Elders are proposing two substantive changes to the Constitution & Bylaws. Article V.10 states, “the elder body shall seek the formal affirmation of the congregation when changes or amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws are required.” These must be announced two weeks prior to the vote.

The following changes are being proposed. A download of the newly formatted document can be found here.

1.  Under Article III, Section 2 on The Church in our doctrinal statements, changing the final paragraph:

Current: We teach that members are to support the local assembly with their attendance, prayers, service, and offerings. We teach that the starting point for our financial giving is the tithe, or one tenth of our income. As in every other grace, a believer should be growing in their giving as well. When we give the tithe, we acknowledge God’s ownership of all that we possess.

Proposal: We teach that members are to support the local assembly with their attendance, prayers, service, and offerings (1 Sam 12:24; 2 Cor 8:1–7; Heb 10:24–25). We teach that it is our responsibility as Christians to contribute joyfully to the needs of the church in a way that is planned, regular, generous, proportional to our means, but not under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:6–15).

2. Removal of the line, “I am undecided in the matter” in Article IV (Elders), Section 2.D on congregational affirmation ballots.

3. In addition, we have made roughly 2,000 revisions to the old document, most of which are with formatting and typographical errors, but also several dozen corrections to scripture references.