Partnership Form

This partnership application can take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete when reading all the supplemental documentation. Please give yourself enough time to read through and complete the following questions.

Section I: Personal Information

Partners must be at least 16 years old. Voting rights start at 18 years old.
Moving forward, we will be renaming our membership as Partnership. Were doing this to reflect our desire to be more than members at a church, but to be a group of individuals who excitedly partner together because of our faith to bring the Kingdom of God to our families, communities and the world. We've worked hard to clarify the expectations of partners in hopes of bringing a sense of comradery, unity and focus. Its important for all our partners to be able to look to each other for support and encouragement as we serve alongside each other! Partnership declares that you have chosen to be part of the Crossbridge Family, in all of our mess & brokenness, as we support one another in our spiritual journey.

As a follower of Jesus, you are part of Gods Oikos, which is the Greek word for household or extended family. Crossbridge is an extended family of not just biological family members, but spiritual brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts. You belong here!

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12

Section II: Partnership Information

We would love to partner with you in the mission and vision of Crossbridge Community Church. As a member of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Family (C&MA), we are required to have membership in our local church. Throughout this & other documents, we will be referring to our member/membership process as our partner/partnership process. To start the process of becoming a partner at Crossbridge please fill out the below application.

Where do we see partnership in the Bible?

In Philippians 1: 3-6, Paul prays for the Philippian church. He says:

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Paul calls the local church to partner with him in spreading the gospel. By partnering with the local church we have a body of believers that challenges us, helps us and spurs us on to Christlikeness- making us holy and more like Jesus. Choosing to put down roots within a local body allows your gifts to be used and help complete the body of Christ.
We all have different natural talents and spiritual gifts that are needed within the local church. We need each other to be the healthiest body we can be - supporting one another, challenging each other, forgiving each other and helping each other take steps towards Jesus. We see this image of the body in the Bible:

"God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?" 1 Corinthians 12:18

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body." 1 Corinthians 12:12
 
"If one part suffers, every part sufferers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." 1 Corinthians 12:26

At Crossbridge, we don't believe that it is one persons (the pastor) job to care for people. It isn't just the staff, board or elders responsibility to love one another. Instead, we all care for one another. All people can, and are encouraged to, use their gifts, talents and passion to serve the body of Christ.

Section III: Christian & Missionary Alliance Overview

Crossbridge Community Church is part of the Christian & Missionary Alliance (C&MA) denomination, which focuses on All of Jesus to All the World. The C&MA was founded by Pastor AB Simpson in the late 1800s. Simpson, a pastor of a wealthy mainline denomination, felt called to start reaching out to immigrants on the docks of New York and the church got frustrated that the other was coming and taking their paid seats. His church gave him an ultimatum to stop or leave, so he left and created his own church, which has grown into the C&MA today. From the beginning, we have aimed to love church people while also always looking to reach those who do not know Jesus and to purposely love the other.
 
The C&MA has a set of founding beliefs AB Simpson called The Four Fold Gospel. We believe that Jesus is our Savior, our Sanctifier, our Healer & our Coming King. Each C&MA church has this Four Fold Gospel as the underpinning of their mission to reach people for Jesus. This helps ensure that all C&MA churches focus on what matters most - Jesus - while still contextualizing that message around the community the church is in.

The C&MA is a global denomination and within the United States it is broken into districts for regional accountability and governance. We are part of the Metro District, a group of approximately 120 churches in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. Our district helps provide support, resources and community for each church as well as leadership & accountability for our Pastors.


The C&MA believes in the Four Fold Gospel, which means we believe in Jesus as our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer & Coming King.

As our Savior, Jesus is not just one of many paths to God; He is the only way to know the Father and to experience eternal life.

Jesus is the one who takes away the sin of the world and who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Through Christ’s death on the cross, He not only delivers us from the penalty of sin but also from the power of sin. Therefore, we have freedom from death as well as freedom to live for Him. This happens only through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us; we can’t make ourselves holy any more than we can make ourselves saved.

Divine healing is a blessing not to be taken for granted or automatically assumed. Like all other aspects of Christ’s perfect salvation, it is a mystery wrapped in the loving ways of a wise and good God, whose thoughts are as high above ours as the heavens are higher than the earth. Jesus performed many signs and wonders during His earthly ministry, but the greatest miracle He does is in the hearts of those who have been transformed through a relationship with Him. Jesus longs to see us restored—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for that moment in time when He will come again. When will that happen? No one knows the day or the hour, but because Christ is coming, we need to be ready—living lives that are pure, steadfast, prayerful, holy, and reverent. We also need to finish the task He has given us: “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14).

Section IV: Crossbridge History

Crossbridge Community Church was planted in the fall of 2005 and started meeting at Kingsway High School in 2007. In 2016, after a year of transition and redefining Crossbridge's vision and mission, Reverend Jimmy Donaruma became Lead Pastor after serving as the Youth & Associate Pastor since 2012. In 2016, Pastor Wil Del Valle joined Crossbridge as our Associate Pastor, focusing on youth & worship.

The vision for Crossbridge is simple and comes from what Jesus says is the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-38:
"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'."

Our vision is "Loving God. Loving People. Serving the World." Our mission comes out of our desire to help people love God and love people well by "Helping people take the next step in their faith in Jesus." Only when we root ourselves in God's love can we truly love people well and in turn serve the world - starting here in our local community with CBlocal and reaching out to the ends of the earth through our CBglobal missions ministry.

Section V: Church Structure

Crossbridges leadership structure sees Jesus as the ultimate owner of the Church. Jesus delegates this authority to the Elders. The Elders are the ultimate spiritual authority (on earth) of Crossbridge. The Elder Team includes the Lead & Associate Pastor, plus several men who are Biblically qualified as Elders who are voted in on a yearly basis at our annual meeting.  They oversee the spiritual and theological health of the church.

The Elder Team is also a part of the governing Board of the church. The Board protects the Vision and creates policies that ensure the church's health and growth. The Board is made up of the Elder Team and partners who are voted in for a three-year term at our annual meeting.
The Board delegates the execution of the ministry to the Staff. The Staff is in charge of planning the activities of the church and equipping the partners & attendees for the work of ministry. The staff manage the vision and execute the mission.

The Congregation does the work of ministry. When the congregation is equipped to use their spiritual gifts to serve the world and one another, the good news of Jesus spreads and leads to personal and corporate transformation.

Section VI: Theology

Please answer the following questions around your theology. Theology is simply your belief about God.

To be a follower of Jesus, it means you agree with the following:
  1. I am a sinner in need of grace. (Romans 3:23) Sin is anything we think, say or do that displeases God and breaks relationship with him. 
  2. We are in need of forgiveness for the sin in our life (both the intentional & unintentional sin.) 
  3. The payment for our sin is death. (Romans 6:23) 
  4. Jesus gave his life as payment for our sin so that we could be back in a restored relationship with God. (Romans 3:25)
  5. Jesus freed us from the power of sin through his death & resurrection and is the only way to salvation. 

The basis for baptism is found in Acts 2:38 “repent & be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins."

I Believe & affirm the following theological statements:






Section VII: Crossbridge Vision, Mission & Values



In addition affirming the vision & mission of Crossbridge, we believe it's important for all partners to live out the values individually and collectively. Below are our six (6) values and what we desire from all our partners:
For a complete overview of our values, click here.
Unashamedly Biblical
As a partner, I will:
  • Consistently read my Bible. This can be through our church wide Bible reading plan (SOAP) or other plans, study & personal reading.
  • Allow scripture to be the starting point for informing my opinions on controversial topics.

Holy Spirit Empowered
As a partner, I will:
  • Strive to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit in my life and practice discernment (checking what the Holy Spirit says with the Bible & trusted others).
  • Pray expectantly & regularly. 
  • Practice spiritual disciplines individually & with others.

Intentionally Relevant
As a partner, I will:
  • I will engage with the world around me and not retreat. 
  • Be open to new ways to reach people for Jesus. 

Relationally Transparent
As a partner I will:
  • Participate regularly in meaningful connections within Crossbridge. This could include Life Groups, serving on ministry teams & cultivating other meaningful, real, honest friendships within Crossbridge.
  • Cultivate a greater understanding of who God created me to be & to take steps towards healing & relational growth through classes like Emotionally Healthy Spiritually, Soul Care & personal or couple counseling as needed.
  • Handle conflict in a Biblical manner, which means: 
    • Going to the individual/group you are having conflict with personally and escalate it to an Elder/Pastor only if the conflict can not be resolved personally.
    • Being willing to ask for forgiveness and grant forgiveness liberally.

"If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.  But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.  If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church." Matthew 18:15-17a

Family Focused
As a partner, I will:
  • Participate (attend & serve) regularly in large group worship on Sunday mornings.
  • Celebrate communion regularly with our Crossbridge family.
  • Participate in and support the ministries of Crossbridge that focus on specific segments of our family: CBkids, CByouth, CBspecial needs, young adults & adults.
  • Be open to follow-up & contact from the staff, elders & other leaders to see how I am doing emotionally, spiritually & relationally.

On Mission
As a partner, I will:
  • Use my spiritual gifts & natural talents to serve others & glorify God.
  • Demonstrate a life of generosity in and outside of Crossbridge Community Church through the giving of my finances, time, resources & skills.
  • Be intentional about sharing the story of Jesus with people locally & globally.

As a partner, you will receive:
  • Greater access & support from our Pastors, Elders, & staff. While we will always work to love everyone and help them walk through situations they may face in life, dedicated time is reserved for our partners.
  • Voting privileges at the annual meeting and over congregational issues like purchasing a building/land.

Next Steps

Thank you for completing the partnership form. Your partnership is not finalized until you finish step two of our Partnership process.



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