Code of Conduct

As a Christian ministry that shares the love of Jesus Christ with so many people around the world, we passionately want to honour God in all that we do.

However no one is beyond temptation and given the lives that God transforms through what we do together, the devil will try to bring us down whenever and however he can.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8)

Make no mistake. We are on the frontline of a spiritual battlefield, which is why it is so vitally important for us to be deliberate in setting prudent, biblical boundaries to help avoid the moral and leadership failures that have detroyed so many other ministries.

That’s what this Code of Conduct is all about: explicitly setting out what we do and what we don’t do so that as a team, we have accountability and transparency before one another and before God.

1.      Bible-Based Behaviour

For that reason we expect every board member, staff member, volunteer and contractor to:

• • 1. Honour God in all things, both in their ministry roles and in their personal lives.
    2. Be kind, generous, loving, decent, respectful and honest in their dealings with one another and with Christianityworks’ supporters, ministry partners, suppliers and those who benefit from the work of the ministry.
    3. Abide by the Christianityworks Statement of Faith which is publicly available on our website and which forms part of each staff member’s employment contract.
    4. Declare any conflicts of interest as and when they arise and avoid self-dealing.
    5. Deal honestly, ethically and decently in all matters, including financial.

This Code of Conduct sets a high biblical standard of behaviour, which means that we choose board members, staff, volunteers and ministry partners very carefully, with integrity and verification.

We believe that God both requires and honours our holiness in all things. And to this end, nobody involved in the ministry of Christianityworks is exempt from this Code, irrespective of their position.

2.      Financial

Christianityworks is 100% funded through the generous and sacrificial support of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore we:

• • 1. Treat all funds as a gift from God – it is His money not ours.
    2. Do not make excessive or extravagant payments, purchases or expenditures.
    3. Do not pay bribes, inducements or incentives to any person or organisation.
    4. Only use the funds which God provides to fulfill the mission of the ministry, which is to teach the Bible in the media and lead people into a dynamic relationship with Jesus.
    5. Keep accurate financial records, including of donations, donors, bank accounts, payment gateways, payments to external providers and payments to Christianityworks staff.
    6. Provide regular, comprehensive and transparent reporting to the Board so that they can effectively oversee the ministry’s finances.
    7. Have explicitly instructed the Financial Controller immediately and directly to inform the Board Chairman if, in his professional opinion, he suspects or detects any financial irregularities or inappropriate expenditures.
    8. Ensure that the accounts of all our legal entities are audited on an annual basis.

3.      Supporters and Those to Whom We Minister

We come into contact with many people who respond to Christianityworks’ Bible teaching messages, some of whom go on generously to support the ministry. In order to show them love and respect, we:

• • 1. Treat all the information with which they provide us or which we gather and store about them, in strict confidence.
    2. Put in place effective measures to protect their privacy, including strong digital security.
    3. Ensure that we comply with the Christianityworks Privacy Policy which is publicly available on our website.
    4. Endeavour to respond to and thank all those with whom we come into contact in a timely, honest, respectful and loving way, within the resource constraints of the ministry.

4.      Ministry Assets

The assets of the ministry are there to be used to support its mission. As such, we ensure that:

• • 1. Physical assets are insured as required, kept safe and cared for appropriately.
    2. Such assets are used principally for the ministry and that any personal use (e.g. of computers) is firstly approved by the CEO and/or the Board if necessary and secondly does not cause any cost or loss to the ministry.
    3. Information and data assets are stored securely and are robustly backed up.
    4. Christianityworks’ trademarks, names and legal structures are protected and used only for ministry purposes.
    5. Key ministry relationships are protected and documented.
    6. The intellectual property of the ministry is protected and any licensing arrangements are clearly documented.

5.      Personal Behaviour

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to treat one another with love and respect. As such we:

• • 1. Acknowledge that any form of harassment, bullying, demeaning behaviour toward one another or external parties has absolutely no place in Christianityworks.
    2. Will work through difficult situations, such as unsatisfactory performance, conflict, etc, by speaking the truth in love and making every endeavour to build one another up.
    3. Expect one another, and our ministry partners and suppliers, to make mistakes from time to time and for not all initiatives to “succeed” as perhaps they were envisaged.
    4. Do not have a blame-oriented culture, but rather seek to learn what we can from failure, forgive, and move on.
    5. Understand that dishonesty, laziness and “bad attitudes” have no place in the ministry.
    6. Expect everybody to work hard, bringing their individual gifts, experience and insights to bear as part of a cohesive team, in order to bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.
    7. Declare and believe that God blesses humility and unity.

6.      Moral Behaviour

We believe that sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift from God and that the only appropriate expression of that gift is between one man and one woman in the exclusive relationship of marriage.

We also acknowledge that none of us is beyond temptation in this area. To this extent we mutually set the following boundaries:

• • 1. Whilst working for or acting on behalf of Christianityworks, we will never be alone with a member of the opposite sex who is not our spouse or an immediate family member.
    2. This applies when working in a Christianityworks office, away from the office, when travelling for short distances in a vehicle, sharing “coffee” or meals, or travelling long distances (e.g. conferences, ministry trips, etc).
    3. We strongly encourage all, in particular our Bible teachers and ministry leaders, also to adopt that same approach in their own personal lives.
    4. When Christianityworks team members of the opposite sex do need to travel together, they are to be accompanied by a third person. If this is not possible then, quite simply, they do not travel together.
    5. We strongly encourage those who are married to provide their spouse with complete access to all their technology platforms and applications (e.g. mobile phone, tablet, messaging Apps, etc) to ensure transparency of and accountability for their online behaviour.

Sexual immorality, either at work or in a person’s private life, is not acceptable at Christianityworks, irrespective of an individual’s status or position in the ministry. Failure in this regard is likely to result in the dismissal of the individual from the ministry.

7.      Applying this Code to Difficult Decisions

A black and white Code of Conduct is relatively easy to write and to read. It’s easy to nod our heads in agreement. But applying it in a difficult position, well that can be a completely different matter.

Therefore, if and when you find yourself in a tough spot:

Pause:

• • • • Does the situation make you feel uneasy?
      • Are your instincts telling you something is not quite right?
      • Pray and think to consider how to approach the situation before you act.

Think:

• • • Is your approach consistent with biblical standards and our culture?
    • Does it build and maintain trust?
    • Never sacrifice Christianityworks’ reputation and trust for a short-term gain.

Ask and Refer:

• • • Ask questions and get help.
    • Talk to your immediate supervisor or “further up the chain” if necessary.
    • Get advice and respond with godly wisdom.

8.      Reporting a Breach of This Code of Conduct

It is true in most organisations that “bad news doesn’t travel uphill” … which most frequently simply results in bad situations getting worse.

For this reason, it is your responsibility to report any breaches of this Code of Conduct, either actual or suspected, in accordance with Christianityworks’ Whistleblower Policy.

In accordance with that Policy, you will not suffer any disadvantage for making such a report, unless of course it is deliberately false or malicious.

Day-to-day the ministry of Christianityworks operates without politics, without harassment and by the highest standards of personal and corporate behaviour. So under God, the Board both hopes and prays that you will never, ever need to report such a breach.

But if you become aware of something that is not right, then report it you must because this ministry exists for the glory of God and our holiness is the basis on which He blesses the work of our hands and transforms countless lives.

So together, let’s keep it that way, for …

now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me; for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me shall be treated with contempt. (1 Samuel 2:30b)

This policy was endorsed and enacted by Christianityworks Board resolution on 3 June 2021.