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This is the current version of our church By-laws. They were last updated
December 20, 2006.
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BY-LAWS
That
all things may be done decently and in order, and that we may more
readily help each other, as members of
ARTICLE
I: NAME AND PRIVILEDGES
Section
1
This
church shall be known as Calvary Baptist Church of Renton, Washington.
Section
2
On all
matters that require church action, each member is entitled to one vote.
Section
3
For the
transaction of business, ten percent of the Active roll of members shall
constitute a quorum, except that in calling or dismissing a pastor; in
matters pertaining to acquisition, sale or undesignated use of property;
or in matters involving assumption of financial obligation, then fifteen
percent of the resident and active roll shall constitute a quorum.
ARTICLE
II: MEMBERSHIP
Section
1
Membership in
a.
Publicly acknowledged receiving Jesus Christ as personal savior.
b.
Received counseling concerning their decision.
c.
Submitted to New Testament baptism, and
For
those having already me the above requirements, petition for membership
may be by:
d.
Transfer of membership by letter from a sister church, or
e.
Statement of experience.
New
members are expected to attend a church member orientation.
New
Christians are expected to complete a basic course in Christian
discipleship.
Church
staff and deacons will assure membership orientation and a basic
Christian discipleship course is offered periodically.
Section
2
Membership shall be granted as follows:
a.
The deacon chairman in coordination with the decision time
counselor will assure the member candidate is presented to the church at
the earliest available opportunity.
The deacon chairman will assure the new member is introduced to
his/her assigned deacon at the time membership is granted.
b.
If there is an objection, action shall be deferred until the next
regular or special business meeting.
In the interim, a committee of Deacons will review the
objection(s) and meet with the candidate for counseling as appropriate
and bring a recommendation on membership.
Upon receiving the recommendation from the Deacons, membership
shall be granted upon a favorable vote of 2/3 of the members present and
voting. If a regular
business meeting is not scheduled within three weeks of the initial
action, a special business meeting will be held to act on the petition
within three weeks of the initial action.
Section
3
Types
of membership:
Section
4
Active
membership may be withdrawn:
a.
By a transfer of letter granted at the request of a sister
church.
b.
By removal from the roll upon death.
c.
By erasure when:
1.
He/she departs from the Baptist faith to follow another.
Such erasure shall be confirmed by church action in a regular
business meeting.
2.
Upon written request of a member.
d.
Due to non-participation in the life of the church in the past 12
months. Such withdrawal
shall be confirmed by church action in a business meeting following
review by the Pastor and deacon body.
e.
When a member becomes an offense to the church and its good name
by reason of immorality, unchristian conduct, persistent breach of
covenant vows or by advocating doctrines out of harmony with those held
by the church, the church may terminate his membership by vote in a
regular or special called business meeting but only after due notice and
hearing, and after faithful efforts have been made to bring such a
member to repentance and amendment as described in Matt. 18:15-17.
An
individual from whom Active membership has been withdrawn for any reason
may again become a candidate for Active membership following the steps
outlined in Section 2.
ARTICLE
III: ORGANIZATION AND
MEETINGS
Section
1
The
church provides organizations and meetings as follows;
a.
Under direction of the pastor there shall be regular services of
worship, preaching and evangelism each Lord’s Day morning and evening,
hours designated by the church.
Midweek prayer service shall also be under direction of the
pastor.
b.
Sunday School, Church Training, Women’s Missionary Union, Baptist
Men on
c.
Adopt the On-Mission Team Program as developed by the SBC North
American Mission Board.
Section
2
The
Lords Supper shall be observed each quarter, under the direction of
pastor and deacons.
Section
3
The
regular business conference will be held at least once per quarter, and
where feasible, on the third Wednesday of the month.
The pastor shall serve as moderator and the Chairman of Deacons
as Assistant Moderator.
Section
4
Special
Business Meetings may be held upon call of the Moderator, provided each
one is announced, and the nature of business indicated, at a prior
Sunday service.
Section
5
All
questions shall be settled by a majority vote of those present and
voting, except as otherwise provided in these by-laws.
Section
6
All
questions of procedure not provided for in these by-laws shall be
determined according to Roberts Rule of Order Revised.
Section
7
Any
motion brought to the floor of a business meeting that is under the
jurisdiction of a church committee, may by the moderator, be referred to
that committee at a later business meeting.
ARTICLE
IV: OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS
Section
1
a.
The church shall have as officers:
a pastor, deacons, trustees, clerk, treasurer, leadership for
organizations mentioned in Article III, Section 1, above, and others as
need arise. The church shall
also maintain a Nominating Committee and other committees as needed.
No person shall serve as Chairman of more than one committee
simultaneously.
b.
The church shall have a Church Council consisting of:
all professional staff, Church Clerk, Sunday School Director and
Chairmen of the following committees:
Building and Grounds, Trustees, Personnel, Deacons, Stewardship,
Nominating Committee. Any
special emphasis leader can be added to the church council as
recommended by the permanent members of the council.
Section
2
a.
The pastor shall be called by the church by at least a two-thirds
vote upon unanimous recommendation from the pulpit committee.
The call shall be for an indefinite period, with the
understanding that the services of the pastor may be terminated at any
time either upon decision of the pastor to present his resignation or by
majority vote of the church in regular or special business meeting,
reasonable notice should be given in either case.
When calling a pastor, only one candidate at a time shall be
brought before the church for consideration.
Vote will be by ballot.
b.
For the calling of other professional staff similar procedure
should be used.
Section
3
On
Nomination and election of Officers:
a.
Two new members to a six member Nominating Committee shall be
nominated by the Church Council in the November business meeting each
year with a three year term of office.
A member of the committee, who has served a full three year term,
shall not be eligible for re-election until a year has elapsed.
In case of death or removal or incapacity to serve, the church
may elect to fill the unexpired term.
Heads
of organizations for the coming year should be presented for election by
March business meeting. The
committee will take full charge of selecting and asking people to serve
in various offices in the church after consultation with various
directors of work.
Deacons, Trustees, Nominating Committee members, Stewardship Committee
members and Personnel Committee members shall take office January 1st
(first), or as deemed needed.
All other positions will take office September 1st (first).
b.
There shall be a sufficient number of deacons to minister to the
spiritual and physical needs of the Church family.
The length of service shall be three years.
A Deacon who has served a full three year term shall not be
eligible for re-election until a year has elapsed.
In case of death or removal or incapacity to serve, the church
may elect to fill the unexpired term.
The regular term of office shall begin January 1.
Election shall be held not later than the November business
meeting, or as needed, as follows:
An
attempt will be made to have a proportional number of deacons to
minister to the spiritual and physical needs of our diverse church
family. Each year in October
the present group of active deacons will make a recommendation to the
church as to the number and composition of active deacons, after
consideration of the spiritual needs of the church and the number of
available, qualified men. If the
recommendation is for one or more additional deacons from a cultural or
linguistic group in
The remaining number of desired deacons will be filled as
follows:
In the
November business meeting, or as needed, the deacons will submit a list
of all adult male members 18 years of age and over who have been active
and supportive participants in
These
men will be interviewed as to their willingness to serve and spiritual
qualifications by a committee of two or more men appointed by the
pastor. This list, together
with those candidates recommended by the cultural or linguistic groups
shall be presented at the following regular business meeting for
election. The men approved
by the church, but not already ordained, shall be ordained by the
church.
c.
There shall be three Trustees elected for three year terms on a
rotation basis similar to that for deacons.
Trustees shall be elected by the December business meeting to
assume duties on January 1.
The nominating committee shall present nominations for the office.
Vote will be by ballot.
Section
4
Any
officer may resign by submitting a resignation either in person or in
writing. This resignation
shall be acted upon by the church in a regular business meeting.
Section
5
The
church may declare vacant any office which has been neglected for a
period of five or more meetings without good and sufficient reasons.
Section
6
Duties
of officers:
a.
Deacons are to be servants of the Lord and of the church
according to the principles of the New Testament.
They shall:
1.
Be zealous to guard the unity of the Church in bonds of peace.
2.
Advise, counsel, and cooperate with the pastor in all matters of
the welfare and work of the church.
3.
Seek to release and strengthen the pastor’s hands for the
spiritual ministry he is prepared to perform.
4.
Make provisions for the proper observance of the ordinances.
5.
Assume responsibility for the physical and spiritual welfare of
the members.
6.
Accept responsibility to call on families assigned to his care.
b.
The moderator shall preside over all business meetings of the
church. It shall be his duty
to keep order and to state and explain propositions which come before
the church. He may speak on
any subject by inviting the Assistant Moderator, or ask another to
preside in his place. He
shall not vote except in case of a tie, at which time he may cast a
vote.
c.
The Clerk shall keep a record of all actions of the Church,
including adequate membership records, and shall be custodian of all
minutes.
d.
The Treasurer shall be the custodian of all monetary papers of
the Church unless otherwise provided for.
He shall disburse by check in keeping with the action of the
church and as provided in Article V, Section 3.
He shall make a detailed monthly statement to the Church of the
receipts and disbursements.
e.
The Trustees shall be legal custodians and representatives of the
Church. They shall meet with
Finance Committee for the consideration of matters pertaining to
property and legal procedures.
All legal transactions shall be upon the authority of the Church.
f.
The Financial Secretary shall keep record of all individual
receipts as indicated on offering envelopes.
An annual report of individual giving records shall be provided
by the end of January following each calendar year.
Quarterly reports shall be available only upon request.
g.
Duties of other Church officers shall be set forth by the Church
action and in keeping with the responsibility to be fulfilled.
h.
The Personnel committee shall assist the church and staff in
matters related to the employed personnel administration.
i.
The Stewardship committee shall be composed of the church
Treasurer and six other members, to be elected by the church.
The church Nominating Committee will present the names to the
church for election. The
members shall serve three year terms.
No member who has served a full three year term shall be eligible
for re-election to the committee until a year after the expiration of
their full three year term.
The
responsibilities of the Stewardship Committee shall include:
1.
Developing a suggested budget after reviewing budget request and
justification for allocation for Program Organization Directors and
Committee Chairman. The
requests shall be analyzed by the Stewardship committee and either
accepted or modified, with modifications reviewed by the one making the
request. The proposed budget
is to be presented for Church consideration not later than the December
business meeting.
2.
Reviewing the budget once each quarter in light of receipts and
expenditures, and reporting the results to the church.
3.
Periodic review of the Church’s financial condition to monitor
such condition, to determine what, if any, condition, and to decide what
proposals, if any, should be brought before the Church regarding these
matters.
4.
Reviewing for approval or delay any proposed purchases that
exceed ($250.00 except the purchases of supplies normally approved by
any of the various church program directors (such as quarterly
literature supplies).
5.
Making recommendations to the church about needed re-allocations
of funds to cover unusual or unexpected expenses or events and about
alternatives available to the church to raise additional monies, if
needed.
6.
Making recommendations to the church regarding the creation,
deletion or change in designation of specifically designated funds and
insuring that such funds are spent only for designated purposes.
7.
Periodic review of the Church’s Financial policies, counting, and
accounting procedures of determine their adequacy and appropriateness to
the needs of the church, to make changes to the counting and accounting
procedures as necessary and to bring recommendations to the church for
any needed changes in financial policy.
8.
Acting as advisors and resource persons to the financial officers
and committees of any mission sponsored by
9.
Conducting an annual stewardship campaign to help ensure that the
adopted church budget is adequately funded.
Any
other responsibilities not specifically mentioned in this section but
which may arise and be related to responsible stewardship of the
Church’s financial resources, shall be assumed by the Stewardship
Committee.
The
essence of the section is responsible stewardship of
The
Church Treasurer may not serve as chairman.
i.
The
Pastor and/or ministerial staff shall serve, ex-officio, in all general
church committees and shall advise as far as practical with all officers
in the fulfillment of their various duties.
ARTICLE
V: FINANCIAL POLICIES
Section
1
Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Financial Secretary, Chairman of
Trustees, members of the Counting Committee and any others who position
require the handling of church funds shall be covered by a blanket
fidelity bond. Trustees
shall recommend additions as necessary.
Section
2
Monies
Received:
a.
All monies shall be counted before removal from the church by two
or more members of the tellers.
If tellers are not present, other persons covered in the bond may
be asked to assist.
b.
Offering envelopes are to remain sealed until delivered to the
counting committee.
c.
Deposit slips shall be made out by the counting committee on all
monies received on Sunday morning and hold over from the previous Sunday
evening and placed in the Night Depository.
Any person whose position is covered by the blanket fidelity bond
may place the funds in the night box.
d.
If the Sunday evening offering contains less than $50 in currency
and coins, it may be held over until the following Sunday morning, after
it has been counted and recorded as specified above.
Section
3
All
checks written on the church checking account, shall be signed by the
Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer or Financial Secretary.
Section
4
Records:
a.
The financial records of the church (but not individual
contribution records) shall be made available for inspection by any
member of the church.
b.
A committee appointed by the Trustees shall audit the record of
deposits, disbursements, and fund balances and report to the church at
least annually.
c.
An audit of these records by a Certified Public Accountant, or
other qualified persons, may be called at any time by action of the
Church.
ARTICLE
VI
A copy
of these By-Laws shall be kept in the Clerk’s current record book at all
times, and shall be available to each member upon request.
ARTICLE
VII
These
by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present and
voting at any regular stated business meeting, provided notice and
explanation of the proposed change of By-Laws shall have been given at
the previous regular stated business meeting, and announced in at least
one regular service.
These
By-Laws make void any previous action of Church which is not in
agreement.
Adopted
by Action of CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH,
_____________________________________
Pastor, President and Moderator
_____________________________________
Church Clerk
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