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 FAQs - frequently
asked questions.
scan these
questions and if you don't find the answer you're looking for,
please feel free to contact us by clicking on the "contact us" page and using the
form supplied there. Ask anything you like, philosophy of
ministry, details on what we believe etc - feel
free.
Further down this page are comments from
people who have recently begun calling TrueNORTH their home
church.
- What's In The Name?
- . . . the short
answer is, Jesus is our "True North", our compass, with which we
need to keep with us at all times to navigate well through
life. The long answer includes a very inspiring, never
forgotten, preach from my brother in-law Pastor Phil Pringle
of Christian City Church Oxford Falls Sydney Australia, regarding
this.
- Why
Frisco?
- . . . we looked
and prayed about geographical landing points all over the
world. Boston MA, Naples FL, Nashville TN, were just
some of the places we prayerfully considered here in the
USA. Frisco is possibly the fastest growing city in the
country, people from all over the world live here in Frisco
Texas. It is an unfolding culture, not altogether typically
Texan yet it is in Texas. We love Texas. The Arts are
strong and visible in Frisco, an important element. Why not
plant here in Frisco and place a healthy "spirit filled" new
testament church expression, with an "arts" bias here in this
evolving culture - an exciting place to be.
- Who Needs Another Church In North Dallas?
- . . . true, there are churches
on every corner of Frisco now. Having said that, there are
few "Spirit-Filled" expressions that avoid being wacky - that's
where we sit in the scheme of things. We are as
unpretentious as we can possible be and avoid being "religious" in
everywhere else but where Jesus said to be. We are an "up"
church not a church that will leave people feeling down
trodden. Our calling is to champion the people of God with
all our might.
- What Have We
Got Happening for Kids?
- . . . as a new plant we are
slowly evolving in every area - we have recently started a "post
praise & worship time for toddlers to say 9 years. Some
very simple Bible Study activities, singing and movies overseen by
creative and loving Mom's and Dad's.
- Are You A Spirit
Filled Expression
- . . .
without a doubt! There are many people sitting at home, yet
searching for the wholeness from a full Gospel church
experience. Some tried churches until they felt they might
never find that expression. And . . . ended up right back at
home. Some were in churches that hinted at "heading that
way", factions rose up, and it never happened,
disappointment and tiredness set in and went home and sat
down. Well here we are, a Spirit-Filled church expression,
the gifts AND the evolving fruit - come and see if we
fit.
- What Type of
Church Are You?
- . . . I guess the
most typical way to answer that question is to say a "Non
Denominational" church. Although that may have lost it's
meaning over the years. We probably prefer "Inter
Denominational" as we believe strongly in the body of Bible
believing churches as the "Body of Christ." It's been
said that we are a "young spirited", "relational" and family
atmosphere type church. Try reading our "What We Believe"
page and the FAQ above.
- Are You Linked With Any
Church?
- . . . our Australian
Church roots are also family - Pastor Phil and Chris Pringle have
planted from scratch, I would have to say, one of the best
"spirit-filled" church plants on this planet. Pastor
Phil is Robyn's brother and these Australian roots are a
significant part of who we are. Glenn was Pastor Phil's
Worship Pastor for 5 years. Time has unfolded and
TrueNORTH has reconnected with the Christian City Church
movement (C3i). The DNA of Christian City Church and
TrueNORTH has more than strong overlaps. The relationships
are strong and important - the men of God amongst the CCC movement
are unafraid to step in and offer advice and wisdom and
oversight.
- Other Services
Times?
- . . . hmmmmm, at present we are
at the classic morning service time of 10:30 AM. We have had
many people call and ask if we are doing a Sunday night or
Saturday night service anytime soon. This shows us there are
many people wanting to find a "Spirit Filled" church such as
TrueNORTH. How do we know? Because it's one of the
first questions asked - the next is "other service times?" - many
people are looking for a "full gospel" experience.
- What Length Is Your
Service?
- . . . we try to stick to 90
minutes. We live in a magazine culture - keeping things
short and meaningful is an art and more productive for peoples
ability to stay focused. If God's Spirit really visits in a
giant way, and there seems cause to linger, of course, we will run
with Him.
- What Style Is Your
Service?
- . . . as we are from down-under,
a more laid back approach is taken, yet still engaging. We
mingle and chat and greet for approximately 10 minutes at the head
of the service. Then, about 30 minutes of Praise and Worship
longer if we feel to linger in the presence of the Lord, a short
"giving nugget" on the faithfulness of God is then given, the
tithes and offerings are then taken up, during which the
"vision notices" are given (nice and short!), after which the
tithes and offerings are prayed over, along with prayer requests
and the region churches for effectiveness in spreading the Gospel,
and praying for TrueNORTH. Then the "Preach" happens, after
which we may end with and invitation for salvation and/or prayer
over peoples lives or corporately, a song sometimes closes the
service and then coffee and connecting with others! The
order of all this can change a little from week to week as the
flow of what God is doing may shift. Sometimes the preach
has preceded the Worship and the notices get left out so as not to
interrupt what God wants to have happen. Communion, is
planned for each last Sunday in the month.
- How Often Do You Have or Take
Communion?
- . . . every 4 weeks or
so.
- What do I wear to
church?
- . . . what we call "
smart-casual" or, what is now being called "business casual" is
great. Really, if you want to dress up, go for it - if you
want to arrive in what you would wear out to a relaxed but nice
restaurant on vacation, go for that! We're very easy
going.
- Just "How" Spirit-Filled Is
The Expression?
- . . . well, we're not kooky, we
haven't been raised that way! It is not a free-for-all type
service. It is not a place where anyone and everyone can
stand up and begin their own wee meeting in the "name of
Jesus." Pastor Glenn has often said that the Sunday pulpit
at TrueNORTH belongs to the assigned, the pulpit of the
congregation is the Monday thru Saturday, anywhere you like type
pulpit! Having said all that, we leave room for the Gifts of
The Holy Spirit to move - predominantly after the "Word" has been
preached.
- What Do You Believe Makes Up
The Body Of Believers?
- . . . we believe we are a part
of the "body" of believers, the "Body" of Christ throughout the
world. We believe that when we are worshipping God we are
joining with all the Bible Believing churches of the region,
nation and planet. Not one of which can be called the "true
and only church" - certainly not us.
- Is TrueNORTH a
registered 501.c3 Non Profit Organization?
- . . . yes, we are incorporated
in TX and registered with the IRS as such. We are not only
registered as a church, but also as a place of education within
our bi-law description. We feel the reporting (to the state
or federal levels of government) requirements of such entities in
some states of the USA is too light. However on attending a
heavily instructional seminar in Boston, with 5
attorneys, most of which worked with Attorneys General
offices, (the seminar aimed at all Non Profit organizations not
just churches), we feel there will be a move to more
accountability toward the practices of
schools/colleges/universities and churches throughout this
nation. We can see the beginnings already and cheer it
on. The TX state informational requirements at the point of
set-up have now more than tripled. We are more than
comfortable with all this, in fact in the light of the many abuses
that non profit organizations (not just churches) have perpetrated
over the years, we believe this to be healthy. Conspiracy
theorists would disagree with us - stating amongst many other
non-compelling arguments, a breach of the separation of church and
state. We're happy to disagree with them. We have
noticed over the years that if a "Ministry" or "Place of
Education" is going to fail or fall over, it will do so via the
IRS stepping in and finding large anomalies in practices. We
try to be audit ready at the end of each week.
- . . . in relation to this
question, TrueNORTH produces "Giving Records" as soon as possible
at the turn of the year and distributes them. Late January
is the goal, we tend to meet that goal.
- . . . also, in relation to this
question, we keep records in QuickBooks (Non Profit version) and
have had some intensive CPA , general accountant and "Intuit"
training over 6 years in MA helping to recover and re-build
records from "book-keeping" methods in out of date and inadequate
software that had became unauditable. Hence the ease of
being "audit ready" in a very short time.
Slightly Unusual But
None-The-Less Fair Questions Asked
- Are You A Gay Friendly
Church?
- . . . my answer was (and is),
"yes, probably not in the way a gay person would hope,
but yes we are.
- Do you Compel People To
Speak In Tongues?
- . . .as a Spirit Filled church
we encourage people to speak and pray in the Spirit (tongues) but
there is no compulsion. We are certainly not a church that
believes that unless you speak in tongues you are not saved, that
is simply not scriptural nor sound doctrine and just plain stupid
and divisively selective.
Short
Comments From People Recently Deciding To Call TrueNORTH Home or
Have Visited From Out Of Town.
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