Antioch Discussion/Informational Meeting

February 1, 2026 12:15 pm

Christ Church on Harvard
Information about The Antioch Connection of Wesleyan Churches (“Antioch Connection”)

Antioch Connection is NOT:

The Antioch Connection is not a denomination but rather a partnership with other member churches.  There are no direct oversights, apportionments, mandates, or other directives given to member churches, beyond the shared doctrines and ordination support, by a higher governing board. 

Antioch Connection IS:

The Antioch Connection is a network of autonomous churches who share a common Wesleyan identity with common commitments to doctrine, evangelism, missional multiplication, and sound financial practices.

Member churches benefit from shared theological grounding, leadership development and ordination support, ministry collaboration, mutual prayer, encouragement, and accountability.

Each member church retains full ownership of its property, control over its finances, freedom in hiring, ministry programming, and worship style, etc.  In other words, each church maintains its independence to define its ministry to its own community and beyond.

The Antioch Connection can be thought of as a mutual collaboration providing peer engagement and high-level standards to its member churches, while serving as a gathering point for sharing and mutual support.

Why Christ Church on Harvard (“CCoH”) should join Antioch:

CCoH would benefit from membership in the Antioch Connection in many ways, including:

• Independence without isolation – in the Antioch Connection, CCoH can retain its recently found independence to identify and prioritize its ministry, missions, and other directions while being able to share with and learn from other nearby churches that share a historical background and common doctrinal beliefs. It is good to be a part of a group of friends and colleagues, but we have also learned it is good to be able to set our own direction and make our own decisions on priorities. 

For example:

• We can set our own job requirements and responsibilities for pastors but have the Antioch ordination process as a foundation – a pastor’s credentials would be with Antioch but the job would be with CCoH
• We can set our own budget but get ideas of salary comparisons from other member churches
• We can set our own missions budget but can choose to participate with another Antioch church(es) on a specific mission-related event 
• Shared doctrine – the Antioch Connection Confession of Faith is a doctrine rooted in the Wesleyan / Methodist Heritage and draws inspiration from the Articles of Religion of the historic Methodist Church and the Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church. This doctrine was formed by pastors of the churches who met to form the Antioch Connection to blend historical foundations, issues of current times, and the direction of the scripture.
• Belonging is biblical – connection among believers and their congregations is expressed, implied, and encouraged in numerous texts in the New Testament. They are connected spiritually, materially, and in other ways that strengthen each other.
• Peer church, pastoral, and staff opportunities – CCoH would be engaged with a group of geographically close and like-minded churches to share in key development, renewal, ministerial, and missions activities. In addition to sharing and coordination of community outreach ministries, camps and retreats, and missions efforts, the Antioch Connection intends to support pastoral and staff development and renewal through group sessions at its annual gathering and throughout the year.
• Small overhead, low-cost organization – There is no expectation of the Antioch Connection having a sizeable organization or providing services or benefits to member churches that will require significant overhead. Currently, the annual dues for membership are based on a tiered structure derived from each church’s annual operating budget.  The fees represent approximately  0.25% of that budget for each church.  For CCoH, the annual dues would be $3,125 at our current budget level.  As a reference, our past denomination had annual apportionments between 7-10% and CCOH was paying around $100,000 annually.
• Completely voluntary, no commitment membership – Membership in the Antioch Connection is completely voluntary for each church. There are no long-term commitments and any church is free to leave Antioch any time it decides the Antioch Connection is no longer right for them.
• In Summary – we all want to belong – God created us to be together as part of a family.  Joining the Antioch Connection is that family that can grow together within our basic principles.  We do not grow alone, but with others. We learn from others, and God shows us that we should see, hear, and believe. We will all grow closer to God’s bigger plan by having the pastors and church connect with a group like the Antioch Connection, but we also desire to determine what our church and our community need.  Connecting with a group without a strict overriding control will help CCoH discern what is best, through God’s word.