Date: Jun 30, 2003 [ 8: 14: 12]
Subject: Summary - Covenant, Constitution, By-laws, etc.
© 2003 BCP Harry Shelton Cole
Subject: Summary - Covenant, Constitution, By-laws, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH PLANTING LIST
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Moderated and edited by Pastor Harry Shelton Cole
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Introduction: If there is a human document that important to the church
planter it is the covenant of the church, articles of faith, and
constitution and by-laws. Certainly all these documents must follow the
Word of God and should support the inspiration of the preservations of
God's Word. As time changes and situations in this world, it behooves the
church planter to prepare and establish documents that bring honor and
glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and supports the doctrine of a Baptist
Church. Thanks to all who posted and for those sent copies of their
documents. If you haven't yet but intended to, please feel free to do so
today.
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Baptist Church Planters List - Question of the Week
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The question of the week involves your articles of faith, covenant, and
constitution and by-laws.
How important are these instruments for the church planter?
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Thomas Cassidy is one of the newest members of the BCP list but is a
veteran in pastoral work and training of young men. He is planting a
church out of his church in Southern California and brings up a good point
in answer to the question of the week. Thanks Brother Cassidy for your
quick & thoughtful response.
How important are these instruments for the church planter?
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Very important. Last Sunday, when we organized our mission work, Maranatha
Baptist Church of El Cajon, I had placed in their By Laws this statement.
Under Duties of the Pastor: "Timothy Thompson is the pastor of this church,
and shall remain so until the time of his death, or voluntary resignation."
This was necessitated by a radical charismatic group that preys on young
churches in this area. They send some of their people to infiltrate the
new work, and take it over. They then vote to fire the pastor and bring in
their own man.
Unfortunate that we have to go to such extremes to ensure the safety of our
new works, but such is the wiles of the devil!
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Dr. Marvin McKenzie is a pastor and church planter in the Northwest and
brings experience and expertise to the list that is not only encouraging
but practical. In his response to the question of the week he outlines the
details of having and protecting the documents of the church. Thanks
again Brother McKenzie for another thought out response.
How important are these instruments for the church planter?
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Brother Cassidy's response to this question is good not only to combat a
radical Charismatic group, but to protect the church from many potential
problems that could divide a congregation.
The by-laws of a church should be:
Specific -
Many forms of by-laws are so vague they do no good. The by-laws should
define exactly what the purpose of the church is, who can unite with the
church and how, what forms of discipline the church will exercise and when
it will exercise them, how the leadership of the church works, and what the
church believes (especially regarding distinctive doctrines ie. KJV only,
non charismatic, baptism and Lord's Supper stands, etc.)
Used -
The members of the church should have copies of the by-laws. The pastor of
the church should be well versed in them. The new members should have them
explained thoroughly.
Reviewed Often -
As times change there are things that may need to be added to the by-laws.
For instance, at one time every professing Fundamental Baptist pastor I knew
believed in the Pre-Trib rapture. Now there is a movement under foot to
teach the "pre-wrath rapture view in Baptist churches. I believe it is more
important now than ever that our bylaws define our position as to when the
rapture happens to protect our church from those types of heresies. I
believe the statement of faith should be very difficult to change, the
bylaws should be fairly easy to change.
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Michael O'Neal is a friend to this preacher and to many on this list. He
has recently joined us to help and share in the encouraging of church
planters and pastors. In his response he carefully draws us back to the
document that should be the basis of all documents in the church and that
is God's Holy Word. Thanks Mike for keeping our focus where in the right
place. The Bible (KJV) is and should always be the final authority.
How important are these instruments for the church planter?
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Absolutely important. Written documents are necessary to identify the
doctrinal positions of the church and to enforce the desired practices of
the church.
I would be happy to include a copy of our instruments but to do so would
necessitate a fairly large file. Our church's articles of faith, covenant,
and constitution and by-laws are all contained in a single document:
THE KING JAMES 1611 AUTHORIZED VERSION.
Any documents other than the Bible itself should have absolutely NO binding
power whatsoever upon a church. Such instruments as you mentioned may not
be bad as long as they are used for information purposes, but not as the
final authority in a local church. Our church uses all kinds of printed
documents: books, tracts, leaflets, etc., but NONE of them is authoritative.
I am not totally against such things as covenants, as they do have
scriptural precedent, especially in the Old Testament. As for using them as
authoritative instruments for enforcing rules in a church, however, I feel
that they are dangerous (we do not use the church covenant).
I am against church constitutions and by-laws, however, which rule in a
church.
I give my opinion as a small-time pastor who has been at it continuously
since 1975. I do not claim my opinions to be infallible, either.
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Brother Jeryl Bennett is now pastoring in Louisiana. He was on the BCP
list while in Michigan and contributed some really insightful replies. I
thank him for his response and welcome him back to the list. He is also
sending his former church's documents via snail mail for our archives. If
you haven't already, plan to do the same. The more information for the
church planter, the better. Thanks again brother Jeryl.
How important are these instruments for the church planter?
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I feel it is very important for the church planter to get proper by-laws,
constitution, and articles of faith at the very outset of the organizing.
Those items that would be (could be) beneficial to the pastor (limited
terms for deacons) should be placed in the by-laws while the church is in
its infancy and the people are tender to the things of God.
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Pastor Marc Leverett is a personal friend of mine. He and his church plant
is a model of Baptist Church planting. He is active in the Alabama BBF and
one of the first members of this list. His comments are always valued and
respected. I thank God for E-mail, through which Marc and I first met.
Thanks again Marc for your input.
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Baptist Church Planters List - Question of the Week
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>The question of the week involves your articles of faith, covenant, and
>constitution and by-laws.
>How important are these instruments for the church planter?
I believe that these documents are very important for the church planter as
he is the pastor of a new church. The foundation is very important and
these are foundational documents. Since new churches sometimes go into a
time of flux and may endure challenge by some who have a different agenda
than the founding pastor, it is essential to have a constitution and
by-laws so that matters can be settled without it becoming a person to
person thing.
Recently our treasurer left our fellowship leaving his office vacant. I
selected a temporary replacement to serve in that office until the next
election as our by-laws allow for me to do. (By coincidence he had gotten
the second most number of votes for that office in the last election.) A
man came into my office wanting to know when we were going to have an
election to fill that vacancy and when I told him that I had already
appointed a man, he hit the ceiling! He told me that I had taken too much
on myself and that the people should decide rather than for me to just put
my man in. I was able to explain to him that this is standard practice in
most Baptist churches and not out of order at all as our constitution calls
for this very thing. He wanted to SEE it written down! Once I showed him,
in writing, where in unmistakable and legal language the pastor is given
authority to choose a replacement to fill any office made vacant until the
next election he calmed down, apologized and the next day apologized even
more profusely (I think he found out that this IS standard practice by
checking it out) and took me out to lunch. He has been a new man since
this matter and I think that if I had not been able to show him that
pastoral authority is not just some capricious thing but is rooted in order
and scriptural principles that he would not have come around as he did.
For this and a number of other reasons it helps to have it WRITTEN DOWN.
2003 BCP HOME PAGE
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