TRI-STATE TRES DIAS SPONSORSHIP GUIDELINES

Sponsorship is a vital part of the Tres Dias movement if the community is to grow spiritually and numerically. The only way a person may become a candidate is to be sponsored by a Pescador. Because sponsorship is a serious responsibility, the sponsor should seek God’s will and guidance through prayer as to whom to sponsor and be sensitive in approaching a potential candidate. As required for potential candidates, sponsors must be living a lifestyle becoming to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Refer to attached Tres Dias Statement of Belief and Qualification For Community Leadership).

The Tres Dias movement endeavors to bring Christians to a closer relationship with their Lord Jesus Christ and encourage them to Christian leadership and Apostolic Action in their environments. There are three sequential phases to the Tres Dias experience:

  • The pre-weekend
  • The weekend
  • The Fourth Day

The weekend will not produce a permanent effect without Fourth Day involvement, and therefore, the sponsor should ‘sponsor’ the prospective candidate through all phases of the Tres Dias Movement, rather than just the weekend. The sponsor must encourage growth after the weekend by helping the new Pescador to apply the principles of piety, study and action.

  • Sponsors must be active in a Fourth Day community before submitting an application for sponsorship.
  • A sponsor shall be permitted only one candidate per weekend. However, each partner of a married couple may sponsor a separate individual on the same weekend.
  • The sponsor must discuss with potential candidates whether or not they have counseled with their pastor regarding the weekend.
  • The sponsor must meet personally with the potential candidate or couple when completing the candidate application to ensure all questions are answered with appropriate candidate understanding.
  • Sponsors should ask themselves if the potential candidate is a Christian who is open and seeking to share in a full Christian life. The weekend is an encounter with Jesus and intended to develop Christian leadership. It is not a weekend intended to convert or preach Christ to people who do not know Him.
  • The sponsor should be aware of any special needs of the candidate, i.e., dietary, medical, physical, emotional.
  • Candidates must be at least 21 years of age. Sponsor must be grouping, should participate in some of the following: Secuela, serve meals on weekends, palanca, prayer vigil, etc.
  • Candidate applications must be accompanied by the sponsor’s application.
  • If the candidate is married, the husband’s and wife’s applications must be submitted together.
  • If the candidate is married, it is the policy of Tres Dias that the husband and wife both agree to attend a Tres Dias weekend, with the husband attending first. Exceptions include one spouse having already attended a three-day renewal weekend or a diagnosed, documented health condition that would prevent one spouse from attending a weekend. Exceptions will be considered only upon special petition (to be submitted with the application) by the sponsor.
  • While we all have our concerns, deep emotional or physical problems should not be brought to the weekend in hope of a quick cure. If the candidate has recently been through a divorce, widowed, entered addiction treatment, released from a correctional facility, or other life changing event, it is required that the candidate wait at least one year before submitting an application. The weekend is not sensitivity training nor group therapy experience.
  • Applications are discouraged for candidates residing outside the Tri-State Tres Dias geographic area if the candidate will not be able to have the post-weekend support of a Tres Dias community. If there is a Tres Dias community in the area where the candidate resides, the sponsor is encouraged to have the candidate attend a weekend in his/her local community. Exceptions will only be granted in extenuating circumstances and only with a special petition (to be submitted with the application) by the sponsor.

The primary responsibility of the sponsor is to pray for the candidate prior to and during the weekend. The sponsor should also be prepared to:

  1. Provide transportation to and from the weekend. Upon arrival a few minutes before 6:00 p.m. the Thursday evening of the weekend, you will entrust the candidate to a greeter and proceed directly to the chapel for the sponsor service at 6:15 pm. Sponsor should not go into the dining room, halls, or candidate’s room
  2. Assist the candidate’s family during and after the weekend, as may be needed
  3. Provide for any special needs of the candidate during the weekend
  4. Assist the candidate in finding a Reunion group
  5. Provide further support in Fourth Day living for at least one year. Completed applications must be received by the Friday prior to the start of the weekend.

Revised 02-Mar-2021

TRES DIAS STATEMENT OF BELIEF

 (https://tdi.churchcenter.com/pages/constitution Section 2.0)

  1. We believe and profess our faith in one Triune God – The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).
  2. We believe and profess that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and is God in the flesh (John 1:1, 1:14, 3:36, 14: & Heb. 2:17).
  3. We believe and profess that The Holy Spirit is God and is The Lord and Giver of life, who continues to work in believers today to sanctify, edify and empower the whole Christian church on earth – – – for His purpose (Job 33:4, Acts 1:8, John 14:26 & Rom. 8:11).
  4. We believe and profess that the Holy Scriptures are the inspired and completely true Word of God (II Tim. 3:16-17).
  5. We believe and profess that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; that forgiveness of sins is received through confession and repentance – – and that our sins are washed away through the blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38, I John 1:9 & Rom. 3:23).
  6. We believe and profess that salvation is a gift of God’s grace received through personal faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8).
  7. We believe and profess that the Body of Christ is to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of The Son of God (Eph. 4:3, 13).
  8. We believe and profess that God’s unconditional love, as made manifest to us through Jesus Christ, is the primary witness by which people are renewed, edified and changed (I Cor. 13:8).
  9. We believe and profess that God has called us to live holy lives that will bring glory to His name (Col. 3:1-25). 

QUALIFICATION FOR COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

 (https://tdi.churchcenter.com/pages/bylaws Section 3.2)

This includes, but is not limited to, team members, elected and other local secretariat officers, and members of standing and special committees of the local secretariat.

Any person serving in a Community Leadership position must be living a life that is not in a state of rebellion against God. A state of rebellion against God can best be described as an unrepentant, open and active participation in advocacy of activities contrary to the commands (for example, “THE TEN COMMANDMENTS”) and guidelines in *Scripture for holy living and Christian leadership. Some examples (although not limited to these areas) are:

  1. Dependence upon alcohol or illegal drugs;
  2. Continued involvement in criminal activities whereby such involvement knowingly violates federal, state or local laws, statutes or ordinances, unless those laws come in conflict with these qualifications for members, in which case these qualifications will take precedence
  3. Continued involvement in lustful, immoral or perverted activities such as, but not limited to, any person who identifies as any gender or self-description other than their biological gender as determined by God at conception, pornography, and/or any sexual relationship outside of a lawful marriage between a biological man and biological woman as determined by God at conception
  4. Active involvement in the occult or Satanic worship;
  5. Allegiance to any non-Christian religion or organization which denies the deity of Jesus Christ. Note: For purposes of standards and principles, Tres Dias ascribes to those stated in the “Authorized King James Version” of the Bible of 1611 (KJV).

Revised 06-Aug-2024