4. Constitution, bylaws, and other policies

We need a framework

Our constitution and bylaws are like highway guardrails.

We don’t usually pay much attention to guardrails. But in times of danger, they protect us and help us live together harmoniously.

So we should revise our constitution, bylaws, and other policies. This way, we can reflect and formalize what we believe and how we will operate.

Constitution and bylaws changes

Revisions to the constitution and bylaws would include the following:

  • Ensuring that the Statement of Faith reflects all of our “die for” and “divide over” issues without requiring “debate over” and “don’t care” issues
  • Removing the senior pastor role from the bylaws
  • Setting up the structure in the bylaws for (eventual) elder governance

When?

We’re not ready to do this at the January 2018 Annual Business Meeting. Instead, we might call a special business meeting, after we’ve had time to communicate and plan. This might be sometime later in 2018.

How do policies fit?

The constitution and bylaws give us unity in shared areas of belief, administration, and ministry. And we should eventually also clarify policies in areas of shared administration and ministry (e.g., building usage, hiring practices, children’s ministry, and youth ministry). We want unity in these shared areas of belief, administration, and ministry.

At the same time, we want to allow for freedom in unshared areas of belief, administration, and ministry. For example, one congregation might allow women to teach a co-ed adult Sunday School, and another might not. One congregation might want to spend more money on outreach, and another congregation might want to spend more money on Sunday School materials. One congregation might try to reach mainly Chinese people, and another congregation might try to reach Chinese people and non-Chinese people. And these differences need not break our unity.

We can have unity in significant areas of shared belief, administration, and ministry. But at the same time, we can also allow for significant freedom in unshared areas of belief, administration, and ministry.

Next page: Elders