The constitution committee (the elders, together with Adrian Pearson (chairman), Ian Austin) met on Thursday afternoon. We continued the process of constitutional amendment. Our intent is a document which reflects our Biblical aspirations, and present practice.
Our roadmap was to bring amendments to the deacons, elders, and the executive sections. We’ve already modified the deacons section. And the elders section has been tabled for vote at the annual general meeting in September. However, the committee decided that we’d strengthen the congregational principle next. As such we’ve begun work on the church discipline and members section.
We worked thoroughly through the church disciple section. Ensuring it is biblical and practical. All procedures conform to God’s Word. The process is fair to the individual while keeping the congregation informed. Learning from the Baptist Union disciplinary process, we recognised that a policy could safeguard confidential information. We agreed to take legal counsel the next time we navigate church discipline. We spent a lot of time discussing formative and corrective discipline, as well as how to handle non attendance.
We began to work through the members section. We decided to strengthen our membership classes so that new members are fully educated on church policies and expectations. We shifted the authority away from the executive to the membership. We removed outdated references to membership transfers. We strengthened how the supplementary role functions. And aligned the constitutional language with our actual operational processes. Mark will work further on remaining adjustments needed for this section. And post it to the committee.
Our next step is executive review. The revised church discipline section will be sent to the executive team for feedback, and approval. Once approved by the executive, the section will be tabled at the upcoming annual general meeting in September. At that meeting Adrian Pearson has been asked to represent us.