DOVE Partner Churches

DOVE USA is a family of churches in the USA that are a part of DOVE International. Our God-given mandate is to plant, connect and empower healthy churches throughout the USA and other nations. Follow the link on the “church locator” site to locate where there are current DOVE churches.

A Brief History

The DOVE family of churches has been in existence since 1980 when our first congregation was planted in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We grew to numerous gatherings, meeting at various locations in seven counties in Pennsylvania. However, we were still considered to be one church. We also planted three churches internationally. In 1994, we made the decision to go from being a “mother church” with church plants in other nations to becoming a “family of churches.” We established local pastors and elder teams to give leadership to these churches in Pennsylvania that were previously functioning together as one church. Additionally, we established an Apostolic Council to give oversight to these lead elders (lead pastors) and elder teams. This was the starting point of what we now call an “apostolic movement” that began January of 1996.

In 1996, we felt the Lord asking us to open our doors to other churches of like values and guiding principles that He would bring to us. We do not solicit churches but are open to churches who desire to become part of the DOVE family.

We Build by Relationship

If a church is interested in becoming part of the DOVE family, we ask that they first get to know us and determine if our values and guiding principles are the same. We begin to develop the relationship through phone calls, emails, and meeting together to get to know each other. The goal of this communication is a time of discernment so that the potential church can find out more about us and we can get to know the church better. We have a Leadership Handbook that is available for those who are genuinely interested in pursuing a relationship with DOVE. It answers many questions and outlines our structure as a movement of churches.

Steps to Becoming a Partner Church

  1. The leadership team is encouraged to read these books written by Larry Kreider: House to House, which defines our vision, and The Cry for Spiritual Mothers and Fathers, which defines our heart and explains why we do what we do.

  2. The leadership team is encouraged to read and align with The Biblical Foundation series by Larry Kreider. This defines our doctrine. This series is also available in videos as well.

  3. The leadership team needs to understand and have the same values as established by the DOVE International Apostolic Council. See DOVE International values here. The leadership team reads, understands and agrees with the procedures of DOVE International as outlined within this DOVE International Leadership Handbook.

  4. If the potential partner church leaders agree with the values, vision, doctrine, and procedure and is in unity with the Regional DOVE Apostolic Council, there needs to be a time set aside for prayer and waiting before the Lord to receive the Lord’s confirmation before an engagement begins. An on-site personal visit with the potential engaged church and the leaders is recommended at this point.

  5. If the Lord gives His confirmation, then an engagement period generally begins for one year, which can be shortened or lengthened upon agreement.

  6. The lead elder and the Regional DOVE Apostolic Council begin to build relationships. In some cases, the lead elder may relate to a designate appointed by the Apostolic Council.

  7. Apostolic coverage begins with an established engagement period.

  8. Tithing begins by the lead elder and the partner church at the beginning of the engagement period area as per the guidelines for tithing on page 28 of the DOVE International Leadership Handbook.

  9. The lead elder begins to relate to other DOVE International leaders within his geographical area.

  10. If there is full agreement between Regional Apostolic Council and the potential partner church’s eldership team, a partnership agreement may be signed by two members of the Regional DOVE Apostolic Council and/or designates and the lead elder and the other elders of the partner church. A copy of this agreement can be obtained from the DOVE International Office. There will be a public commissioning service by one or more Regional DOVE Apostolic Council member(s) and/or a designate(s) appointed by the Apostolic Council. There may be times when a church is a part of two movements for a season during the transition. This process is worked out between the lead elder and elders team, the Regional DOVE Apostolic Council and the leader of the other movement.

Adoption of Movements

The same basic process is used in the DOVE International family to adopt a movement as is used to adopt a partner church. This process may take longer due to the number of persons involved in the adoption process involving potential apostolic leaders and lead elders.

Relationship and Resources

Our Leadership events are a great place to build relationship with like-minded ministry leaders as well as find out more about our resources.

Sign up to receive information on upcoming leadership events here.

If you are a church leader interested to connect to the DOVE family start a conversation by email here.