Glorifying God by working together to build healthy churches

Bylaws

SCHEDULE "A"

BY‑LAWS OF THE B.C. CONFERENCEOF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCHES 

PART 1. INTERPRETATION. 

BY-LAW 1.  DEFINITIONS.

In these By-laws, unless the context otherwise requires: 

  1. the "directors" of the Society are the members of the Executive Council for the time being, and shall hereafter be called the "Executive Council";

  2. "Society Act" means the Society Act of the Province of British Columbia from time to time in force and all amendments to it;

  3. "registered address" of a member church means the address as recorded in the register of member churches;

  4. "special resolution" means a resolution passed by seventy-five per cent majority of the votes of persons authorized to vote and present at a convention;

  5. "Canadian Conference" means the "Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches".

BY-LAW 2. NUMBER AND GENDER  Words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa; and words importing a male person include a female person and a corporation.  

PART 2.  MEMBERSHIP. 

BY-LAW 3. ADMISSION OF A CHURCH TO MEMBERSHIP.

1.         The Society may grant membership to any church that accepts the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith, accepts its resolutions, and participates in its common undertakings.

2.         Membership of the Society shall consist of Mennonite Brethren churches within British Columbia.

3.         Procedure for admission. 

3.1.      A church desiring membership shall make application to the Executive Council, who shall then present the application to the Council of Church Leaders for its approval, and then to the Society for a final decision.

3.2.      Acceptance of the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith, the Constitution and By-laws of the Canadian Conference and this Society shall precede the application for membership. Such acceptance must be passed by resolution at a meeting of the applicant church, which resolution shall be filed with the written application for membership. Such acceptance will also require that the church will not be a member of another denomination or Society.

3.3.      Member churches of the Society are also members of the Canadian Conference. 

4.         All member churches are in good standing except a member church that has had its membership terminated pursuant to By-law 5.

BY-LAW 4.  MEMBERSHIP OBLIGATIONS.

A member church shall give moral and material support to all Society and Canadian Conference projects and activities. It shall teach and uphold the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith. 

BY-LAW 5.  TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP OF A CHURCH. 

  1. Voluntary Withdrawal. A member church desiring to voluntarily withdraw from membership shall make application to the Executive Council, which Council shall then make recommendation thereon to the Society (either to the annual convention or to the Council of Church Leaders as ‘Society in Interim’) for action on the application.

     
  2. Suspension or Dismissal. When a member church no longer adheres to the Mennonite Brethren Confession Of Faith, or declines to accept and carry out the resolutions of the Society, or causes ill report on account of its actions or conduct, the Society may suspend or dismiss that church from membership by special resolution. A letter stating the reason for the action shall accompany the notice of the resolution.

  3. A church that joins another denomination shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the B. C. Conference of MB Churches.

BY-LAW 6.  MEMBERSHIP OF A INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR CHURCH. 

1.         The Acceptance of Members. It is the responsibility of the local church to establish guidelines that will govern each of the following transactions whereby members are accepted by the church: 

1.1       through baptism upon confession of their faith; 

1.2.      through letters of transfer from other Mennonite Brethren churches; 

1.3.      through letters of recommendation from churches of other denominations who practice baptism on the confession of faith; and 

1.4.      through evidence that they have been baptized upon the confession of their faith and on the basis of their testimony. 

2.         The Sustenance of Members. Membership in the local church is sustained through responsible participation in the life of that church. The Society does not have two membership lists, namely, active and inactive. The local church may, however, limit the privileges of a member under discipline. It is the responsibility of each local church to establish guidelines that will govern this matter. 

3.         The Termination of Membership. It is the responsibility of the local church to establish guidelines that will govern each of the following transactions whereby membership is terminated:

3.1.      through a transfer certificate. Members may terminate their membership in a local church through requesting that a transfer certificate be sent to another Mennonite Brethren church. Such transfers, however, will not be effected on behalf of members under discipline;

3.2.      through a letter of recommendation. Members may terminate their membership through requesting a letter of recommendation to a church of another evangelical denomination. A certificate of baptism shall accompany the letter; 

3.3.      through a letter of release; and 

3.4.      through disciplinary action. The primary purpose of disciplinary action by the local church is to lead the person under discipline to repentance and faith. Such action shall be taken only after attempts have been made by the church to correct the person deemed to be in error. Before disciplinary action is taken, the person under consideration shall receive an explanation of the action being contemplated. The person shall have the right to a hearing prior to the disciplinary action. 

4.         The Privileges of Membership. 

4.1.      Decision-making in Member Churches. Formal decisions of any Mennonite Brethren church in matters that fall within the jurisdiction of the local church body shall be the exclusive right and duty of its members. It is the responsibility of each local church to establish guidelines, consistent with Society policies that will further govern decision making. 

4.2.      Tangible Assets. Membership in a Mennonite Brethren church creates no proprietary rights in any of the tangible assets thereof. Termination of membership, for whatever reason, requires no accounting by the church to the departing member in respect of such assets.  

PART 3.  RELATIONSHIPS OF THE SOCIETY. 

BY-LAW 7.  TO THE CANADIAN CONFERENCE 

1.         The Society is directly affiliated with the Canadian Conference and shall support its activities and carry out its decisions. 

BY-LAW 8.  TO ITS MEMBER CHURCHES.

1.         Status of Member Churches. Each member church shall be responsible for the management of its local affairs. It shall arrange its services according to its own needs and circumstances. 

2.         Mutual Accountability. As a family of churches we are mutually accountable to each other. Member churches:

2.1.      are directly affiliated with the Society and shall support its ministries and carry out its decisions;

2.2.      shall give opportunity for Society boards or their staff to report and to solicit support for the work of the Society;

2.3.      shall have pastoral staff approved for ministry by the Board of Pastoral Ministries (see By-law 32.2). When a church is beginning a search for pastoral staff the Conference Minister shall be consulted and kept appraised of the developments;

2.4.      are encouraged to consult with the Conference Minister and/or the Executive Committee of the Society when experiencing difficulty in areas of doctrine and/or interpersonal relationships. The Executive Committee shall be available to give assistance to pastor, church board, and/or a member congregation that is experiencing difficulty and/or is operating/teaching contrary to the Bible and the principles of the Mennonite Brethren Church. The Executive Committee may call and preside over a special meeting of the members of the local church to ascertain the facts and assist in solving the problem 

2.5.            shall, when it becomes evident that they are continuing to struggle, initiate together with the Conference Minister and/or the Executive Committee a process to help resolve the issue in a spirit of Christian love

2.6.            shall file their annual financial and statistical reports with the Society office.

2.7       shall file annual reports to the Charities Division, Government of Canada. 

3.         Recommendations and Questions.

3.1.            All recommendations of the Society's boards and committees must be presented to the Executive Council for processing prior to presentation to member churches and the Society for consideration. Under normal circumstances these recommendations shall also be processed through the Council of Church Leaders. 

3.2.      A member church may submit questions to the Executive Committee for clarification and advice. Where deemed advisable the Executive Committee may submit such questions to the Executive Council and/or to the Council of Church Leaders for further consideration. 

3.3.      Matters in which the Canadian Conference has jurisdiction shall be referred to the Executive Committee of the Canadian Conference.

4.         Authority of the Society. The Society has the right to make the final decision on questions relating to the common ministry and to the welfare of the member churches. Such decisions shall be in keeping with the guiding principles of the Bible.  

PART 4.  CONVENTIONS

 

BY-LAW 9. FREQUENCY, PLACE, AND NOTICE OF ANNUAL CONVENTIONS

 

  1. The Society shall hold an annual general meeting called the "Annual Convention" at such time and place to be determined by the Executive Committee.

  2. A minimum of fourteen days notice of meetings shall be given to all member churches.

BY-LAW 10.  QUORUM. 

A quorum for any meeting, whether the Annual Convention or a Special Convention, shall be representation from a majority of member churches. 

BY-LAW 11.  FUNCTIONS. 

The Society shall conduct elections, review annual reports of Society boards and committees, consider recommendations received from boards and committees, vote on resolutions and deliberate generally on all matters that have been properly processed by the Executive Committee before the meeting. 

BY-LAW 12.  REPRESENTATION OF MEMBER CHURCHES. 

  1. A member church shall be represented at conventions by the pastor plus delegates on the basis of one delegate per twenty-five church members and fractions thereof. If unable to attend, a pastor may be replaced by another delegate.

  2. A delegate must be a member in good standing with their home church and must be authorized by their home church to be a delegate. Each delegate is entitled to cast one vote.

  3. No proxies shall be permitted for any meeting of the Society.

  4. The Society shall be at liberty to decline the accreditation of any delegate to a meeting or withdraw their voting privilege where proper authorization is not established to the satisfaction of the Society.

BY-LAW 13.  SPECIAL CONVENTIONS. 

  1. The Executive Council may, at its discretion, convene an extraordinary general meeting called a "Special Convention".

     
  2. Whenever 10% of member churches submit a written request to the Executive Committee for a Special Convention, the Executive Committee shall convene a Special Convention within 21 days of receiving the requisite written notice from member churches.

     

BY-LAW 14.  CONVENTION PROCEDURES. 

  1. All matters shall be determined by simple majority vote of delegates present at the meeting, except when a resolution shall be designated a special resolution by the delegation.

  2. All elections shall be by way of secret ballot or by acclamation, as the circumstances may require.

  3. The order of proceedings at meetings shall be as provided in the "Leadership Handbook" and these By-laws; otherwise the order shall be determined by the chair, whose determination shall be subject to the simple majority approval of delegates.

PART 5.  ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL PROVISIONS. BY-LAW 15.  BOARDS AND COMMITTEES. 

The Society shall elect such boards, committees and councils as shall be necessary for the proper administration of its affairs 

BY-LAW 16.  ORGANIZATION OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES.            

Members of boards and committees shall be elected by the Society at its Annual Convention and shall serve without remuneration.

BY-LAW 17.  TENURE. 

1.         Executive Committee. The moderator, assistant moderator, secretary, and the members-at-large shall each be elected for not more that two consecutive two-year terms.

2.         Boards and Committees.

2. 1.     A person shall serve in an elected capacity on only one board or committee at any given time.

2.2.      A person shall serve in an elected capacity on any given board or committee for not more than two consecutive three-year terms.  

BY-LAW 18.  VACANCIES. 

Where a vacancy occurs during the term of office the Board in which the vacancy occurs may appoint a person to serve the remainder of the term. This appointment shall be presented to the Executive Committee, which shall take the appointment to the Convention (or Council of Church Leaders as Conference in Interim) for approval.  

PART 6.  ORGANIZATION AND DUTIES OF THEEXECUTIVE COMMITTEEAND THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 

BY-LAW 19.  THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

1.         Election and term of office.

1.1       During the Annual Convention, the Society shall elect the Moderator, Assistant Moderator, Secretary and the Members-At-Large.

1.2       Their two-year terms of office shall begin immediately after adjournment of the Annual Convention.

2.         Duties. 

2.1.      The Executive Committee shall provide spiritual leadership in the planning and directing of all Society business. 

2.2       The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the direction, evaluation, and support of the Conference Minister(s).

2.3.      The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the planning and directing of the Annual Convention.

2.4.      The Executive Committee shall be available to give assistance to a pastor, church board, and/or a member congregation that is experiencing difficulty and/or is operating/teaching contrary to the Bible and the principles of the Mennonite Brethren Church. The Executive Committee may call and preside over a special meeting of the leaders and/or members of the local church to ascertain the facts and assist in solving the problem. 

BY-LAW 20.   THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 

1.         Organization.  

1.1       The Executive Committee and the chairpersons of each of the Society’s boards shall be members of the Executive Council. 

1.2       The chairperson (or vice-chairperson) of Columbia Bible College.

1.3       The Conference Minister(s), the Executive staff of the boards and the President of Columbia Bible College shall be ex-officio non-voting members of the Council.

2.         Duties 

2.1.      The Executive Council shall provide spiritual leadership in the planning and directing of all Society business. 

2.2.      The Executive Council shall assist in coordinating the ministries of all boards and committees.

2.3       The Executive Council shall seek to promote the spiritual welfare of the Society and its member churches. It shall guard the doctrinal soundness of the member churches and make appropriate and timely clarifications on questions of doctrine, ethics and policy. It shall be alert to areas of weaknesses or harmful trends, and shall meet such weaknesses or trends with positive action.

2.4.      The Executive Council shall be responsible for the approval of all budget proposals to ensure that they reflect fairly the overall mission and goals of the Society. This shall be done not later than thirty days before the Annual Convention. 

2.5.      The Executive Council shall process all resolutions submitted to it for presentation to the Society.  

PART 7.  ORGANIZATION AND DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS. 

BY-LAW 21.  ORGANIZATION.

The Council of Church Leaders shall consist of: 

  1. the Executive Council;

  2. a pastor and one additional leader from each member church, or, where the pastor is unable to attend, his place may be taken by a second member from that church.

  3. the following ex-officio non-voting persons: associate pastors of member churches, executive staff members, and all Columbia Bible College faculty members who are members of member churches.

BY-LAW 22.  DUTIES.

  1. The Council of Church Leaders shall provide leadership in the affairs of the Society and serve as the "Society in interim".
     
  2. The Council of Church Leaders shall consider reports of Society boards and committees and take such action thereon as it deems fit.
     
  3. The Council of Church Leaders may, subject to provisions of By-law 20, where a vacancy occurs in any Society board or committee, ratify the appointment made by the Executive Committee and the board or committee in which the vacancy exists.
     
  4. The Council of Church Leaders shall meet not fewer than two times each year in addition to the Annual Convention.

PART 8.  OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT OF ASSETS. 

BY-LAW 23.  PROPERTY OF THE SOCIETY.

  1. All property, whether real or personal, at local church sites, is owned by the Society, except for such other arrangements as may be made by the Executive Council and ratified by the Society.
  2. All real property located at local church sites shall be registered in the name of the Society at the appropriate Land Title Office, except for such other arrangements as may be made by the Board of Management in consultation with the Executive Council and ratified by the Society.
  3. The day-to-day management of assets at local church sites shall be conducted by local member churches, except where the Executive Council directs otherwise.

  4. All property of the Society shall ultimately be subject to the supervision and management of the Board of Management.

BY-LAW 24.  LIABILITIES.

  1. Subject to such exception as is hereinafter set out; each local member church shall be entirely responsible for financial obligations relating to that member church.

  2. Where a local member church proposes to incur indebtedness not exceeding the value of the local church site, and where the Society is not required to produce security to the lender other than the duplicate certificate of title relating to the local church site, and where the lender acknowledges limitation of liability to the assets of the local church site, the Society, through its Executive Council, shall forthwith upon request by the local member church, execute all proper documents with respect to the real property.

  3. If acknowledgment of limitation of liability is not obtainable from the lender, or if a local member church proposes to incur indebtedness for an amount greater than the market value of the local church site, or requires the unrestricted signature of the Society, such local church may only do so with the written consent of the Society through its Executive Council. In such instances, the local member church shall submit an application to the Board of Management. The Board of Management shall examine the merits of the application and make recommendations to the Executive Council for acceptance or rejection of the application, together with such terms as the Board of Management may consider appropriate. Such acceptance must be presented to the Council of Church Leaders for approval.

By-LAW 25.  DISSOCIATION OR DISSOLUTION

 

  1. Upon dissociation of any local member church from the Society, ownership in all real and personal property of such local member church shall remain in the Society, subject to such recommendations of the Board of Management as may be accepted by the Executive Council.

  2. Upon dissolution of a local member church, or of associations or organizations composed of members of the Society, ownership of all real and personal property of such local member church, association, organization shall remain in the Society. The supervision and management of such assets shall be carried out by the Board of Management. The ultimate disposition of such assets shall be determined by the Council of Church Leaders and/or the Annual Convention.

PART 9.  MISCELLANEOUS

 

BY-LAW 26.  BORROWING POWERS

 

  1. In order to carry out the purposes of the Society, the Board of Management may, on behalf of and in the name of the Society, raise or secure the payment or repayment of money for purposes authorized by the Society.

  2. The Society may, by special resolution, restrict the borrowing powers of the Board of Management, but a restriction so imposed expires at the next Annual Convention.

BY-LAW 27.  CUSTODY AND USE OF SEAL.

  1. The seal shall be in the custody of the Board of Management or with the person designated by resolution of the Executive Council.

  2. The Seal of the Society shall not be affixed to any document except by authority of a resolution of the Executive Committee and in the presence of such persons as may be prescribed in and by such resolution, or, if no persons are prescribed by resolution, in the presence of any two of the following persons: Moderator, Assistant Moderator, Secretary and members of the Board of Management.

BY-LAW 28.  ALTERATION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

  1. Amendments to the Constitution and By-laws of the Society may be proposed by member churches, by Society boards and committees, or by delegates assembled in Annual or Special Conventions. Proposed amendments shall first be referred to the Executive Council for processing (see By-law 20 2.5). At the next Convention (whether Annual or Special), the Society shall vote on the proposed amendment. A special resolution shall be required for passage of the proposed amendment. The amendment, as passed, shall be filed with the Registrar of Companies, Province of British Columbia.

  2. Changes in the Constitution and By-laws shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Society Act of the Province of British Columbia from time to time in force and all amendments to it.
 

ARTICLE 2.  PURPOSES.

The purposes of the Society are:

  1. to glorify God our Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord by carrying out His will in our churches in the power of the Holy Spirit. This purpose is accomplished as our churches are encouraged and assisted in ministry by promoting unity, worship, evangelism, discipleship, education, compassionate caring, peacemaking, and stewardship.

  2. to build a healthy church by establishing new churches and helping existing churches to be healthy.

  3. to advance Christian education so that people will be equipped for a life of discipleship and ministry.

  4. to issue publications of various kinds that will promote the interest of the Society;

  5. to employ and support Christian workers who shall serve in accordance with the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith and with the By-laws of the Society;

  6. to collect and maintain funds; to receive gifts, bequests, and donations; and

  7. to own, secure, and administer property, land and sites; to contract and be contracted with; to convey, exchange, lease, mortgage, encumber, transfer upon trust or otherwise dispose of property, real or personal, all for the purpose of promoting the interests of the Society.

ARTICLE 3. DISSOLUTION, WINDING UP.

If upon dissolution or winding up of the Society there remains after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever, that property shall not be paid to or distributed among the members but shall revert to the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, or, if not in existence, then to the General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches, or if not in existence, then to some other Canadian charitable organization or organizations having cognate or similar objects, provided that such organization is a charitable organization within the meaning of the Income Tax Act for the time being in force. Such organization or organizations shall be determined by a majority of members attending the first meeting called by the liquidator on the dissolution or winding up of the Society. This clause is unalterable.