Preamble. We, as Bible-believing Baptists in this age of compromise and confusion, recognizing our need for a fellowship of churches which will honor the local church as the only Scriptural ecclesiastical body and will provide encouragement in fulfilling the Great Commission, do associate ourselves in a fellowship of New Testament churches unmixed with apostate or inclusivistic organizations, movements, or doctrines, such as liberalism, neo-orthodoxy, new evangelicalism, and ecumenical evangelism.
Article I – Name. The name of this corporation shall be the New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches.
Article II – Purpose.
Section I. The purpose of this organization shall be to provide a fellowship of and service to churches upon a thoroughly Biblical and historically Baptistic basis, unmixed with liberalism and those who are content to walk in fellowship with unbelief and inclusivism, and to present a positive testimony to the New Testament faith and historic Baptist principles as a fellowship of churches before the world, religious and otherwise; to encourage the planting of churches of like faith and order; and to oppose departure and deviation from the Word of God.
Section II. Recognizing that the local church is the only Scriptural ecclesiastical body, this Association shall never under any circumstances attempt to exercise any legislative or ecclesiastical authority over or interfere with the rights and autonomy of the churches.
Article III – Statement of Faith.
Article IV – Affiliation.
Section I. Affiliated churches of this Association: 1) Shall be composed entirely of immersed believers. 2) Shall have declared by vote their agreement without mental reservation with the Statement of Faith and the Preamble of this Association. 3) Shall not be in affiliation with any other national association of churches. 4) Shall not be in affiliation and/or fellowship with any organization which condones the presence of religious liberals or liberalism. 5) Shall have reported in writing their desire for fellowship with the Association prior to the annual meeting of the Association. 6) Shall be received by majority vote of messengers of this Association gathered in annual sessions.
Section II. Severance. 1) Any church may withdraw its affiliation with this Association by notifying the Trustees of such church action. 2) This Association may discontinue the affiliation of any church by majority vote at an annual meeting, providing the Trustees have first considered the charges, on the basis of (1) deviation from the Statement of Faith, Preamble, and/or the basis of affiliation in Article IV, Section I of this Constitution (2) inactivity. A church shall be considered inactive when it has not for a period of two (2) consecutive years contributed financially to the work of the Association. 3) No set amount or percentage of a church’s giving shall ever be required to continue affiliation or to insure full voting privileges.
Section III. Voting Powers. 1) Voting powers shall be vested in the pastor and five (5) other messengers from each affiliated church which contributed to this Association during the previous fiscal year of this Association. 2) All elected messengers shall declare their agreement with the Statement of Faith and Preamble of this Constitution at the time of registration at annual meetings to qualify to vote in business sessions of this Association.
Article V – Officers.
Section I. Associational Officers.
1) The officers of the Association shall be: (1) President, (2) Vice President, (3) Secretary, and (4) Treasurer.
2) These officers will hold office one (1) year, or until their successors are elected. They may be re-elected but may not serve more than three (3) consecutive years. No one shall serve as officer and/or trustee for more than six (6) years consecutively. No one shall be elected as officer or trustee whose church is not in active affiliation with the Association.
3) Duties of the officers. (1) The President shall preside at meetings of the messengers, of the Board, and of the Executive Committee. (2) The Vice President shall preside in the absence of the President, and shall succeed to that office should it become vacant. He shall serve as chairman of the Nominating Committee chosen by the messengers at the Annual Meeting. (3) The Secretary shall be responsible for official minutes of all meetings of messengers, of the Board, and of the Executive Committee. He shall be responsible for official correspondence between churches and the Board or the Association as needed. (4) The Treasurer shall receive, deposit, and dispense all monies and records of properties of the Association as authorized by the Board.
Section II. Board of Trustees.
1) The Board of Trustees shall consist of the above four (4) officers and fifteen (15) trustees elected at the annual meeting of the Association for three (3) year terms, one-third (1/3) of whom (5) shall be elected each year.
2) The Board of Trustees shall: (1) Be responsible for the promotion and advance arrangements for annual meetings and other designated meetings, and authorize payment of bills connected with such meetings. (2) Make provision for dissemination of news and information among affiliated churches of the Association and churches interested in the work of the Association. (3) Promote the separatistic Baptistic ideology of the Association by means of the printed page, radio, conferences, pastoral consultation, etc. (4) Supply such services as might be requested by affiliated churches or interested churches, including information concerning schools, missionary activities, and information requested by pulpit committees. (5) Present records to the messengers assembled at the annual meetings. (6) After the annual election, the new board shall meet to organize itself and to appoint the following standing committees:
1/ Executive Committee (consisting of the elected officers and the chairmen of the other standing committees), which shall also serve as a program committee for annual and other public meetings.
2/ Finance Committee (including the Treasurer), which shall recommend the budget and expenditures, and supervise the properties of the Association.
3/ Affiliation Committee (one of whom shall be the Secretary), which shall investigate applications received by the Trustees and make recommendations concerning such applications.
4/ Literature Committee, which shall approve all materials displayed or distributed by the Association.
(7) Perform such tasks as may be requested by majority vote of messengers assembled in annual meeting.
Section III. Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall consist of five (5) members (one of whom shall be the Vice-President, who shall serve as chairman). Four shall be messengers nominated from the floor and elected at the closing business session annually to serve for the ensuing annual meeting.
Section IV. Vacancies. 1) The Board of Trustees shall be empowered to fill such vacancies that may occur during the Associational year in the offices of Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer by appointing a current Trustee to fill that vacant office until the next annual meeting of the Association. 2) Trustee offices vacated during the year shall be filled only at the annual meeting by the messengers. 3) The Board of Trustees shall be empowered to engage and dismiss paid employees of the Association.
Article VI – Meetings. There shall be an annual meeting of the Association solely, the time and place to be recommended by the Board of Trustees and ratified by vote of the messengers in annual session. If an emergency arises regarding time or place, the Board of Trustees shall be empowered to make necessary changes. Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the parliamentary procedure of all meetings.
Article VII – Amendments. This Constitution may be amended by an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the messengers present and voting at the annual meeting. No proposed amendment may be acted upon until due notice thereof shall have been read at a previous annual meeting. Any proposed amendment to the Constitution must be signed by five (5) messengers before it can be filed with the Secretary who will then read the same.
Article VIII – Dissolution. If for any reason this Association should be dissolved, its assets shall be assigned by the Trustees only to a fundamental, separatist, premillennial Baptist not-for-profit corporation, the doctrinal position of which is in keeping with the Statement of Faith of Article III of this Constitution.
Article IX – Non Political Activities. No substantial part of the activities of this Corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the Corporation shall not participate in or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) and campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.
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