. There are several items described in the Bible as being a part of fellowship generally and also specifically of a church meeting:
Singing
We sing at the start of our meeting and at other times during the meeting. Songs chosen are a mixture of hymns, contemporary songs, and others.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).
Testimony
As part of general encouragement to be in fellowship, the Bible speaks of us being stirred up by hearing the testimony of others. We set aside a specific time each meeting when one, two or more may be asked to bring their testimony.
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)
Doctrine / Teaching
Our meetings will have a specific time (“the talk”) set aside for reading the Bible, exhortation and doctrine. The role of the speaker is to bring forth Bible truths and connect them to contemporary life. Some talks are aimed at members of the Church and others are aimed at those visiting (usually both, specifically delineated).
Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine (1 Timothy 4:13).
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42).
Communion
Jesus said that we should remember Him when we meet:
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:19-20).
Each Sunday we do as Jesus said. This was the practice of the Church of the Bible:
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42).
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
The Communion Service component of our meeting is facilitated by the handing out of broken biscuit and grape juice, to be eaten when directed.
Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are to be operated, and done so in an orderly way.
If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:27-33).
While the Bible speaks of other Spiritual Gifts, these three: tongues, interpretation and prophecy were nominated for specific exercise during a meeting. Many church organisations do not operate these gifts in a meeting at all. We ask, why?
Prayer
In addition to seeking God’s blessing on our undertakings through opening and closing our meetings with a prayer, we also set aside a specific time when requests for prayer can be made of the assembly.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42).
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men (1 Timothy 2:1)
Giving
A collection is taken. This is anonymous, and for members of the RCC.
Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside… (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).
Collections are used to fund the administration and help of the Church, and to support those in need in our mission areas.
Need for Fellowship
The Bible tells us that meeting together is important.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:23-25).
How should these things be done?
Paul the Apostle gave out advice on the ‘mechanics’ and items that he considered to be a part of a meeting. In the midst of one discussion on these matters he made the following important statements:
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Paul wanted to ensure that the approach of all church members at a meeting (and indeed in every interaction) was to come from a place of love. The rest of 1 Corinthians 13 describes what this love means.
CONCLUSION
The RCC models its meetings on the pattern described in the Bible.
No. RCC pastors, elders and houseleaders are advised that advice given should be Bible-based only.
RCC members are encouraged to seek professional advice in any area of their life outside of church-related spiritual issues.
Our focus is on the gospel. We have determined that it is unscriptural to attempt to turn church assemblies into ‘one-stop shops’ for all of the issues that may arise in the course of life. We are not experts on finance, shopping decisions, holiday destinations or who to follow in the footy.
Further, there are areas of life that may have a Bible angle to them such as marriage, mental illness and sickness generally. While we absolutely encourage prayer in these matters, and will provide sound Biblical advice as appropriate, RCC members are encouraged to seek expert professional advice from counsellors and doctors/surgeons as required.
Apart from a few of our very largest assemblies, there are no paid ministers (pastors).
Further, there are no paid administrators or other church workers. All church members have the opportunity to voluntarily assist with running the various components of church life.
Yes, members are encouraged to help support the Church financially.
Importantly, this is completely between each member and God. Contribution (or no contribution) is anonymous, and no records of individual contributions are kept (because some members contribute by EFT, this can be seen). A ‘bag’ is passed around near the end of our Sunday meeting to which members can (or not) place any financial contribution. Anyone not placing anything in the bag may be contributing by EFT, or may not be contributing at all – no one would know.
In Matthew 6:3-4 Jesus said:
But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret…
Further, the Church does not seek grants from governments or other bodies, relying only on the contributions of members to ‘keep the lights on’.
The Revival Centres Church is a Bible-believing Church. This brings with it an earnest desire to fulfil the Biblical standards for membership. We do not apply our own “rules”, but rather seek to apply what the Bible teaches.
Joining the RCC
A person enters the Church (either with us, or some other church organisation) through being filled with the Holy Spirit, following their turning to God in faith. In our Church we note that the Bible standard for being sure that a person is filled with the Holy Spirit is that they speak in tongues: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
Until someone is filled with the Holy Spirit, we do not consider them to be a member of the RCC. People are of course free to attend meetings while they are determining if being filled with the Holy Spirit is something they want to pursue.
There are millions of people filled with the Holy Spirit who are not members of the RCC, but are nonetheless members of the universal Church.
Leaving the RCC
People leave church organisations for various reasons all the time. The RCC is no different in this regard.
The Bible speaks of those who “fall away” quickly, and those for whom the cares of this life “choke the word”. Some people lose their faith.
This is scriptural. In Matthew 13:18-23 Jesus said:
Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
However, not all who leave the RCC leave their faith in God. Others prefer the teachings or culture of another church organisation and seek to retain their faith in God, but to express it with another church organisation. We don’t recommend just looking for a church organisation that “suits” us, but rather being open to being changed and challenged to match a Biblical standard.
Nevertheless, people are of course free to make up their own minds and pursue their own actions. We wish them well, but have determined to not compromise on Bible teachings in order to retain numbers, or to create a false sense of unity, or to create an ‘anything goes’ church.
Being “put out” of the RCC
The Bible nominates actions that were of sufficient gravity that the person should not remain in fellowship with other church members. Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthian Church (in the Bible) telling them that they were keeping in fellowship with people who ought not to remain in their assembly.
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 Paul wrote:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
In Ephesians 5:3 Paul talks about sexual immorality, uncleanness and covetousness as not being something that should be in the church fellowship:
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 Paul talked about how this was not only defrauding the brethren, but a rejection of God:
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel [body] in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
We doubt that Paul took any pleasure in calling for church members to be put out of fellowship; we certainly don’t. But if a Church claims to be Bible-based then these scriptures cannot simply be ignored or considered to be out of date.
Is this too harsh?
The alternatives are to (a) decide to accept less than what the Bible teaches; and (b) allow people to remain who are a threat to other members and/or children. This makes those church organisations that decide to ignore these scriptures less a place of safety, and more of a risk to other members. Some church organisations allow confession (including serious matters sometimes kept from authorities) to “resolve” gross sin (eg child molestation), turning their fellowships into ‘happy hunting grounds’ for pedophiles and other kinds of perpetrators.
If applying a Bible standard is considered harsh, we are entitled to ask how not applying a Bible standard would work out. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the answer is: not good.
No, apart from some local help in some mission areas, the RCC does not seek or accept grants from government.
In the Bible, the Church was fully funded by the contributions of its members. This is our normal method of operation.
Importantly, member contributions are completely between each member and God. Contribution (or no contribution) is anonymous, and no records of individual contributions are kept (because some members contribute by EFT, this can be seen). A ‘bag’ is passed around near the end of our Sunday meeting to which members can (or not) place any financial contribution. Anyone not placing anything in the bag may be contributing by EFT, or may not be contributing at all – no one would know.
In Matthew 6:3-4 Jesus said:
But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret…
No, no ongoing fees or subscriptions are charged.
Neither do we promote books or other religious paraphernalia for sale, nor do we undertake special offerings for visiting speakers.
We do have a special Missions collection at our International Rally every second year.
However, members are encouraged to help support the Church financially.
Importantly, this is completely between each member and God. Contribution (or no contribution) is anonymous, and no records of individual contributions are kept (because some members contribute by EFT, this can be seen). A ‘bag’ is passed around near the end of our Sunday meeting to which members can (or not) place any financial contribution. Anyone not placing anything in the bag may be contributing by EFT, or may not be contributing at all – no one would know.
In Matthew 6:3-4 Jesus said:
But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret…
Further, the Church does not seek grants from governments or other bodies, relying only on the contributions of members to ‘keep the lights on’.
No.
No files are kept on members.
Members names will appear on a confidential assembly roll which contains name, contact details, and assigned houseleader (if applicable).
No.
Many church organisations have encumbered themselves with church-run businesses. In first-world societies generally, these are a distraction, and worse may blur the line between members of the church volunteering services for the purpose of the gospel vs getting a business off the ground. Worse than this, church-run businesses, no matter how well set up, may detract leadership resources and focus from the gospel.
Having said that, in some of the dire circumstances that exist in some of our African assemblies, some assistance (usually privately from first-world members) has been given to help a local assembly or two establish a means of feeding themselves locally. This reduces the drawdown from our Mission Fund, which while established to help poorer churches in relation to the gospel, often ends up providing assistance just to keep members alive.
We consider this to be more like the help given by the Macedonian churches in the Bible, rather than just a church wanting to become wealthy (as seems to be practiced in first world countries).
Paul described the generosity of the Macedonian as follows:
…in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality… they gave beyond their ability… begging us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).
Paul spoke of delivering this collection:
But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things (Romans 15:25-27)
No, not as a formal document. However, we expect members to reflect Biblical principles in their behaviour.
Many decades ago there existed “Assembly Regulations” in some assemblies. These were to guide members into Bible statements about various aspects of church life and also included advice about such matters as not seeking loans from members, not taking advantage of others’ hospitality etc. However, items like these can get a life of their own, and we abandoned this approach relying instead of Bible talks that mention those items mentioned in the Bible.
More recently, up until a decade or two ago, some assemblies put out a Code of Conduct aimed at our younger people. These again affirmed Bible principles such as modest dress, not drinking, relationships between young men and young women. Again, it was considered that the Code of Conduct got a life of its own, and was (again) abandoned in favour of focusing just on scriptures, and direct talks and advice from the Bible to the Young People as a whole, and to individuals as needed.
So what is our code of conduct now? A list of scriptures is provided, and these are listed and discussed with our Young People. As a Church, we want to provide our members with an insight into God’s requirements as set out in the Bible. In fact, we consider we would be negligent to not remind all members of the Church about what God expects, as set out in the Bible. We preach and expect our members to (with the indwelling support of the Holy Spirit) lead the kinds of lives that bring glory to God and uphold the testimony of believers.
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3).
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age (Titus 2:1-12).
No, we don’t run schools.
Our encouragement to members is to be part of society rather than creating mechanisms which separate children from normal educational involvement.
Further, by keeping our focus on the Gospel we have avoided distractions with which some church organisations have become encumbered.
Some of our larger assemblies run a ‘Sunday School’ on a Sunday – a bit of an anachronistic term as these don’t serve the same purpose as they did when this term was coined around 200+ years ago. Our Sunday Schools serve to teach children about the scriptures. In Melbourne, we call our Sunday School “Kid’s Church” to make this clearer.
No.
The RCC considers it to be a mistake (not Biblical) for church organisations to align themselves with a political party. Those that have gone down this route either split their congregations or end up with congregations that choose their church because it already agrees with their politics. This is not the basis for a Bible-based church, which might find itself doctrinally at odds from time to time with the views espoused by those on the left or right of politics (or both).
As noted elsewhere, it is not the role of the Church to attempt to change society. Jesus’ message is to the individual. National and international change is only expected when the Kingdom of God is established after the return of Jesus.
In the meantime, trying to support a political party because you think their polices are closer to being Godly, misses one of the main messages of the Bible from the Old Testament through to the New Testament: that legislating righteousness does not work – each person needs to be changed within by turning to Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Further, if we were ever to pursue doing this, the first question would have to be ‘which one’ – because RCC members come from all walks of life and would currently vote across the political spectrum.
Politics is a hard job. No one is saying that good government isn’t important or necessary. But which political party is in power is not something we want to spend our focus and energy on; and no party is likely to align in all things with Biblical principles.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same (Romans 13:1-3).
No, the RCC does not back political viewpoints.
The RCC considers it to be a mistake (not Biblical) for church organisations to promote certain political viewpoints. Acting in this way is not the purpose of a church. Political opinions and lobbying are the functions of a political party.
This includes backing religious lobby groups. In Australia, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) seeks to lobby the government on behalf of churches and on behalf of political positions that it determines are what a church should want. The RCC is not a member of the ACL because we think that lobbying governments is a category error: that instead, churches should be focused on salvation and the gospel being demonstrated in the lives of believers.
As noted elsewhere, it is not the role of the Church to attempt to change society. Jesus’ message is the to the individual. National and international change is only expected when the Kingdom of God is established after the return of Jesus.
In the USA, Australia and elsewhere, an extremist position has developed within some churches called Christian Nationalism. This calls on church members to infiltrate government organisations and political parties in order to get access to the levers of government power. The RCC sees this as a misunderstanding of how real change comes about. We believe it is spiritual, one person at a time, and via people being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same (Romans 13:1-3).
No.
The assemblies that now form the Revival Fellowship were with the Revival Centres until 1995.
At that time, a large number of church assemblies (not all members in each) broke away from the RCC over the issue of whether or not to uphold Bible requirements in respect of how the church should deal with sexual immorality. The RCC determined to follow the Bible’s approach to these matters, while the Revival Fellowship sought to maintain the then existing approach of setting time limits for being out of fellowship. Of course both groups were of the view that their position was the Bible one.
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints (Ephesians 5:3).
We wish all members of the Revival Fellowship well. But since 1995 the RCC has not been associated with the Revival Fellowship, who have gone their own way since that time.
No.
The Geelong Revival Centre was once a part of the Revival Centres (hence their name).
In 1972 the Geelong Revival Centre took itself out of fellowship with the Revival Centres over our concerns that they were being extremist in some of their actions and expectations, and over their complete reliance on the leadership of one man with seemingly no real means to disagree with his approach.
For over fifty years the Geelong Revival Centre has gone its own way, out of fellowship with the RCC, and pursuing their own approach. From what we have seen from afar, and from hearing from those who left it to join us over the years, we believe our initial concerns were justified.
As the Geelong Revival Centre kept its name, our local RCC assembly (of those that did not join the Geelong Revival Centre) called itself the Bellarine Revival Centre, or RCC Bellarine. Bellarine is the local name to the area that includes the city of Geelong.
Our doctrine is based on the Bible. As a Bible-based Church, we do not seek doctrine from creeds, traditions and proclamations that have arisen since the New Testament was written. It’s not that we necessarily disagree with various creeds, but rather we have found a direct link to Bible-expressed truths is simpler, easier to understand and focused on what matters for Christians who claim to be Bible-based.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
A pastors conference is held approximately every two years where the way we deal with contemporary issues is discussed using the Bible as our source for decisions on doctrine.
Pastors are encouraged to keep in contact with each other. Our headquarters in Melbourne coordinates pastoral contact.
No, of course not.
The RCC did not even exist before the 1950s. And today, there are millions of people world-wide who have received the Holy Spirit and who have a direct personal relationship with God but have never even heard of our Church organisation.
This website is full of material that sets out what the Bible says about coming to know God, about salvation, about what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, about being filled with the Holy Spirit and then living a life walking in the Spirit.
We contend that faith in Jesus (even as small as a mustard seed) leads people to repentance.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die… (John 11:25-26).
…by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead …Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:10-12).
We contend that baptism is the answer of a good conscience towards God (a response to wanting to do what God wants for us).
…baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God)… (1 Peter 3:21)
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6:3-5).
We contend the being filled with the Holy Spirit is the fulfilment of God’s answer to mankind. God’s answer was taught to us by Him showing us our inability to keep the law, by Him sending his only begotten Son, Jesus, Whose atoning death paid the just penalty for our sin, and by Jesus sending the Holy Spirit as He promised He would. Peter the Apostle summed this up on the very day the Christian Church began:
This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. (Acts 2:32-33).
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
CONCLUSION
It is not membership of, or attendance at, an organisation that is the path to God. The Bible lays out an unfolding story of God wanting to know people directly and personally, having changed them to allow direct communion with Him.
We believe we should not preach anything less than this. We believe that God’s plan for salvation, described and fulfilled by Jesus, and fulfilled and promoted by the Apostles, and outlined in the Bible, is the only path to God.
We feel blessed to have found this, and our hope is that many others have too.
We preach that you must receive the Holy Spirit to be saved.
Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
In seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we point people towards understanding and accepting that Jesus died on their behalf and to have faith towards God that He will confirm His word with ‘signs following’.
We preach that everyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit will have the same experience that all received on the day the Christian Church began (Acts 2). That is, they will also speak in tongues.
Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
It is not the speaking in tongues that saves. Being saved comes from faith in Jesus leading to being filled with the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is the outward manifestation of that inward change.
This is a popular idea, expressed in various ways such as “there are many paths up the mountain but all see the same view” or “there are many shores but all border the same ocean”.
It sounds nice. Find your own way. Work on your own spirituality.
However, the message of the Bible is restrictive and precise:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Jesus also made this clear in respect to Himself:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).
Peter the Apostle told the people of his time:
…by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead …Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:10-12).
In answer to the question “What must we do”, Peter also laid out the specific steps for salvation:
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
CONCLUSION
No, based on these scriptures, the RCC contends that there are not many ways to find and know God.
There is large body of thought that has arisen, over the centuries since the New Testament was written, about the nature of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This has been expressed in various church writings and creeds. Before we start, it is worth noting that whatever we or others say, we must acknowledge that all of us are dealing with matters some of which are beyond human understanding.
In one sense, it is almost arrogant to assume we can know the nature of the Godhead. But in another sense, God has allowed and given insights into His nature that we are free to ponder in awe (rather than thinking we understand completely).
As a Bible-based Church we are keen to reflect and preach Biblical understanding, nothing less and nothing more. Various church councils over the centuries have looked into the scriptures and come up with views on various matters, including the nature of God. Almost always this was intended to deal with a doctrinal dispute, or even attend to the introduction of a heresy (anti-biblical position). This has resulted in various proclamations and creeds which, while they may certainly be synchronous with the scriptures, sometimes go beyond the plain and simple statements of the Bible.
This creates unnecessary complexities. Divisions arise over a newly proclaimed statement which, while true as far as it can go, is an interpretation of the Bible, adding insights that (rightly or wrongly) go beyond the plain understandings held by the church of Bible times.
Whether right or wrong, these become the subject of theological debate far removed from the matters the church in Bible times ever found the need to understand to achieve ‘doctrinal purity’ or orthodoxy. The nature of God has been the subject of such debate.
The Trinity
The Trinity is a word that arose out of debates held and positions achieved after church councils in Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon in the fourth and fifth centuries. It is an explanation of the nature of God, affirming that Jesus is Divine, is fully God and fully human, and yet He is one person within the Godhead (consisting of Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The Godhead is described by the council conclusions as three persons yet one God.
Is this true? You can certainly trace the scriptural clues to see how these conclusions were arrived at (see the many following scriptures).
Is it complete or fully accurate? When you look into a matter, arrive at a conclusion based on the evidence (in this case, scriptures) but your conclusion contains a paradox it usually means there is something you don’t understand. We would like to think we are humble enough to simply accept that – that we don’t fully understand the nature of God. Paul the Apostle wrote of his current understandings like this: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Because we are a Bible-based church, we do not use words or proclamations that arose after the revelation given in the Bible. For this reason, you will not hear the word “Trinity” used in our preaching, although the creed appears to agree with scripture. For this reason, we agree with those statements which are clearly supported by scripture, and we will preach on these.
Here is a selection of scriptures where God has given some insight (as far as we can comprehend) into His nature and that of Jesus and the Holy Spirit:
GOD
One, eternal, a Spirit, the Father a distinct Person within the Godhead, Creator, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, just, righteous, love
One: Isaiah 45:5
I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me…
One: Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one…
Eternal: Revelation 1:8
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord,…
Eternal: Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Spirit: John 4:24
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Distinct Persons: Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”
Distinct Persons: John 3:21
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Omnipotent: Luke 1:37
…For with God nothing will be impossible.
Omniscient: Psalm 147:5
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.
Omnipresent: Jeremiah 23:24
Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
Just, Righteous: Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.”
Just, Righteous: Psalm 89:14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face
Love: 1 John 4:8
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Love: 1 John 4:16
“…God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
JESUS
Pre-existent, eternal, Divine, One with the Father, equal with God, a distinct Person within the Godhead, human, Son of God, Son of man, begotten, incarnated, Redeemer, Saviour, unchanging, the One who sends the Holy Spirit
Pre-existent, begotten: John 1:1-2, 10, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. …He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. …And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Pre-existent: Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”
Eternal, Divine: John 8:58
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Divine, One with the Father, Saviour: Colossians 1:13-19
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
One with the Father: John 14:9-11
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
One with the Father, Divine: John 20:28-29
And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”.
Human: Luke 2:7
And she brought forth her firstborn Son…
Human, Saviour: Hebrews 2:14
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil
Human, One with the Father, equal with God: Philippians 2:5-11
…Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Divine, equal with God: Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Distinct Person: John 3:21
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Son of God: Matthew 16:15-17
He [Jesus] said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Son of man: Matthew 16:13
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am”?
Note: Jesus used this term both to mean his humanity, but also with prophetic intent (see Isaiah 52 to 53 and Daniel 7).
Son of man, Divine: Matthew 12:8
For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Human, Saviour: 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Redeemer, Saviour: Hebrews 9:14-15
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Unchanging: Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
One with the Father, the One who sends the Holy Spirit: Acts 2:17-18
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
The One who sends the Holy Spirit: Acts 2:32-33
This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Eternal, giver of life, indwells God’s people, equal with God, a distinct Person within the Godhead, distributor of gifts, guides into truth, Interceder, Helper (Comforter KJV), speaks of Jesus, His presence better than Jesus’s physical presence
Eternal: Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Giver of life: Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Giver of life: Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Indwells God’s people: 1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Indwells God’s people: Romans 8:9
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Equal with God: 2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Distinct Person: John 3:21
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Distinct Person: John 14:16-17
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you…
Distributor of Spiritual gifts: 1 Corinthians 12:4-7
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.
Gives Spiritual fruit: Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Guides into truth, speaks of Jesus, Distinct Person: John 16:13-14
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
Interceder: Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession.
Helper (Comforter KJV): John 14:16–17, 26
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter KJV), that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. …But the Helper (Comforter KJV), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
His presence better than Jesus’s physical presence: John 16:7
[Jesus speaking]: Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter KJV) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
GOD, JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
Treated as of equal importance: Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Appeared together as distinct Persons: Luke 3:21–22
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
No it is not.
The King James Only belief is the view that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is the only accurate, inspired, or trustworthy English Bible translation: that it is superior and the only source that should be used for faith or practice.
This is not our position. Members of our Church can (and do) use any translation they prefer for their private reading of the Bible, or to follow scriptures being quoted by speakers in our meetings. For example, this website uses the New King James Version because it is easier to follow for an audience that may not have been exposed to the Bible.
We ask those that preach from our platform use the KJV, as we prefer to maintain a consistent preaching approach, and also many members have invested in buying a KJV Bible.
More importantly, RCC members are encouraged to read the Bible with faith. All translations have their good and not so good points, but the main messages of the Bible are clearly put forward in most translations.
Well we certainly celebrate Christmas – but more in a cultural way than a spiritual observance.
Paul the Apostle wrote to the Galatians:
But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain (Galatians 4:9-11).
Paul was concerned that they were observing some days as more special, more holy, than others. He referred to this way of thinking as “weak and beggarly” – the idea that days were special, when it was their relationship with God (every day!) which was special.
For us, religious celebrations like Christmas (and Easter) are not special in a religious or spiritual sense. Remembering that Jesus died for us is something we do formally each week in the Communion part of our meeting – a way of remembering that Jesus Himself instituted. Remembering that Jesus was born into the world is something we might preach on at any time, rejoicing that God saw fit to send His Son to be born into the world to save us.
Having said that, we recognise that times like Easter and Christmas are times when society in general (in most of the countries in which we operate) turns its thinking to the birth, or death, of Jesus. As we feel unconstrained to preach on these subjects at any time we choose (because we don’t observe “days and seasons”), we are also are happy to preach about the birth and death of Jesus at times like Christmas or Easter when others may have their thinking more drawn to these subjects.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:8-14).
In terms of cultural celebrations at Christmas, RCC members celebrate Christmas like many others with gift-giving, family gatherings and the like.
Further, some of our assemblies will undertake Christmas carol singing – both remembering that Jesus was born (which we can do any time), and as a way of engaging with the communities in which we live. While the Santa songs are fun, some of the hymn carols have great words.
Here’s an example flyer for the Christmas Carols concert that Melbourne runs most years:
Originally beginning in Melbourne, and then quickly Bellarine and Ballarat we were simply known as the local town/city followed by Revival Centre – eg the Melbourne Revival Centre.
Following the spread of our church, and needing to register with the government in order to conduct weddings, we named our church the Revival Centres of Australia.
This was just in time to be almost instantly out of date, when our message began to spread overseas from Australia, into New Zealand and Fiji. Then into Papua New Guinea, Africa, America, Canada and Europe. At this point we renamed ourselves Revival Centres International.
However, during our pastors conference in 2015 we confirmed our joint experience that many people did not recognise that name as being of a church. The title “International” sounded more like a corporate multinational than a simple Bible-believing Church.
At that conference, after some discussion, we determined the simplest and most accurate name would be Revival Centres Church – the name we use today.
While we trace our experience of receiving the Holy Spirit to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 in the Bible, our church organisation had its own beginnings just after the Second World War when our founding pastor, Lloyd Longfield, received the Holy Spirit in 1948. He experienced the same life-changing moment as recorded in Acts chapter 2 on the Day of Pentecost. This was profound for him as he hadn’t been instructed by anyone that this would occur. He was thinking about whether it was possible to know God and spontaneously spoke out in tongues.
This apprehension was so compelling that Lloyd Longfield, from that unexpected beginning, began ministering to others.
In 1958 the Melbourne Revival Centre formed as a separate entity, under Pastor Longfield’s leadership.
From here the Revival Centres Chuch has grown (and sometimes contracted) over the last seventy years, with close but different names along the way (see other History questions for more detail).
All church groups suffer “splits” or schisms, usually over doctrinal positions – but sometimes over more mundane matters.
Although never welcome, this has happened to us as well. There have been smaller schisms, sometimes an individual assembly or pastor, or even a church member will leave and take people with him. In 1995 we had a major split over our determination to uphold Bible sexual morality standards for church members. The resulting church group – The Revival Fellowship – continues to this day, and is separate from us.
We wish the members of groups who have left well, but have determined not to compromise our doctrine for the sake of false unity or numbers.
Pastor Lloyd Longfield, our founding pastor, received the Holy Spirit in 1948 in what was then known as the Commonwealth Revival Crusade (formerly National Revival Crusade).
He was disbarred from that group after trying to address some extremisms that had come in via American ‘demonology’ preaching in the 1950s. Pastor Longfield was literally locked out of a meeting with the then pastor (Tom Foster) and elders of the Melbourne Commonwealth Revival Crusade. The meeting had been called to discuss his concerns.
Following being disbarred from addressing the leadership and members of the Commonwealth Revival Crusade in Melbourne, Pastor Longfield formed the Melbourne Revival Centre in 1958. The new assembly grew rapidly from that point.
Yes. On occasion. Rarely by name, but sometimes that too.
Our concern is wrong doctrine, not just wanting to be provocative.
It is unfortunate that some churches ignore or twist scriptures to suit an agenda, or to excuse sin, or to seek numbers and money.
Others have placed their church tradition on equal footing with the Bible. Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees of His day:
…Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’ ” (Matthew 15:6-9)
Others ignore parts of the New Testament of the Bible, citing them as outdated. It is not the role of the Church to become like the world.
Many do not not preach the simple path to salvation outlined in the Bible. On the day the Christian Church began, Peter the Apostle talked about Jesus, how He had been crucified and was now risen from the dead. To the question “What must we do…” Peter said:
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).
We do not want to become provocative. But as issues permeate into society, or even into church organisations, we will endeavour to be clear. We should all (us too!) be open to learning, to being led by the Holy Spirit to see things how God sees them, and to continually ensure that we match our preaching and approach to the doctrine set out in the Bible.
In those times when the teaching of a church organisation is mentioned, our intention is not to disparage members of those churches, but rather to make clear what Bible teaching says. We do this to instruct our own Church members, and in the hope that others may seek to enquire more fully into Bible teaching.
No, of course not.
The RCC did not even exist before the 1950s. And today, there are millions of people world-wide who have received the Holy Spirit and who have a direct personal relationship with God but have never even heard of our Church organisation.
We consider the steps to salvation outline in the Bible to be the only true way to come to know God.
God’s message of salvation was introduced a step at a time:
- God brought about the knowledge of sin through the giving of the law, via Moses
- God showed that mankind did not have the capacity to resist sin through the required Old Testament sacrifices being continually offered, year after year
- God showed that a Saviour was needed, and promised His coming
- Jesus confirmed that even breaking a commandment in your mind meant you had broken the commandment, underlining that in our own strength it is impossible to live up to God’s ways
- Jesus pointed towards having faith in God, but did not leave His listeners to try to develop their own faith, pointing towards the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit
- Jesus said the coming Holy Spirit was the Promise of the Father
- Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when the Church began (they all spoke in tongues, Acts 2:4)
- Peter the Apostle stood on that day and preached about Jesus coming, dying for them, and being resurrected
- In response to the resulting question, what must we do, Peter the Apostle told them to repent, be baptised and receive the Holy Spirit:
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
We preach that this is the only way. We believe we should not preach anything less than this. We believe that God’s plan for salvation, described and fulfilled by Jesus, and fulfilled and promoted by the Apostles, and outlined in the Bible, is the only true path to God.
We feel blessed to have found this, and our hope is that many others have too.
The term ‘fundamentalist’ has had its meaning change over time.
If you mean ‘does the RCC preach Bible fundamentals’ the answer is yes.
If you mean ‘does the RCC adhere to a political and cultural ultra-conservative viewpoint and culture’ then the answer is no.
FUNDAMENTALS VS FUNDAMENTALISTS
Fundamentals
To preach Bible fundamentals is what we strive to do. The Bible contains many fundamental truths – truths God has gone to great lengths to teach mankind.
Before the law was given under Moses there wasn’t a clear delineation between right and wrong.
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).
As a result of the law, a knowledge of separation from God’s thinking arose – called ‘sin’ in the Bible.
This knowledge of sin, of having missed the mark as far as God’s requirements were concerned, led to an understanding that there needed to be a Saviour.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
God didn’t only state His ways (through, for example, the Ten Commandments), but He gave us the means to live up to His ways through the sending of Jesus.
God made it clear that we couldn’t live up to His ways by the giving of the law.
For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year (Hebrews 10:1-3).
Jesus made it clear that merely outwardly obeying the laws of God also was not sufficient, that we needed to keep the law even in our thinking. This seemed impossible (because it was, under our own strength). But Jesus pointed us towards having God’s Spirit live within us to provide the power to think and act as God would have us to.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8:13).
Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
It is Bible fundamentals like these that form the foundation of coming to know God and living a life that pleases Him.
These are the kind of fundamentals that we preach. Occasionally a speaker may use the term ‘fundamentalist’ but it is intended in the context just described. And if this was the only understood meaning, then we would ‘cop it’ and say, yes we are ‘fundamentalist’.
But that isn’t the only, or even the most prevalent, meaning of ‘fundamentalist’.
Fundamentalists
Christian fundamentalism and fundamentalists grew out of churches wanting to respond to perceived threats like modernism, secularism, Darwinism, and social liberalism. The response is defensive. It wants to reshape society back to a (sometimes mythical) time when there was more respect for the Bible and for churches generally. It is generally afraid of science, deeply conservative, concerned about religious ‘rights’, and has become overtly political.
To think that it is the church’s role to make society better is to miss one of the fundamental (!) messages of the New Testament: that each one of us as an individual must be changed, and it is not the church’s role to change culture at large or seek to introduce secular legislation to legislate their view of Bible righteousness. On this last point, it is worth noting that even God found that legislation doesn’t work (of course He knew this would be the outcome), see the scriptures above. It is for this reason that the RCC does not contribute towards Christian political lobby groups seeking to protect church viewpoints or change society. We hold the view that you, as an individual, must be changed.
Like fundamentalism in other major world religions, a respect for scripture turned into a twisting of scripture to match cultural (often extremely conservative) mores. In seeking to maintain social norms of previous times, fundamentalists extended the plain meaning of scripture to attempt to force their veiwpoints on a society not ready, willing, or even having the capacity to receive them.
So ‘fundamentalism’ can be described as a political, cultural and deeply conservative set of views, more at war with modern society than reflecting scriptural positions. In the USA, fundamentalists have been involved in the bombing of abortion clinics, the harassment of members of society, and massive political lobbying.
Further, fundamentalist political viewpoints have infected preaching that should have remained on Bible topics.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, we are careful to explain words like ‘fundamentalist’ rather than blithely accepting the label.
Of course not.
“Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you…”
WHAT IS A CULT?
The term “cult” while once having a benign dictionary meeting, has come to cover groups that exert undue control over their members.
Dangerous “doomsday” cults have existed in the past, and now. Many Christian groups have emerged over history, the vast majority being benign.
However, a small number of controlling fringe groups have also arisen. Some of these led to tragedies. The Peoples Temple eventually taught that its leader, Jim Jones, was divine, and that his compound in Guyana (“Jonestown“) was the only safe haven from the coming apocalypse. 918 people died after being compelled to drink cyanide-laced KoolAid. The Branch Davidians in Texas entered into a standoff with authorities and 75 members and their founder died in a fire started during the siege. The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God in Uganda proclaimed false predictions about the end of the world, and a mass murder/suicide ensued which led to the deaths of 700 people.
Groups like these drove a worldwide concern about cults.
The term “cult” became a readymade insult that was often applied by one church group against another because of doctrinal differences. Further, ex-members of any church group can sometimes harbour ill-feeling towards their former church-goers, or towards the leadership or practice of their former group. Their concerns can be justified, or they can also be normal human nature to justify their decision to leave. And of course not all people who leave a group feel this way; most leave for other reasons.
HOW CAN YOU TELL IF A GROUP IS A CULT?
To differentiate between the term being used as an insult for doctrinal differences, some have promoted the concept that the word itself may have outlived its usefulness, and groups of concern are better classified as “high control” groups. Steve Hassam, a former ‘Moonie’ (member of the Unification Church) has written several books and has developed the BITE model for classifying a group as ‘high control’.
BITE stands for: Behaviour Control; Information Control; Thought Control; Emotional Control.
Examples (compiled by ChatGPT) given under each category include:
1. Behavior Control
The group tightly controls what members do, including:
- Regulating daily routines, diet, sleep, finances, and clothing
- Controlling relationships (who you can date/marry)
- Forcing members to spend excessive time in the group
- Restricting freedom of movement
- Using rewards and punishments to enforce compliance
This creates dependency and reduces autonomy.
2. Information Control
The group manages what members see, hear, and learn:
- Discouraging or banning access to outside news, books, or internet
- Misrepresenting or lying about the group’s own history
- Spreading propaganda
- Encouraging members to report on each other
- Creating “insider vs. outsider” information structures
This filters reality so members only encounter the group’s preferred narrative.
3. Thought Control
The group shapes how members think:
- Teaching loaded language or slogans (“thought-terminating clichés”)
- Promoting absolute “us vs. them” thinking
- Discouraging questions or doubt
- Insisting the group’s ideology is the only truth
- Rewriting personal identity based on group doctrine
This suppresses critical thinking and encourages obedience.
4. Emotional Control
The group manipulates how members feel:
- Using guilt, shame, and fear to maintain loyalty
- Instilling fear of leaving (“You’ll fail,” “Bad things will happen”)
- Making members feel unworthy unless they follow the rules
- Encouraging confession sessions or emotional vulnerability as leverage
- Creating extremes of love-bombing (affection) and then withdrawal
Emotional control keeps members tied to the group even when they are unhappy.
There are other models. The BITE model is not universally accepted, and is considered to be descriptive rather than diagnostic. Nevertheless it remains popular. Using the BITE model, multilevel marketing groups (like Amway) and 12-step programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous) are classified as high-control groups or cults.
Using this model, the RCC does not consider it qualifies, rather it simply operates like the Church of the Bible. However, some ex-members feel differently. Our own members are free to form their own opinion as to whether the examples given here resonate with their lived experience in our Church.
WAS THE CHURCH OF THE BIBLE HIGH-CONTROL?
The Church we see described in the Bible was certainly ready to preach the Gospel no matter the consequences. Paul the Apostle did not hold back in correcting doctrinal problems and behavioural problems, giving instruction to put certain people out of the Church. But it was also Paul who, while seeking for the church at Philippi to obey his instruction, also stressed personal responsibility rather than blind obedience:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12).
While leaders in the Church of the Bible certainly exercised authority, this was not to be as some kind of personal power trip. Peter the Apostle wrote to leaders in the Church like this:
Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away (1 Peter 5:2-4).
John the Apostle, in his third letter, spoke disparagingly of a church leader who had let power go to his head:
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God (3 John 9-11).
The Church should be led, not by coercion but by persuasion. Those with authority, and in fact everyone in the Church, are to deal gently:
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth…” (2 Timothy 2:24-25).
Finally, we think it is instructive to consider an example cult:
The TNEVNOC Cult
Requirements of the cult are that members:
1. Must ritually marry the long-dead founder.
2. Must surrender all personal possessions to the group.
3. Must submit completely to the hierarchical leadership without question.
4. Must live communally, in group-owned premises, and avoid normal participation in outside society.
5. Must wear identical ritual clothing every day.
6. Must change their name to a new, group-approved religious name.
7. Must vow never to marry or bear children.
8. Must follow a rigid schedule of chanting, meditation, and ritual prayer multiple times daily.
9. Must eat, sleep, and work according to strict communal rules.
Sounds shocking, right?
However, once you understand that this loaded out-of-context list simply refers to a Convent (TNEVNOC spelled backwards) it now seems more benign. We don’t have our own Convents of course, but have used this example to show how easily normal church requirements can seem strange if shown out of context.
Here are the same statements but now supplied with a normal Convent context:
1. Members must “ritually marry the long-dead founder.”
Parody of: nuns taking vows as “brides of Christ.”
2. Must surrender all personal possessions to the group.
Parody of: vow of poverty.
3. Must submit completely to the hierarchical leadership without question.
Parody of: vow of obedience within a religious order.
4. Must live communally, in group-owned premises, and avoid normal participation in outside society.
Parody of: cloistered/contemplative life.
5. Must wear identical ritual clothing every day.
Parody of: religious habits (nuns’ clothing).
6. Must change their name to a new, group-approved religious name.
Parody of: adopting a religious name upon entering a convent.
7. Must vow never to marry or bear children.
Parody of: vow of celibacy.
8. Must follow a rigid schedule of chanting, meditation, and ritual prayer multiple times daily.
Parody of: the Liturgy of the Hours.
9. Must eat, sleep, and work according to strict communal rules.
Parody of: convent rule of life.
(Credit for this example to the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance)
No. The RCC, like most church organisations, wants to lead, gently, its members into understanding salvation, understanding what it means to live a Godly life, and to understand what is meant by ‘walking in the Spirit’:
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish (Galatians 5:16-17).
Some church organisations have a far longer history than ours. In some cases this history is shocking. Every church is embedded in the culture and times in which it exists. Every church has had leaders more interested in personal power than in fully reflecting the gospel message. Church organisations are comprised of people, there are going to be mistakes. There are going to be church organisations that reflect the culture of control of their times (rightly or wrongly) to one degree or another.
There has been some focus (rightly) on whether various church organisations currently operate under a ‘high control’ model.
Steve Hassam, a former ‘Moonie’ (member of the Unification Church) has written several books and has developed the BITE model for classifying a group as ‘high control’.
BITE stands for: Behaviour Control; Information Control; Thought Control; Emotional Control.
Examples (compiled by ChatGPT) given under each category include:
1. Behavior Control
The group tightly controls what members do, including:
- Regulating daily routines, diet, sleep, finances, and clothing
- Controlling relationships (who you can date/marry)
- Forcing members to spend excessive time in the group
- Restricting freedom of movement
- Using rewards and punishments to enforce compliance
This creates dependency and reduces autonomy.
2. Information Control
The group manages what members see, hear, and learn:
- Discouraging or banning access to outside news, books, or internet
- Misrepresenting or lying about the group’s own history
- Spreading propaganda
- Encouraging members to report on each other
- Creating “insider vs. outsider” information structures
This filters reality so members only encounter the group’s preferred narrative.
3. Thought Control
The group shapes how members think:
- Teaching loaded language or slogans (“thought-terminating clichés”)
- Promoting absolute “us vs. them” thinking
- Discouraging questions or doubt
- Insisting the group’s ideology is the only truth
- Rewriting personal identity based on group doctrine
This suppresses critical thinking and encourages obedience.
4. Emotional Control
The group manipulates how members feel:
- Using guilt, shame, and fear to maintain loyalty
- Instilling fear of leaving (“You’ll fail,” “Bad things will happen”)
- Making members feel unworthy unless they follow the rules
- Encouraging confession sessions or emotional vulnerability as leverage
- Creating extremes of love-bombing (affection) and then withdrawal
Emotional control keeps members tied to the group even when they are unhappy.
There are other models. The BITE model is not universally accepted, and is considered to be descriptive rather than diagnostic. Nevertheless it remains popular. Using the BITE model, multilevel marketing groups (like AMWAY) and 12-step programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous) are classified as high-control groups.
Using this model, the RCC does not consider it qualifies, rather it simply operates like the Church of the Bible. However, some ex-members feel differently. Our own members are free to form their own opinion as to whether the examples given here resonate with their lived experience in our Church.
WAS THE CHURCH OF THE BIBLE HIGH-CONTROL?
The Church we see described in the Bible was certainly ready to preach the Gospel no matter the consequences. Paul the Apostle did not hold back in correcting doctrinal problems and behavioural problems, giving instruction to put certain people out of the Church. But it was also Paul who, while seeking for the church at Philippi to obey his instruction, also stressed personal responsibility rather than blind obedience:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12).
While leaders in the Church of the Bible certainly exercised authority, this was not to be as some kind of personal power trip. Peter the Apostle wrote to leaders in the Church like this:
Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away (1 Peter 5:2-4).
John the Apostle, in his third letter, spoke disparagingly of a church leader who had let power go to his head:
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God (3 John 9-11).
The Church should be led, not by coercion but by persuasion. Those with authority, and in fact everyone in the Church, are to deal gently:
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth…” (2 Timothy 2:24-25).
The RCC, like any other church organisation, can have its leadership in discussion with people in the most vulnerable times of their lives. Of course these matters are kept confidential (or ‘secret’).
Even in more ordinary matters, church members rightly expect that private business does not become public, or that private matters do not become the subject of discussion or even gossip among others.
Further, members provide their name and contact details for the assembly roll. These are not published, only being made available for those that need it.
Having got that out of the way, what else is meant by secretive?
Secret Meetings
The RCC holds no secret meetings – our meetings are public.
Some meetings – like prayer meetings – are more inwardly focused towards members.
Some meetings – like the pastors conference – are not the subject of a general invitation. But the results of these are then announced during our public meetings.
Individual meetings between a pastor/leader and members are kept confidential for the reasons stated in the introduction. Note that this confidentiality does not extend to keeping information from authorities in relation to criminal misconduct or child molestation perpetrators (see separate FAQs on these subjects).
Our meetings are publicly available online. Many assemblies stream their meetings live, and the RCC also places talks from our meetings on Facebook, YouTube, and the RCC Podcast.
Financial secrecy
Some of our assemblies operate under a Trust Deed, others are incorporated. The legal disclosure requirements relating to each form of administrative establishment are followed. Incorporated assemblies have greater disclosure requirements than those under a Trust Deed. Those operating under a Trust Deed are likely (according to size) to have a number of Trustees responsible for sound financial management.
Administrative secrecy
The RCC explains to members (either as a whole for general matters, or confidentially to a member in relation to a specific circumstance) all of the following:
- how the matter will be administered
- who the leader(s) are that are dealing with it
- what processes are followed in dealing with certain behaviours
- who ultimate decision-makers are
- why the Church has certain requirements
- what scriptures are being applied in a given situation
- what resolutions of a matter are available and which will be pursued
Doctrinal secrecy
The RCC explains to its members how doctrine is determined, which Bible scriptures are being used to denote a scriptural requirement, and how doctrine is developed within the RCC as a whole.
There are no secret doctrines. All of our doctrine is available on this website, and via our talks on a number of public online places.
Secret knowledge
There are no hidden levels of understanding within the RCC. New members of our Church are advised from the outset on Bible-based requirements.
No ‘higher levels’ of understanding or knowledge are introduced over time. Our meetings cover all kinds of Bible-based instruction with no restriction on attendees. In fact, some of our larger meetings are streamed online, for the entire world to tune in, should so they desire.
There are no ‘secret rituals’, no ‘secret initiations’, and no ‘secret texts’.
Organisational secrecy
From time to time an existing fellowship or assembly will join or leave the RCC. If significant, this will be announced. But in all cases, this website shows a public record of the existence and ongoing fellowship of each assembly within Western countries and Fiji, or at a zone level (collection of assemblies) level within PNG, or at a country level within Africa.
Operational secrecy
The way our meetings operate, what safety requirements are in place, who is rostered on to undertake various jobs and more are either publicly available to members, or easily discoverable (by looking around during a meeting). But, yeah, we’re not handing out our WIFI password, so there’s that…
Leadership secrecy
There are no ‘secret’ leaders. All of our leadership is nominated and known within each assembly.
Cover-ups
The RCC does not ‘cover up’ criminal conduct, or suspected threats to child safety. These are reported to authorities as required by law.
We don’t move pastors (or anyone) around from one location to another to ‘hide’ criminal conduct.
Surveillance
The RCC does not surveil its members (or anyone).
Manipulation
The RCC does not withhold information needed for informed consent and does not conceal risks from its members. If fully complies with the law in respect of authorities’ actions or requests in relation to interventions, scrutiny or review.
CONCLUSION
Apart from the obvious need for confidentiality when interacting with members of the RCC, and apart from legal requirements in relation to criminal matters, as a Church the RCC considers that it is at least comparable in transparency to other church organisations, and more transparent than many.
Putting people out of the church, or disfellowshipping, or excommunication are terms used to describe a last resort action.
The Bible nominates actions that were of sufficient gravity that the person should not remain in fellowship with other church members. Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthian Church (in the Bible) telling them that they were keeping in fellowship with people who ought not to remain in their assembly.
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 Paul wrote:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
In Ephesians 5:3 Paul talks about sexual immorality, uncleanness and covetousness as not being something that should be in the church fellowship:
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 Paul talked about how this was not only defrauding the brethren, but a rejection of God:
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel [body] in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
We doubt that Paul took any pleasure in calling for church members to be put out of fellowship; we certainly don’t. But if a Church claims to be Bible-based then these scriptures cannot simply be ignored or considered to be out of date.
Is this too harsh?
The alternatives are to (a) decide to accept less than what the Bible teaches; and (b) allow people to remain who are a threat to other members and/or children.
This makes those church organisations that decide to ignore these scriptures less a place of safety, and more of a risk to other members. Some church organisations allow confession (including serious matters sometimes kept from authorities) to “resolve” gross sin (eg child molestation), turning their fellowships into ‘happy hunting grounds’ for pedophiles and other kinds of perpetrators.
If applying a Bible standard is considered harsh, we are entitled to ask how not applying a Bible standard would work out. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the answer is: not good.
We strive to make our preaching reflect and match Bible teaching, both in content and emphasis.
The major themes of the Bible are God dealing with a people (Israel) in order to have them know Him, teaching them about their need for a Saviour. Then the New Testament revelation that Jesus, the Son of God, had come to save His people, and then the whole world, through dying on the cross. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus was raised from the dead and (as promised to His disciples) poured out the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost – the day the Church began. It is through the Holy Spirit that church members have the capacity to live as God intends, and to have an ongoing relationship with God.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [‘Comforter’ KJV] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you (John 16:7).
The Church was then given instruction through its leaders like Paul, Peter, James and John. This instruction was to the Church, and was predicated on its readers being in the Church.
So a major condition, both for salvation and for an ongoing right relationship with God, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We have identified from the Bible that being filled with the Holy Spirit is a definite unmistakable experience:
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4).
It’s not that we are obsessed with this; but rather that others have sidelined this experience. Some say, based on no scriptural evidence, that this experience was “only for Bible days”. We disagree. We have experienced this directly ourselves, as have millions of others around the world. Others say speaking in tongues is just “one of the gifts”. While speaking in tongues is nominated as one of the gifts (manifestations) of the Spirit within a Church meeting, speaking in tongues is also present when people are filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2, Acts 8 (see explanations of Acts 8 on this website), Acts 10, Acts 19). Paul the Apostle writing to the Corinthians (that had gone overboard in using tongues during their meetings), rejoiced that he prayed regularly in tongues:
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue (1 Corinthians 14:18-19).
Our meetings are run along the lines that Paul laid out for the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 12 to 14). This includes “two or at the most three” messages in tongues in our meetings, and those messages being interpreted, as Paul also directed.
Unlike some, we don’t all speak in tongues at once during a meeting. Unlike others we have not discounted speaking in tongues as of minor importance, or irrelevant, or even passed away. This makes us different to many. We believe it makes us closer to the Church of the Bible. If others see this as obsession, so be it. We see it as the correct emphasis. Our ongoing preaching does not mention speaking in tongues all the time, but our preaching about salvation will mention speaking in tongues because we are countering the many who ignore this God-given personal and public sign.
CONCLUSION
We preach that you must receive the Holy Spirit to be saved (Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his).
In seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we point people towards understanding and accepting that Jesus died on their behalf and to have faith towards God that He will confirm His word with ‘signs following’.
We preach that everyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit will have the same experience that all received on the day the Christian Church began (Acts 2). That is, they will also speak in tongues.
It is not the speaking in tongues that saves. Being saved comes from faith in Jesus leading to being filled with the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is the outward manifestation of that inward change.
No, we don’t practise a ‘sin – confess – sin again’ roundabout.
But what about James 5?
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed (James 5:16).
This simple Bible exhortation is aimed at members of the church being able to recognise and admit to being off-track. It is about seeking the prayers and help of others as part of your personal reconciliation to God.
Further, and importantly, it does not result in one party offering ‘absolution’ to another, nor does it require specific mechanical ‘penance’ that absolves the trespass. That would be taking us back to the Old Testament, when those in Israel had to offer the sacrifice of a lamb, calf or kid (baby goat) to atone for their sins. In Hebrews we are told this didn’t work:
For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4).
Later in Hebrews, we are told that Jesus was that now perfect sacrifice for ever:
And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them (Hebrews 10:11-16).
A formalised confession/penance/absolution roundabout makes the sacrifice of Jesus of no effect, going back instead to the failed Old Testament approach.
There are other impacts of this approach as well. The Roman Catholic church practices the absolute secrecy of the “Confessional”. This is not supported by the Bible, and is a practice with real-world consequences when gross sin (eg child molestation) is in view. Perpetrators are not named to authorities, and priests offer ‘absolution’ via a mechanical penance process that leaves it open for perpetrators to undertake their actions again (and then confess again).
Further, instead of reporting abuse by the clergy, some have been found to have been moved from parish to parish ostensibly as a means of covering up the actions of perpetrators.
In the RCC criminal misconduct is reported to authorities. Cover-ups of such action is seen as unacceptable (and in some countries, like Australia, illegal). Counsel may be given, if wanted, but this in no way precludes making such conduct known to authorities.
RCC members who make known that they are dealing with a non-criminal matter are assisted to find their place of repentance. The Bible talks about sins that preclude continuing in church fellowship, nevertheless prayer and support is offered. But there are many other things that are not as extreme, and ongoing assistance, prayer and counsel is offered.