JESUS IS LORD
CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL GROUP
BY LAWS
BLESSED SACRAMENT/ST CHARLES BORROMEO
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
610 CLINTON AVENUE NEWARK, NJ07108
PHONE #: 973-424-3556 ; 862-588-1026; 973-824-6548
FAX #: 973-824-6549
EMAIL: jesusislordccr2006@yahoo.com
Website/Facebook: www.jesusislordccr.com
MOTTO: Living the faith
MISSION STATEMENT: To praise God through active participation in the catholic charismatic renewal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and to use our lives, time, talent and treasure to build the body of Christ.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
I. To uphold all the teachings of the catholic church
II. To honor Mary, the holy mother of Jesus as our mother.
III. To teach and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all mankind.
IV. To practice our Christian faith by praying, caring and supporting one another spiritually, physically and emotionally.
V. To encourage the spiritual growth and renewal of members and non-members through seminars, retreats, and conferences.
ORGANIZATION: Our prayer meeting is composed of two main arms:
I. The Administrative
II. The ministries
ADMINISTRATIVE ARM is composed of:
A. Coordinator: He/she shall be responsible for the day –to-day activities of the prayer group, and shall preside over meetings, coordinate the various ministries and ensure effective flow of communication between the Jesus is Lord Catholic Charismatic Renewal group and any outside group.
B. Assistant coordinator: He/she shall assist the coordinator and shall run the affairs of the prayer group when the coordinator is absent, as well as perform any other function as may be assigned by the coordinator /the prayer group.
C. Secretary: The secretary shall be responsible for all secretarial matters including internal record keeping of the prayer group, writing of minutes, memoranda, and updating member’s addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, registration of members and other vital contact information.
D. Assistant secretary/ public Relation Officer: Shall be responsible for external correspondences with the informed consent of the coordinator. He/she shall also ensure that the good image of this prayer group is well presented outside.
E. Financial Secretary: He/she shall keep records of all monetary transactions in the prayer meeting, ensures that all incomes and expenditure are accurately documented, and shall reconcile accounts with the treasurer regularly and give quarterly accounts to the prayer group.
F. Assistant Financial Secretary: Deputizes for the financial secretary.
G. Treasurer: Shall keep all monetary donations of the prayer group. He/she shall ensure that all money collected is prayed over after collection. Then, the money collected shall be handed over to the designated church authority. The treasurer shall also maintain a petty cash or contingent fund not exceeding $500 (five hundred dollars) at any time.
H. Assistant Treasurer: Acts in place of the treasurer if He/she is absent
II MINISTRIES: Every member of Jesus is Lord Catholic Charismatic Renewal is expected to belong to at least one ministry.
A. Welfare/welcome ministry: Members of this group shall welcome, introduce and register new members. They shall report the status of candidate’s probationary period and shall document the attendance/ absences of members. They shall also be responsible for the safe keeping of all property of the prayer group.
Criteria: Registered members with good attendance record and participation in the prayer group.
B. Music/singing ministry: Sings at prayer meetings, revivals est. with singing instruments, audio, video and acoustics.
Criteria: (as in Welfare Ministry)
C. Teaching/evangelical/outreach ministries:
Duties: Preach the word of God. Responsibilities shall include outreach programs with other prayer groups and non prayer groups such as; charity work, fellowships, evangelization and Eucharistic celebration.
Criteria: Registered member with good attendance record and participation. Members must be versed with the Bible and should be able to research topic material before presentation. They should notify the spiritual Director or coordinator on topic to teach. Members must be obedient, teachable and correctable. Must be prayed over before his/her presentation/teaching and must adhere to strictly to Roman Catholic Church doctrines.
D. Counseling Ministry: Composed of the spiritual Director, coordinator, and leaders of intercessory, teaching/evangelical ministries.
Duties: The responsibilities of this ministry are vested on the spiritual director and /or any other persons/group as may be chosen by the prayer group.
E. Intercessory/ Prayer ministry: Praying and interceding for individuals and the prayer group especially before and during a revival and prayer meetings.
F. Healing Ministry:
Duties: Praying for and over people who are spiritually and physically sick. Duty would involve traveling to people’s homes, hospitals, churches and any other designated Roman catholic church approved prayer location. Members of this ministry must have good attendance record and participation.
G. Children’s ministry: Use various teaching aids to lead the children to God during prayer meetings and revivals.
GUIDELINES FOR INTERCESSORY/HEALING MINISTRY:
These ministries are burdened with the spiritual and health problems of the people. Members of these ministries should possess these qualities:
- Must have undergone life in the spirit seminar.
- Must be neat and decent in dressing, and well presentable.
- Must know the word of God , study, pray and cherish it (Prov.10:1)
- Must be unshakeable and should not express or react in such a way that his/her counselee becomes ashamed, shy or feels very guilty.
- He/she must be morally above reproach (1 Tim 3:1-7).
- Willing to speak the truth in love, and ready to face the truth in spite of the danger this might bring.
- Must not compromise God’s standards neither threats, problems nor conditions can make him/her deny the truth. So, must be willing to face attacks without resentment or bitterness.
- Must be teachable –ready to accept corrections in love, not sticking to own opinion.
- Must be trustworthy, reliable and non- judgmental.
- He/she must be humble, polite and have reservation in talking. Must be one who keeps secrets and should not disclose information received from counseling without clearance. He/she must be reserved in speech and movement.
- The ministry involves lots of sacrifice , so, members must be ready to observe the ministry’s regulations— regular meetings, punctuality, fasting, assignments, visitations, praying for the sick, charity visits, night vigils, retreat, desert day and chair prayers. (Job, family may suffer).
- Must not be immoral or scandalous in whatever form.
- No member should have doctrinal problems. Members must accept the teachings of Roman Catholic Church in its entirety.
- Must find time for the various preparatory prayers and meetings and other emergency commitments which may include spending money
- Must have orientation, induction courses for the ministry and finally be commissioned.
SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR THE PRAYER GROUP
Name: The prayer group/organization shall be known and called JESUS IS LORD CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL
Meeting Day/Time: Jesus is Lord Catholic Charismatic Renewal group shall meet every Thursday from 7.00Pm to 9.00Pm except on the third Thursday of every month (scheduled time for Parish event).
Venue: The meeting place for Jesus is Lord Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer meetings shall be at Convent’s basement (New B.S.S.C.B’s Chapel), 620 Clinton Avenue Newark, NJ 07108 OR any other place approved by the members.
Prayer Meeting Format: This format should be followed during prayer meeting:
1. Rosary
2. Praise worship
3. Opening Prayer :a) Thanksgiving
b) Contrition
c) Invocation of the Holy Spirit
d) Sanctification of the arena
4. Bible Reading: Talk/sharing
5. Prayers of intercession
6. Love offering/ Testimonies
7. Announcement/introduction of new members
8. Closing prayer
Speaker: To be chosen by the Teaching/Evangelical Group but approved by the Chaplain/Coordinator.
Sharing/Testimony: Sharing/Testimony is based on personal experience and should follow the ABC rule, that is, the sharer should be audible, brief and utter statements that are Christ-centered.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
A. Registration: Registration is open to any prospective candidate who wants to join the catholic charismatic renewal prayer group to worship and serve the Lord. Prospective member shall be introduced and welcomed during prayer meetings’ announcement. The welfare/ welcome ministry and the secretary shall register the candidate in the registrar. No registration FEE is required.
B. Membership: Membership status is attained when one completes life in the spirit seminars, enrolls and is active in at least one ministry of the prayer group, passed the probation period of attending 3 (three) consecutive meetings, regularly attend and actively participate in the prayer group’s activities/meetings. The leader of the evangelical ministry should in addition to taking attendance of their members, take care of beginners/new members.
C. Loss of Membership Status: A member loses membership status after Six (6) consecutive absences without written or oral permission through any member of the service team or the prayer group in the case of emergency.
D. Attendance: Members shall attend prayer meetings with Bible (Catholic Edition) and Rosary.
E. Marketing: No buying and selling at prayer meetings. Exception only applies to invited preachers but it should be done only after the event of the day/program.
F. Publication: No flier/document shall be distributed in the prayer meeting or on behalf of the prayer group outside the prayer meeting ground without the approval of the Spiritual Director/ Coordinator
G. Finances: Financial income of this Charismatic group shall be based on Love offering during prayer meetings, voluntary donations or any other method approved by the Service Team/Prayer group. Any amount exceeding $500 ( five hundred dollars) shall be deposited by the treasurer or his/her designee in a bank approved by members.
H. Leadership: The leadership of this prayer ministry shall be called the SERVICE TEAM consisting of the:
I. Administrative Arm—Coordinator, assistant coordinator, secretary, assistant secretary, Public Relation Officer, Financial Secretary, Assistant Financial Secretary, Treasurer, and Assistant Treasurer.
II. The leaders of various ministries
III. The spiritual Director who shall be a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. He shall act on advisory/counseling capacity.
I. Election Process: The election of the service team members shall be by secret Ballot vote. A week of fasting and praying shall be required prior to the Election day. This is followed by Bible reading and talk. Every member shall write the name of the candidate of his/her choice for any position. The candidate with the highest votes shall be pronounced the winner. The candidate with the second highest votes will be the assistant. The prayer group spiritual Director or any other Catholic Priest designated by him or the parish priest will officiate the election process. If the elected officer is unable to serve for whatever reason, the post goes to the candidate with the second highest votes/assistant.
There must not be any form of campaigning or solicitation of votes by any member. Only members who have done life in the spirit seminars, wedded members if married and communicants if single are electable. Voting rights are for those who have done life in the spirit seminars.
Tenure of office: The tenure of any office shall be three (3) years. After three years, new leaders shall be elected. Any service team member can be re-elected to serve again for a maximum of two terms in the same office.
J. Events: These events shall take place annually:
- Covenant Day: This shall be a one day event scheduled on first Thursday after New Year’s Day.
- Lenten Revival: This should be scheduled between January and Easter annually.
3a. Life in the spirit seminars: There shall be life in the spirit seminars annually. It shall be held anytime after Easter to Pentecost. New members shall be inducted while old members would recommit themselves to the working of the Holy Spirit. The head of ministries shall participate in the induction of new candidates into the new way of life.
3b. Pentecost Novena: Every year, there shall be Pentecost novena (9 days of prayer), which will culminate in Pentecost Vigil. The annual Pentecost vigil shall be done in collaboration with the BSSCB church. In the event where there is no parish event, Jesus is Lord Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer group may schedule an event.
4. End of Summer Revival: This shall be held annually anytime from July to September.
5. End of Year Revival: This shall held annually anytime from November to December.
MASS SHALL BE REQUESTED AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF EACH OF THESE EVENTS.
K. Appreciation: All invitees that gave a “Talk” shall receive a “Thank You ” card and $100 token of appreciation but the Spiritual Director shall receive a “Thank You” card and $200 token of appreciation. The prayer group is responsible for the transport fare, accommodation, room and board of guest speakers from outside of New Jersey. A token of $1000 will also be presented to them by the coordinator or any member designated by the coordinator.
BENEFITS TO MEMBERS
Visitations:
Child Dedication: Any member who gives birth to a baby shall be visited by this prayer group or selected members with a signed card. No baby shower or monetary gift will be given prior or post delivery.
Bereavement: A bereaved member who loses father, mother, spouse, and child shall be visited by members with a signed card and a gift of $100 (One hundred dollars). The card and the gift will be presented on the wake keeping night or during the visit in the absence of a wake service. A mass shall be requested for the repose of the dead relative’s soul on Sunday following the wake service.
Death of a member: On the death of Jesus is Lord Catholic Charismatic Renewal member, all members will be involved in a three-day companionship rite with the bereaved family. This is designed to assist the family with errands, fellowship, solicitation of funds from non-members, cooking and any other duty that may be deemed necessary at the time. Any member who did not attend at least one day out of the three days of companionship rite will be fined $100 only. The bereaved family shall be given both the monetary contribution from members and a condolence token of $500 which shall be taken from the group’s account.
Protracted Illness: Any member who is hospitalized for over seven (7) days or is suffering from a protracted ailment and unable to attend prayer session for two consecutive meetings shall be visited by all members or a selected group with a signed card. Mass shall be requested on behalf of such a sick person.
Disaster: Mass shall be requested for any member of our prayer group who encounters life challenging disaster.
Wedding invitations from members shall be honored with our presence, a signed card, a Roman Catholic Church Bible Edition and member’s voluntary donation/contribution. If a member marries a non-catholic, the prayer group would send 2 (two) representatives to the wedding event. After the wedding of our member, some brethren would pray over their wedding gifts and if permitted by the newly wedded, accompany the couple home so as to pray over their house as a married couple.
Invitations to other social events: Attendance to other invitations would be on individual basis but announcement of the event will be done in the prayer meeting.
This bylaw shall be reviewed/ amended in part or as a whole subject to the approval of Jesus is Lord Catholic Charismatic Renewal when the need arises.
Signed by the service team members:
Chaplain/Spiritual Director Rev Fr Albert Nzeh Date
Coordinator Sr Victoria Anaedu
Assistant Coordinator Bro Chukwudi Okolie
Secretary Sr Chinelo Ozoka
Assistant Secretary
Financial Secretary Sr Judith Henry
Assistant Financial Secretary
Treasurer Sr Beatrice Ogbonna
Assistant Treasurer
Teaching/Evangelical Ministry Leader Sr Berna Ekedede
Teaching/Evangelical Ministry Assistant Leader Sr Bibiana Onuoha
Intercessory/Prayer Ministry Leader Sr Ogoo Anugwugwo
Intercessory/Prayer Ministry Assistant Leader Sr Chioma Agbo
Children Ministry Leader Sr Chinyere Nwankwo
Singing/Music Ministry Leader Sr Chidinma Meremikwu
Singing/Music Ministry Assistant Leader Sr Grace Nwokike
Welfare/Caring Ministry Leader Bro Joe Akue
Welfare/Caring Ministry Assistant Leader: Bro Joseph Kenou