We are voting to accept the updated Constitution presented by the Church Board to replace the current Constitution and Bylaws. With the adoption of the new governance model in January 2025, this updated document reflects those changes. The current Constitution and Bylaws will be archived as a part of the historical document and available for reference in the future.

This Constitution has more articles and some articles are more fully detailed. This is due to folding some of the essential details within our current Bylaws into the updated Constitution. The Constitution Committee suggested that it be narrowed down to a singular document rather than two documents.

Both by-laws and policies are written rules that guide non-profit organizations on their goals, actions, and how they make decisions. By-laws are government-required rules for officially starting a non-profit, covering core things like its purpose, how its board is set up, and how it answers to members; changes need member and government approval. Chester Baptist has opted to include those details as a part of our updated Constitution. Policies, however, deal with everyday management details not in by-laws, can be created and changed by the Board without outside permission, offering more flexibility in setting rules. Some non-profits also have less detailed "governing policies" that focus on general ideas, and more specific "operational policies" that staff, like the executive director, develop for daily tasks.

Policies are the responsibility of the Church Board. They are not a part of the Constitution. While there is a process to add/amend policies to the Board for review, they do not require congregational permission.

Yes. It is essential that all policies be available and understood by the CBC community. They are guiding principles for both staff and laypeople as they accomplish day-to-day tasks.

In our current Constitution and Bylaws, the Deacons were originally written in as a “Deacon Board”. The Deacons provided accountability for the Pastor, and the Chairman of the Deacons provided certain aspects of church leadership. The Deacons also provided conflict resolution, church discipline, etc. The Church Board will fulfill the governance role that “Deacon Board” did previously. With the updated Constitution focusing on governance, the omission of Deacons is only due to their non-governing, servant leadership role.

Our Deacons have adopted a ministry-first, serving role rather than governance for some time. They are essential to the New Testament church and, specifically, in the life of our church and will continue to serve in that capacity. 

If needed, the Church Council group would be composed of the primary or point person over all long-standing committees/ministry teams as listed in Article X. The role and purpose would be to accomplish the vision, mission, and strategy of the church through ministry efforts and not organizational oversight. This document does not need to specify any necessary committees, teams, positions or meetings due to the lack of organizational oversight.

Having a strong, detailed Article of Dissolution is important for an independent nonprofit or church for several key reasons, primarily revolving around legal compliance, asset distribution, and protecting individuals involved. It informs the state that the organization is closing ending fees or reports expected. It provides clarity  for the process, who “makes” decisions and how those decisions are executed. This provides for the appropriate disposal of all assets, and protects the organization from any person, group, or entity from taking advantage of an opportunity. It also ensures that the organizational leaders and members are not personally responsible for any remaining debts after the organization has closed. It is best to decide these details in moments of organizational health rather than in the season of closing.

Here is the historical list of updates listed:

• Updated July 29, 1992
• Article X revised April/May 2011 
• Updated October 30, 2014 due to change in annual meeting from October to July.
• Updated July 29, 2015 (see minutes of that meeting)
• Updated October 28, 2020 (see business meeting minutes)