Our Constitution

WHY DO WE NEED A CHURCH CONSTITUTION?

Forty or fifty years’ ago it was almost inconceivable that a local church congregation would need to register with the Charity Commission. The overlap between the church’s property trusts and its local patterns of organisation were so strong that churches tended to refer to the practical arrangements for calling church meetings, appointing ministers, electing deacons that were contained in the property trusts, supplementing these when necessary with local rules that explained the detail. The 1993 Charities Act and subsequent changes in charity practice have created a situation where the local church needs to have its own constitution, which is a self-contained document, and describes the church, its activities and practices fully

SO WHAT DOES A CONSTITUTION PROVIDE?

A constitution provides a framework for the church and enables routine decisions to be taken effectively. A clear constitution enables everyone in the church to understand how the church functions, how matters are brought forward for discussion, who may take decisions and how that process should work. As the church constitution is an open document it enables everyone to understand the arrangements, avoiding the potential problem of individuals being very familiar with church rules and regulations but not explaining them in a way that enables everybody to understand. A constitution should also help new church members to understand the church, the activities it supports, its style and ethos, and how they can participate in the life of a church.

IS THIS REALLY WHAT CHURCH IS ABOUT?

All communities need some accepted procedures and these need to be written down. Unless they are recorded clearly people tend to forget the details, and it is difficult for newcomers to understand. A church constitution is a list of practical arrangements, but it must also reflect the aims and objectives of the church, and something of the style that is characteristic of the local Baptist church community. A constitution does not make the church happen. It cannot create relationships and it cannot bring anybody to faith. However, it can express good practice in how we live together and help us understand the patterns that our church life takes. Our mission is more than the sum total of our paperwork. However, the church constitution is one aspect of that relationship between church members arising out of their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, being worked out in everyday life.