Constitution & By-laws

Constitution & By-laws

Chinese Baptist Fellowship of the United States and Canada

Article I - Name

The name of this organization shall be called the “Chinese Baptist Fellowship of the United States and Canada.” Hereafter in this constitution and by-laws this organization shall be referred to as the “Fellowship”.

Article II - Principal Office

The principal office for this Fellowship is fixed and located at 119 S. Moore Avenue, Monterey Park, P.O. Box 774, Monterey Park, California. The members of this Fellowship shall have full power and authority to change the principal office from one location to another. Any change of this location shall be noted by the secretary on these bylaws or this section may be amended to state the new location.

Article III - Purpose

Section 1. The purpose of this Fellowship shall be to promote fellowship among Chinese Baptist churches. It shall also promote and provide for world-wide evangelization of the gospel.

Section 2. This Fellowship shall accept the Holy Scriptures as the inerrant and inspired Word of God. It is a sufficient rule of faith and practice.

Article IV - Membership

Section 1. The membership of this Fellowship shall be composed of

Chinese Baptist churches in the United States and Canada which accept the Baptist Faith and Message.

Section 2. Each church shall be entitled to three (3) delegates for the first one hundred (100), or less, members, and to one (1) additional delegate for each additional one hundred (100) members or fraction thereof until the maximum often (10) delegates is reached.

Section 3. This Fellowship may accept individual Baptists as associate members upon the recommendation of the Executive Board. They shall be active members of Chinese Baptist churches which are not the member churches of this Fellowship. No more than three (3) associate members come from one church.

Section 4. Members are encouraged to participate in the General Conference and other programs of the Fellowship through prayer, participation and financial contribution.

Article V - Affiliation

This Fellowship shall cooperate, wherever possible, with agencies of the respective Baptist denominations of which the member churches are a part.

Article VI - The Executive Board

Section 1. The Executive Board of the Fellowship shall consist of the following officers: (1) President; (2) Three Vice-Presidents; (3) Two Secretaries; (4) Two Treasurers (one each for United States and Canada); (5) Regional Coordinators of respective regions; and (6) others as determined by the Fellowship as deemed necessary.

Section 2. The elected officers shall constitute an Executive Board. This Board is responsible for the progress of the ministries of the Fellowship and the supervision of the Fellowship’s activities consistent with the purpose of this Constitution.

Section 3. Officers of the Executive Board shall be elected during the General Conference.

Section 4. Nomination shall be made by the nominating Committee which is formed during the General Conference. Additional names may be nominated from the floor.

Section 5. No officer may serve more than two (2) consecutive terms in the same office. No two of these officers shall be elected from the same church.

Section 6. The duties of the officers shall be as follows:

A. The President shall preside over any called sessions of the Fellowship. He is ex-officio member of all committees. He shall be responsible for the working out of the program for the General Conference. He may name a committee to assist him.

B. The Vice-Presidents are the assistants to the President. They are to perform duties as prescribed by this Constitution and when requested by the President during his absence or presence.

C. The Secretaries shall keep record of all meetings and official correspondence, and are the custodians of all documents of the Fellowship.

D. The Treasurers shall be in charge of all financial matters of the Fellowship under the direction and by the approval of the Executive Board. They shall be responsible to sound accounting procedures and be accountable to an annual audit. They shall be ready to make written financial reports available at the General Conference.

E. The Regional Coordinators shall promote the fellowship and united ministries in their respective regions and help to organize the regional Chinese Baptist associations. They shall be the regional delegates to the General Conference and members of the Executive Board.

Article VII - Committee

Section 1. Committee shall be formed, as needs arise, by the Executive Board, provided that a nominating Committee shall always be formed at each General Conference.

Section 2. Each Committee shall consist of no less than three and not more than five members.

Section 3. Duties of committee shall be assigned when committee are formed. The Executive Board shall be advisory to all committees.

Article VIII - Board of References

A Board of Reference may be established. Members of the Board shall serve as advisors to the Fellowship and can be invited to attend the Executive board meetings as deemed necessary. They shall serve as ex-­officio members to the Executive Board.

Article IX - Meetings

Section 1. The General Conference of the Fellowship shall be held biannually at the date and place determined by the previous session.

Section 2. When deemed necessary, the Executive Board may call the Fellowship into special conference in the following manner:

Notice of a special conference of the members shall be given in writing to those members of the Fellowship for whom the Fellowship has in its records a current mailing address. The written notice shall be mailed not less than twelve (12) and not more than sixty (60) days before the date of the session. The notice shall state the place, date and time of session and the general nature of the business to be transacted. No business may be transacted at a special conference of the members which has not been described in the notice.

Section 3. The Executive Board shall meet at least once a year at a date and place adopted by the officers.

Article X - Finances

Section 1. Member churches are encouraged and expected to indicate their relationship to the Fellowship by annual membership fee the amount determined by the General Conference and to support the ministries of the Fellowship by giving regular Chinese Cooperative Contributions. Associate members are expected to give annual Chinese Cooperative Contribution and the amount determined by the General Conference.

Section 2. The principal finance and banking locations of both the United States and Canada shall be determined by the Executive Board.

Article XI - Vacancies

Should any vacancy of the Executive Board occur during the current term, the Executive Board may appoint someone to fill the vacancy until the next General Conference.

Article XII - Report

All committees and Executive Board officers shall send a report of their activities to the President four (4) weeks prior to the General Conference.

Article XIII - Regional Associations

Section 1. Regional Chinese Baptist Association recognized by this Fellowship are not members or subsidiaries of this Fellowship.

Section 2. Cooperation with and financial support to this Fellowship by such associations are encouraged.

Section 3. Regional associations may request financial assistance from this Fellowship as cooperating bodies.

Section 4. Member churches of the regional associations in Section 1 are encouraged to become member churches of this Fellowship.

Article XIV - Amendments

This Constitution and By-laws may be amended by a vote of two-third of the delegates present at any General Conference. Such amendment must be handed to the secretary at the opening of the General Conference meeting.

The amendment must be in writing. Sufficient number of copies must be made so that each delegate may have a copy at the opening of each General Conference meeting.