RIVER HILL CHURCH OF CHRIST
Constitution
By-Laws
ARTICLE 1
Name and Purpose
1. The name shall be the River Hill Church of
Christ.
2. Purpose: The purpose of the church shall be:
A. Salvation of lost souls.
B. Edification of every
beliver.
C. Evangelization of
the world with the word of God as our only source of authority.
ARTICLE 2
Qualifications of Members
1. Qualifications: Those who signify their desire to become
members of the River Hill Church of Christ and who accept Jesus
Christ as their Savior and are willing to follow His commands
contained in the word of God and who arebaptized by immersion into
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins in accordancewith the divine
pattern in the New Testament.
2. Types of membership:
The official board shall determin and prepare twolists of members,
one to be known as Active Members and one to be known asInactive
Members. These lists shall be kept current by revision as the Board
deems necessary and appropriate.
3. Concerning
members: Members absenting themselves from public worshipand
communion (the Lords' Supper) over an extended period of time,
unless prevented by good and sufficient cause, shall be considered
as violating theirvows. In such cases the elders shall call on them
and report to the officialboard and the official board shall take
such action as they see fit.
4. All members of the church
having employment, shall be expected to contributetoward the
necessary expense of the church, "as the Lord had prospered
them".
5. Letters to other churches shall be issued by the
church clerk upon orderof the official board at a regular or special
meeting.
6. Members moving their residence to other places
beyond the confines of thischurch should be encouraged to transfer
their membership to the nearest churchof our faith in order to keep
their interest in the church alive.
ARTICLE 4
Official Board
The official
board of the church shall consist of: (a) Four elders,(b)eight
deacons. Five trustees shall be selected from the official board by
the nomination committee as recorded in the church charter.
Election of the Board
1. The official board of the church shall be elected by
the activemembers the RIVER HILL CHURCH OF CHRIST
2. The tenure of office: The elders, deacons and
trustees shall hold office for two years or until their successors
are elected and qualified, one-half of the number of elders,
deacons and trustees to be elected annually.
3. Nominations: The nominating committee consisting of
two elders, two deacons and two active members shall be
selected by the official board at the January meeting. This
committee shall be announced from the pulpit the Sunday of the
committee's first meeting.
4. The nominating committee shall hold a meeting as soon as
possible after its selection and after careful consideration shall
agree upon one candidate for each office to be filled. These names
shall be presented to the eldership for ratification.
5. No one shall be eligible for election on the
official board who shall not have been an active member of the River
Hill Church of Christ, 2105 River Hill Rd., Monongahela, PA 15063
for at least one year prior to the date of election (Article 2,
Section 3). It shall be required further that said candidates
shall have been interviewed by a member of the nominatingcommittee
to ascertain whether or not he is willing to faithfullydischarge the
duties of the office for which he has been named.
6. The names of the candidates selected by the nominating
committee on approval of the eldership shall be read on the last
Sunday in February at the morning church service and posted on
bulletin board till second Sunday in March.
7. In event of dissatisfaction over the name of any candidate
proposed for election, it shall be the privilege of any active
member of the church to propose the name of any active memberto the
nominating committee prior to the Saturday before the2nd Sunday in
March. Provided such member shall have been interviewed, shall have
expressed his willingness to serve faithfully if elected.
Candidates nominated by the committeeor those presented by active
members of the congregation to the nominating committee and ratified
by the eldership shallbe presented to the congregation the second
Sunday in March at the close of the morning service. Voting shall
be by secret ballot at this meeting. No nominations from the
congregationon election day. Elders, deacons, and trustees elected
toofficial board to begin with church year January 1st.
8. Deaconesses: There shall be a board of seven
deaconesses who shall elect their own chairman and shall meet at
suchtime and place as they see fit. They are to be appointed by the
official board. The board of deaconesses shall not beconsidered a
part of the official board but may make recommendations to any
member of the official board for the good of their work.
Vacancy in Office
1. Vacancy of office from
church, Bible School or Bible School teacher may be declared upon
the following grounds:
A.On receipt of
a written request for release from office,shall be presented to the
eldership and after careful consideration by eldership, it shall be
duly acted upon at the official board meeting next following receipt
of such request.
B. Absence from three consecutive meetings
of the official board of church or the Bible School officers, and
teachers, meetings, congregational meeting without acceptable
excuse.
2. Vacancy in any office or by teacher. Eldership shall
have power to fill all vacancies for the unexpired term of office or
teacher and shall notify the congregation of such change at the
first regular meeting after said vacancy had been filled.
Church Board
The official board shall
consist of duly elected active members of thechurch, as set forth in
Article 4, together with the ministerwho shall be a non-voting
member.
Organization: The official board shall organize
at the Januarymeeting each year and select a chairman, church
treasurer,church clerk, financial secretary, Bible School
superintendent, secretary,librarian, historian and such other
officers as the official board may deem appropriate.
Meetings: The official board shall meet on the second Monday
ofeach month at 7:30 PM unless otherwise recommended by the official
board.
Quorum: A majority of the members of the official
board shall constitute a quorum and a quorum shall be necessary for
the legal transaction of church business. The official board shall
organize atthe January meeting each year and select a chairman,
church treasurer,church clerk, financial secretary, Bible School
superintendent, secretary,librarian, historian and such other
officers as the official board maydeem appropriate.
The chairman
of the official board shall vote only in case of a tie andthen shall
cast the deciding vote.
Special Meetings: Special
meetings of the official board may beheld at any time pursuant to a
call by (a) chairman, (b) written requestof three members of the
official board, or (c) at the request of the minister.
Notice of
meetings must be given all members of the official board atleast
four hours prior to the time of said meeting, except that a special
meeting may be called on any Sunday following the morningchurch
service if notice of such special meeting is announced to the
congregation during the morning service.
Committees: The
official board shall appoint such committeesas it deems necessary
and all such committees shall report to the board.
ELDERS
The elders shall discharge the duties
of their office as set forth inthe New Testament scriptures. The
duly elected elders shall meet andelect a chairman following the
annual meeting of the active members,and shall meet thereafter at
such times and under such rules as theyshall determine.
DEACONS
The deacons shall discharge the
duties of their office as set forth inthe New Testament scriptures.
The duly elected deacons shall meet andelect a chairman following
the annual meeting of the active members andthey shall meet
thereafter at such times and under such rules as theyshall
determine.
HONORARY OFFICERS
In recognition of the past
services on the part of those who have servedthe church faithfully
and loyally as elders, deacons, and who because ofage, or physical
disability are unable to continue board such persons maybe
recommended to the congregation in annual meeting assembled, for the
office of honorary elder, honorary deacon for life.
An honorary
elder, deacon may sit in at any regular or special meeting of the
official board but will not affect the quorum nor be entitled to
vote.
TRUSTEES
The board of trustees shall meet at
such times as they shall determine.Three trustees present at a
meeting shall constitute a quorum.
The trustees shall hold the
Legal title to all church property, realand personal, in trust for
the active members and shall not sell, convey,mortgage, pledge or
otherwise dispose of or incumber any of such real orpersonal
property without specific authorization of the active membersgiven
at a meeting held persuant to Article 3 hereof.
A minister shall be called to
serve the church by the active members uponrecommendation of the
eldership and his services shall be terminated inlike manner. In no
case shall the termination of the minister's servicesbe effective
until thirty days after notice thereof; (a) In case ofresignation,
by notice to the eldership (b) In case of termination by themembers,
by notice to the minister. The minister and his family shall be
non-voting members at all meetings.
The minister shall perform
all duties usual and appropriate to his office.
The minister
shall be allowed an annual vacation with salary at such timeand for
such a period as may be agreed upon by the official board.
DUTIES OF THE TREASURER
The treasurer shall
receive all moneys contributed to the church from thefinancial
secretary, or otherwise coming into his hands, giving a receiptfor
the same. The treasurer shall deposit those moneys in a bank
accountin the name of the River Hill Church of Christ and shall pay
all bills upon authorization of the board, except such current bills
as are duly authorized by the board for running expenses. In event
of the treasurer's absence or inability, the financial secretary may
sign such checks asare duly authorized by the board for the payment
of necessary bills.He shall keep accurate records of all receipts
and expenditures and shallprepare a written report for the monthly
meeting of the official board,the annual congregational meeting and
at such other times as may benecessary.
DUTIES OF THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY
The
financial secretary shall receive all moneys paid into the church,
keep an accurate record of the same, and for what purpose received,
and shall turn all moneys over to the treasurer requiring a receipt
for them. A written report shall be prepared for the monthly
business meeting. Financial statements shall be sent to the members
of the congregation quarterly showing their contributions.
DUTIES OF THE CHURCH CLERK
The church clerk
shall keep an accurate record of all active andinactive members of
the church and minutes of all meetings ofthe church. It shall also
be the duty of the church clerk tonotify the members of the annual
and special meetings as providedin Article 3, hereof to issue
letters of withdrawal from thechurch upon instruction of the
official board.
DUTIES OF THE DEACONESS
The deaconess shall
be responsible for supplying the bread andwine, (grape juice) used
for the communion; the preparationof the Lord's table, assisting
candidates for baptism, visitationamong the sick and the needy, and
shall send flowers in case ofdeath in accordance with the policy of
the church and Bible School.
DUTIES OF THE BIBLE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT
The Bible School superintendent shall have
general supervision of the Bible School with the approval of the
eldership. Theassistant superintendent shall perform such duties as
shallbe assigned to him by the Bible School superintendent and shall
report to the Bible School superintendent.
COMMITTEES
The following standing committees of three
members shall beappointed by the chairman of the official board
immediately afterthe reorganization meeting in January:
A. Auditing committee to be
responsible for auditingthe accounts of the church, Bible
School and all organizations and departments, making a report to the
annual meeting of the congregation. Auditing to be completed by
January of each year.
B. Baptismal committee: This committee
shall be composed of one deacon and two deaconesses, duly appointed,
the deacon being the chairman, to assist male and female candidates
respectively for immersion, to see that robes,towels, handkerchieves
and all such other necessary equipment for decent and orderly
performance of theordinance of immersion is in readiness in the
respective dressing places.
C. Trustees shall see that the
janitor has the necessary supplies with which to do his work, that
the building is kept clean,properly heated, intelligently
ventilated, and all other things in readiness for worship, and
other church meetings ofwhatever nature.
SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
Any active member of the
congregation, who may have reason to present amatter of concern to
the congregation shall be granted the privilege ofpresenting such
matter at a regular meeting of the official board.After such a
hearing the member presenting the case shall be excusedand the
official board will take such action as seems advisable.
CONGREGATION
This congregation shall not
unite with, aide or abet, any religiousmovement that is contrary to
the spirit, organization orpurpose of the church as revealed in the
New Testament.
It shall be within the powers of this corporation
to exercise theNew Testament right of ordination of evangelists,
(preachers)elders and deacons. The private property of the members
and officersshall be exempt from all liability for the debts and
obligationsof the corporation.
The church property to be held by
the active membership as longas it is the River Hill Church of
Christ. If the church shoulddisband, the proceeds of property are
to be used for direct supportChurches of Christ (Christian)
Colleges.
AMENDMENTS
This constitution may be amended
by a Yes vote of 2/3 of the entireactive membership voting in any
annual or special meeting. A copyof all proposed amendments shall
be given to each active member inperson or by mailing such copy to
them at least thirty days beforethe annual or special meeting to
which the amendment shall be introducedfor passage.
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Church
GOALS
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A. Salvation of lost souls.
B.
Edification of every beliver.
C. Evangelization
of the world with the word of God as our only source of
authority.
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