The name shall be "Sovereign Grace Baptist Fellowship." To establish and maintain a Fellowship of Baptist pastors and churches which believe that salvation rests ultimately in the sovereign grace of God; to provide a medium for fellowship and mutual encouragement so that such pastors and churches may be edified in love and grace; to cooperate together in the carrying out of the Great Commission in those areas that cannot well be accomplished alone, namely world missions, church planting, and the education of aspiring, God-called ministers; and to assist one another in the maintenance and promotion of sound biblical doctrine and practice in ways deemed necessary and right in the honest light of Holy Scripture. 2) association. 3) a church in the Fellowship is terminated by the Fellowship. Both of these are determined by majority votes of the Fellowship.
constitution or by-laws. 1) A. and the Constitution and By-Laws of the Fellowship. B. fourths vote of the member churches. This vote will occur at the Annual Fellowship Meeting or during the year by a vote using mail, fax, or email. 1) 2) annual meeting. Only the voting messenger of the member church is allowed to vote on any issue that comes up before the Fellowship. 3) Fellowship. Exceptions to this can only be made by the Chairman of the Fellowship or the Vice-Chairman in the Chairman's absence. 4) consent.
1) reason sufficient to themselves. 2) know in writing that it has withdrawn its membership. This letter should be sent to the Secretary of the Fellowship. The officers of the Fellowship shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. These shall compose the Executive Committee and shall have the general supervision of all Fellowship work and projects. office. These shall be submitted to the Secretary before the annual meeting and he shall count the nominations and the two highest nominees shall be presented to the Fellowship to be voted upon. These two officers shall be eligible for re-nomination to the Executive Committee, but shall not serve more than two consecutive terms. Executive Committee. Committee, moderating meetings when the Chairman is absent. The Secretary shall be elected annually and shall keep accurate records of all meetings of the Fellowship and Executive Committee. He shall be curator of the official correspondence of the Fellowship. All records and minutes of the meetings shall be considered the property of the Fellowship.
The Treasurer shall be elected annually and shall dispense all funds as directed by the Fellowship and shall keep proper and accurate records of all said financial transactions. He shall provide necessary information and assistance to the Executive Committee in monetary procedures, and shall make an annual financial report to the Fellowship. At all times his records shall be considered the property of the Fellowship and shall be subject to reasonable right of examination by other Fellowship officers or pastors. His records shall be audited by a certified public accountant in accordance with the direction of the Executive Committee. As the need arises, the Executive Committee may recommend and the Fellowship can establish the necessary committees to head up the various activities of the Fellowship in the area of missions, church planting, education, publications, or other mutual endeavors. These committees shall be nominated by the Executive Committee and voted upon by the Fellowship. They shall report to the Executive Committee and to the Fellowship annually. All new officers shall assume their duties at the closing session of the Annual Meeting. All officers and members of committees shall be participating pastors or members of Fellowship churches. They shall at all times consider themselves servants of Christ and of the churches. Conference, at the invitation of a member church through its pastor. The date and place of the annual meeting shall be finally determined by the Executive Committee. Other meetings could also be held according to need and desire of the pastors and churches. and for the transaction of other necessary Fellowship business.
duly-called business meeting, unless otherwise specified. Those members present at any properly called meeting shall be considered a quorum. According to the Scriptures (Philippians 2:3-4), all things should be done decently and in order. Any disputed procedure will be determined by the will of the Fellowship. the various common efforts that shall be endeavored. Accordingly the Treasurer, upon recommendation of the Executive Committee, shall disburse all such funds in accordance with the allocations approved by the Fellowship. contributions for various Fellowship causes. The Executive Committee shall, after proper consideration, authorize the Treasurer to pay all regular and ordinary expenses incurred by the Fellowship and its officers out of the General Fund. accordance with the indicated designation. Such designations might include individual missionaries and projects, ministerial training, beneficence, the General Fund, and such like. The Fellowship retains the right to refuse any designation not in accord with our stated purposes and contrary to the spirit of our Articles of Faith. Such contributions will be returned to the donors.
of its activities and expenses through its committees to the Executive Committee and the Fellowship. can assert itself over our consciences. It remains supremely authoritative for us over any Confession of Faith adopted by the Fellowship. Confession of Faith) shall be considered a general expression of our doctrinal belief and is not intended to limit or bind the faith of any participating pastor or church. Neither shall any matter not covered in these Articles of Faith necessarily be considered a test of fellowship among us. This Constitution of the Sovereign Grace Baptist Fellowship my be amended in one of two ways: (1) Ordinary Amendment, or (2) Emergency Amendment. 75 per cent vote of the committee, present an amendment for consideration to the General Assembly at the annual meeting. The amendment shall be taken under consideration after having been presented at the annual meeting with the vote taken to approve it at the next annual meeting. A 75 per cent vote of the attending and voting representatives of the churches will be required to approve such an amendment. representative of the churches of the fellowship. A majority vote of the attending representatives shall place the amendment before the General Assembly at the next annual meeting. A 75 per cent vote of the attending and voting representatives shall be required to approve the amendment.
Recognizing that certain situations may require an emergency amendment, the constitution may be amended as follows. Any attending representative may move to amend the constitution at at the current meeting of the General Assembly, with a second to the motion required. Such an amendment shall be taken immediately under the advisement of the Executive Committee which may forward it to the floor with a 75 per cent vote of the Committee. A short recess of the meeting of the General Assembly may be called in order for the Executive Committee to consider the amendment. A 90 per cent vote of the attending and voting representatives shall be required to approve the emergency amendment. It will take effect as determined by the General Assembly. The date of effectiveness shall be included in the final presentation to the General Assembly. |