We Believe
Matthew Road Baptist Church functions as an autonomous gathering of Christians, committed to God and each other, in a covenant relationship. As such, in our thirty-six years of existence as a church, we have been guided by some basic principles. These principles include both theological and practical aspects of church life. These foundational principles are articulated in our church’s constitution and by-laws. The initial constitution and by-laws was enacted at the inception of the congregation over thirty years ago. In the 1990s, the church issued a new constitution and by-laws, revising the original document. Now, almost twenty years later, we are at the point of needing to revise our constitution and by-laws again. This is no small matter.
For the past ten months the deacon body has undergone the arduous process of rewriting this document. Several months ago, the deacons appointed a subcommittee to undertake this process. The subcommittee included the pastor, the associate pastor, the chair of the deacon body, and three other deacons as nominated and approved by the deacon body. The six members of the subcommittee are Daniel Sweet, Phil McGlothlin, Steve Hines, Bruce Andree, Chris deWolfe and William Sullenger. This group of six men spent hours meeting together, discussing the content of the existing constitution line by line, comparing our constitution with other church constitutions, reading legal advice from representatives of Baptist conventions, and reading legal advice from other experts on church constitutions and bylaws. The committee reported back to the deacon body at various times over the last several months including the presentation of an initial draft in the summer of 2015. Additionally, the ministerial staff also gave input to the subcommittee. Comments from both the deacons and the church staff were instrumental in revisions that were incorporated into the initial draft. In January, the deacons and the staff were asked if they could affirm the new document. Both groups unanimously voted to support the new document and to present the new constitution and bylaws to the church for approval.
We are now in the next phase of this process. At the quarterly business meeting in February, we presented the draft of the document to the congregation, thus beginning a new step in the process of receiving feedback for the purposes of revising the language in the document. We are hosting four town hall meetings, two on Wednesday evenings and two on Sunday afternoons. These meetings provide opportunities for each person attending Matthew Road Baptist Church to ask questions, seek clarification, make suggestions and to express any concerns. We have already hosted one of these events. The subcommittee of the deacon body that has been tasked with the crafting of this document will reconvene our meetings after the completion of the four town hall meetings. With the public comments and suggestions, we will make adjustments to the constitution and bylaws and present a final document to the deacon body and staff for approval. After both groups approve this final document, the church will have a final opportunity to discuss and vote at the quarterly business meeting in April.
The most significant changes include a more extensive statement of faith and covenant. For some time now, I have wanted to have a more detailed statement of faith in our constitution. For the months of March and April, on Sunday mornings we will be preaching through the basic tenets of our faith as outlined in the new constitution. This will allow us to present this statement of faith in a systematic way, using biblical texts as our guide.
This document is meant as a guide to the faith and practices of our church. However, it is not a replacement for the Bible. Nor do we hold this document as having the same authority as the Bible. The church ultimately answers to Christ. Christ exercises His authority over the church through the written word of the Bible and the Holy Spirit’s leading of the church as we apply the Bible to our lives. But the church needs the administrative tools of the constitution and bylaws in order to function in a way that maximizes our kingdom impact and minimizes distractions from our calling. You can help us in this process by reading the new constitution, asking questions and seeking corrections in order to help the church produce the best governing document possible.