INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF DELIVERANCE MINISTERS
PROSPECTUS 2010

History

            The International Society of Deliverance Ministers (ISDM) was established in 2003 as an outgrowth of the Apostolic Roundtable of Deliverance Ministers (ARDM), founded in 2000.   ARDM was originally convened, under the leadership of C. Peter and Doris M. Wagner, with the view of helping recognized deliverance ministers connect with each other, build personal relationships, learn from and encourage one another, and create a structure for accountability.

            After a number of annual meetings, it became evident that ARDM was serving a valuable purpose, but that a broader structure was needed.  We live in a time when ministries relating to demonic deliverance are rapidly increasing in the USA and in other parts of the world.  Because ARDM was designed to build accountability through personal relationships, the size of the group had been limited to 25, and the meetings were conducted in a roundtable format.  However, each of the ARDM members was acquainted with many other deliverance ministers whom they regarded as peers, but who could not become a part of ARDM because of size limitations.

            Consequently, ARDM members agreed to expand the organization from a roundtable to a professional society.  The name International Society of Deliverance Ministers (ISDM) was chosen.  ISDM is not limited by size, and therefore it is able to  serve any number of deliverance ministers who perceive value in associating with peers for the purpose of building mutual integrity.

Structure

            ISDM is structured as a horizontal apostolic network.  C. Peter Wagner and Doris M. Wagner serve as Convening Apostles.  The members of the former ARDM constituted the initial ISDM Founders Circle, and the group continues to expand.  It should be understood that the conveners of a horizontal network (as contrasted to a vertical network) do not provide primary or apostolic covering or alignment to members.  Each ISDM member must have their own recognized primary spiritual accountability structure.

Membership

            Membership in ISDM is by invitation only either by nominations or by a screening process.

            Those who receive and accept the invitation to join ISDM will pay an annual fee of $150 per calendar year plus a one-time administrative fee of $35 or any part thereof.  This includes registration at the annual meeting.  They will receive a certificate of membership suitable for framing.

            Presumably ISDM members will be those who are involved in deliverance ministry on a fairly consistent basis.  They should have some visibility, and others in their circles of influence should recognize them as what might be termed specialists in the field.  Since dealing with the demonic can open doors for possible misunderstanding, criticism, excesses, or even accusations of malpractice in counseling, it is important to establish standards of integrity and accountability among deliverance ministers.  ISDM hopes to help meet that need by holding members responsible, as much as possible, for their activities.  In order to do this, it must be understood that the apostolic leadership of ISDM reserves the option of discontinuing membership if, after due process, the need should arise.

            All prospective members of ISDM must have read and agreed with this prospectus.

Annual meetings

            An annual two-day meeting of ISDM will be held around the second week of September each year.  It is expected that members will attend the annual meeting, although this is not a requirement for ongoing membership.  Only ISDM members, along with their spouses, will be expected to attend, since peer-level interaction is of the essence.  Exceptions to this rule are permitted if an ISDM member wishes to bring one guest.  In that case, the guest will be required to pay a registration fee for the meeting.

Fundamental Positions

            ISDM recognizes that responsible deliverance ministers operate across a fairly wide spectrum of beliefs, convictions, techniques, methodologies, points of view, reservations, and opinions.  In order to create an environment which ISDM members perceive as safe and comfortable, and in which they can openly relate to peers, it has been deemed advisable to set forth, in writing, a list of ISDM fundamental positions.

            By doing this, ISDM in no way is attempting to set itself up as an authoritative guardian of legitimate deliverance truth.  ISDM is fully aware that God is using other brothers and sisters in Christ to set captives free who may not agree with these fundamental positions of ISDM.   We bless them and pray that God’s power will continue to work through them, even though we recognize that they would not be comfortable as ISDM members.  These fundamental positions simply constitute the glue which holds ISDM together.

            ISDM agrees that: there are such things as demons; demons are created beings with distinct personalities; demons are active throughout the human population; the ultimate intention of demons is evil; demons are organized under a hierarchy of leaders with Satan as the head; the legal or positional authority of demons has been nullified by Jesus’ blood on the cross; demons have supernatural power to attempt to execute their wicked desires; while demons have been defeated by the cross, they have not been destroyed and they will remain active throughout this present age; demons are vulnerable to confrontation empowered by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus; Christian believers can be demonized and thus in need of personal deliverance ministry; deliverance can involve truth encounter, power encounter, allegiance encounter or all three; demons may manifest during deliverance; demons can speak in the vernacular, often through the mouths of their victims; some deliverance may occur through events such as conversion, filling of the Holy Spirit, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. 

            Because of the recently-acquired visibility of the Theophostic approach to counseling and inner healing, and because of questions that it has raised in the minds of ISDM members and other deliverance ministers, the ISDM Founders Circle has felt it wise to include a statement of its position in this Prospectus:

            While recognizing that the system called Theophostic Ministry contains some positive elements and that some individuals find help through it, ISDM while not rejecting Theophostic Ministry outright, does not recommend it nor endorses the totality of its theology, practices or claims. 

Statement of Faith

            Since it is essential that the members of ISDM be cemented together by a common set of fundamental beliefs, the following doctrinal statement defines the primary biblical and theological parameters of the organization:  The International Society of Deliverance Ministers (ISDM) positions itself in the evangelical theological stream of Protestant Christianity.  It adheres to the Apostles’ Creed and to the core doctrines of the Protestant Reformation, namely the ultimate and essential authority of the Scriptures for Christian faith and practice, justification by faith, and the priesthood of all believers.  It believes that God is a Trinity of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Jesus was born of a virgin, that He was physically raised from the dead, and that an individual’s personal relationship to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior determines that individual’s eternal destiny in heaven or hell.  The fulfillment of Jesus’ great commission to make disciples of all nations is central to the focus of ISDM.