MTCMININTL is a movement of ministries dedicated to the local church as God's primary agent to change the world and redeem mankind. Everything we do is for the purpose of serving the local church and it's leadership.
We have patterned ourselves as a movement after new Testament apostolic ministry. In particular, we have come to esteem the church at Antioch (Acts 11-13) as a true model of the kind of ministry God is restoring to the church today. As such, the "Antioch Principle" has been developed to guide our work with the local church, and to unify our churches behind a common vision.
What kind of church was Antioch?
Unlike Jerusalem, which was oriented toward gathering, Antioch was a place of sending. It was the first church to ever send forth apostolic-prophetic ministry. Paul and Barnabas were headquartered in Antioch, and had their beginning there. It was a church graced with apostles, prophets and teachers. It was marked by the presence of the Spirit of God and a people who loved to minister to God.
The Antioch Principle
Because of it's ability to send, Antioch grew by reproducing itself in different places. The idea was not to build one strong, central megachurch (although Antioch numbered into the tens of thousands). The idea was to branch out and send the best ministries out to reproduce. People from all over the world met at Antioch and participated in the establishing of many other apostolic-prophetic churches and ministries. Thus Antioch's impact was greater than Jerusalem's in the final analysis. This is the heart of the "Antioch" Principle": to reproduce churches that will reproduce churches all over the world.
The Antioch Principle has five main priorities:
- worship,
- fellowship,
- training,
- ministry through prophetic, evangelistic and benevolent means, and
- sending and covering outreach ministries.
This principle governs our function in the Body as a New Testament apostolic MTCMININTL.
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