Church Bylaws
Are you considering or in the process of amending your church bylaws?
Your church’s bylaws constitute an extremely important document for the orderly and lawful operation of your church and its ministry. Additionally, your church’s bylaws must also be living documents that are adjusted from time to time as circumstances warrant.
In the opinion of your District Executive Committee (DEXCOM), such a time is upon us!
You may be aware of recent changes to the Society Act of British Columbia that have implications for both the District and our local, Alliance churches and we’re working hard to conform to those changes. As such, we are going through a review process of our Constitution and Bylaws at the District level.
With 81 churches in the Canadian Pacific District, all of which have their own bylaws that must be approved by DEXCOM, your district team (DEXCOM, District staff, and Ken Daly, District Bylaw Coach) came to believe that a guide for writing church bylaws would be of benefit to our churches.
Additionally, in consultation with Ken Daly, DEXCOM has identified Model Church Bylaws, wherein a certain ‘bylaw core’ is mandated for all churches.
DEXCOM’s desire is not to be pushy or authoritarian. This action is in the church’s best interests so that its bylaws would pass scrutiny from any provincial or federal government agency and are fully aligned with the Local Church Constitution.
Furthermore, the Model Church Bylaws also contain many optional examples and recommendations for best practices beyond the mandatory core. There is much wisdom reflected in the detail of the Model Church Bylaws!
The Model Church Bylaws also gives churches a clear understanding of how to prepare their bylaws in such a way that DEXCOM can approve them.
The motion DEXCOM passed at one of its meetings in 2016:
It was moved and seconded that by December 31, 2020, all churches in the CPD will conform to the required bylaw elements.
The District is requesting that all churches submitting requests to DEXCOM for approval for specific bylaw changes would instead begin the work of reviewing their bylaws as a whole.
Additionally, all churches will be required to rework their bylaws to align with the ‘mandatory core’ and submit them to DEXCOM for approval by December 31, 2020.
We would like to help you with this task. To assist you, the District team has created a Guide to Writing Church Bylaws that includes the Model Church Bylaws and we also offer coaching from Ken Daly if that would be helpful to you.
Please contact the District Office if you would like assistance or if you have any questions on this matter.
One Final Note
If your church has completed your bylaws or bylaws revisions after March 1, 2016, and have already conformed to the Model Church Bylaws mandatory core elements, you do not need to amend your bylaws to the current version of the Model Church Bylaws.
If you have begun to review your bylaws but have not made much progress thus far, please use the current Model Church Bylaws version. The work you have done so far can easily be copied into the new version. The current version of the Guide and the Model Church Bylaws can be found below.
Thank you for your continued work in the gospel, and for your attention to ensuring the effectiveness and protection of Christ’s Church!
