Baptists have always placed a high priority on starting new churches. As the new churches come into being, one of the questions they face is what kind of governing documents they need. In Baptist circles, four kinds of governing documents are often found: covenants, constitutions, bylaws and articles of incorporation.
Church covenants generally spell out the rights and responsibilities of church membership and establish the expectations of member relationships in the church. Covenants usually are less formal and more familial in language and tone than other documents. They typically cover how church members are expected to treat one another and lists behavior considered unacceptable, citing biblical references.
Jim White
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Whether your church needs a church covenant is a matter of preference. Many church leaders believe the covenants are valuable in establishing expectations. Others point out that church covenants are routinely ignored by a large percentage of church members causing them to question their value. Covenants were more popular in past decades than currently, but many churches still have them.
Church constitutions cover very basic information such as the name and location of the church, its purpose and objectives, its principles of faith and Scripture, how it is governed, groups with which it is affiliated and how the constitution may be amended. Some constitutions include a church covenant section.
Bylaws discuss the nuts and bolts of how things are done in the church beginning with membership: who can become a member, the process by which that happens and how and why members may be excluded from membership.
Church officers — usually pastor, deacons, moderator, clerk and treasurer — are generally listed along with how they are elected and, on occasion, how they may be dismissed. Usually a separate article dealing with the process of calling and potentially dismissing a pastor is included.
Bylaws cover how often business meetings are held, what number of members present constitutes a quorum and how special meetings may be called.
Among Baptist churches, business meetings are usually conducted according to the parliamentary procedures set by Robert’s Rules of Order. The Christian Law Association, however, discourages the use of Robert’s Rules saying they are too specific and inflexible. The association says Robert’s Rules are so complex that entire college courses are devoted to their mastery, making it unlikely that a typical church member will understand it.
The CLA claims to know of court cases in which the point of contention became whether or not the churches made their decisions in strict conformity to Robert’s Rules. It advocates that churches formulate their own rules based on common sense and biblical principles. My own experience with churches, however, leads me to conclude that few churches have the expertise to develop parliamentary procedures that will serve them better than Robert’s Rules.
Other topics typically covered by the bylaws include the discipline of church members when necessary, the hiring and dismissal of staff, the organization of the church and the process by which decisions are made.
These days, an article on due diligence is being added in some churches to specify that the backgrounds of staff members, particularly those who work with children and youth, will have been appropriately investigated and reviewed prior to their being recommended for employment.
Some bylaws make reference to other documents such as policy manuals covering personnel and finances.
A provision for amending the bylaws is always included and usually some statement is made about what would happen to the assets if the church voted to dissolve.
Incorporation is seen as a mixed bag. Until 2002, when Jerry Falwell sued the state and won, Virginia and West Virginia (which was a part of Virginia when the statute was written) were the only states in the country in which churches could not incorporate. The reasons for this went back to the 1780s when the Commonwealth was attempting to disentangle itself from support of the Episcopal Church. Those who support church incorporation see it as a means of providing legal protection for individual church members in the event of a suit. According to information included on the website of North Carolina’s Pilot Mountain Baptist Association, incorporation “is a means of protecting church members from any liability beyond the liability insurance coverage of the church. An incorporated church becomes a legal entity and is separated from the members who formed and make up the membership of the church.”
Lynn Buzzard of the Campbell University School of Law says that unincorporated churches are associations of members each of whom can be held accountable. The PMBA information concludes, “Therefore, the major difference between an ‘association’ church and an incorporated church is simply this: every member is responsible for the liabilities and obligations of an ‘association’ church. In an incorporated church, the church itself is a legal entity, and is responsible (not the members) for any liabilities or obligations.”
But in Virginia, legal decisions, of unincorporated churches (like borrowing money from a bank) requires petitioning the court by the church trustees, which can become burdensome. Incorporated churches, because they have legal standing, may conduct business without this stipulation.
On the other hand, those who oppose incorporation believe it is a means of gaining approval from the state and they oppose it on religious freedom grounds.
Above all, governing documents are a means of defining how churches will conduct themselves and how they make decisions in keeping with 1 Corinthians 14:40: “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (NIV).
A sample constitution and bylaws may be viewed here.
Jim White ([email protected]) is executive editor of the Religious Herald.