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About the AFCU
The American and Foreign Christian Union
(AFCU) Organization exists solely for the purpose of supporting the
ministries, in Christ’s name, of the American Church in Paris (ACP), the
American Church in Berlin (ACB) and the Vienna Community Church (VCC).
While this statement of purpose seems simple and straightforward, it
does require further explanation.
Support
Our support role centers around five
major areas:
1.
Selection, employment and financial support
of the ACP Senior Pastor.
2.
Oversight of the buildings housing the ACP.
3.
Nurturing alumni support of all three
churches.
4.
Managing all endowment funds within charter
of a 501 (C) (3) organization and approving appropriate grants.
5.
Developing expanded financial support.
Organization
A Board of some 30 members currently
serves the AFCU. All members volunteer their time, talents and expenses.
They are comprised of alumni members and ministers along with current
members of the three churches. The Board is further supported by
volunteer consultants who bring a certain experience and expertise. In
addition, there are the Pastors and ex-officio members from each of the
churches. Finally, there are the Honorary Board members who wish to
maintain close contact with the Board but who are not obligated to
attend Board meetings.
The organizational
structure of the Board centers upon functional committees. At the
present time the specific committees are; Executive, Financial,
Personnel, Nominating, Development,
Communications-Interpretation, and Audit
. Under the auspices of the
Development Committee there are various subcommittees established for
each major development area.
The current officers of the
Board are listed as President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Executive Committee consists of the designated officers along with
Past Presidents, various committee heads and selected Board members.
Ministries
The role of the AFCU is to support the
designated ministries, in Christ’s name, of the individual churches. It
is the responsibility and mission of each church to define and carry out
those ministries. Through grants from the endowment funds the Board can
designate funding for certain areas. The Operating Budget for each
church is the sole responsibility of the local church leadership and
congregation. The main financial role of the AFCU is to manage and
increase the endowment funds and approve designated grants.
The key areas of
collaboration between the AFCU Board and the local churches are through
active development efforts and alumni support. This is being
accomplished through specific functions of the Development Committee
which include management of the alumni data base, regional ‘Friends”
receptions, a newsletter (The Bridge), direct letters, planned giving
(Heritage Society) and various other tools.
Mission Statement
The mission of the American and Foreign
Christian Union is to support the International, English
speaking, ecumenical churches whose ministries bear witness to Jesus
Christ. In partnership with our
member churches, we will strive to develop and manage a strong financial
base to further their programs. We will nurture and strengthen our
alumni ties and lend support to the pastors, leadership and members of
these churches through our care and prayers.
