BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Churches wishing to enter fellowship with this Association shall:
- Have been in existence as a mission or a church at least twelve months before the Annual Meeting at which they shall be considered.
- Have been a constituted church at least thirty days.
- Present a petitionary letter to the Credentials committee at least ninety days prior to the Annual Meeting (the form being supplied by the Association). This committee shall thoroughly investigate each church and present the same petitionary letter to the Executive Board at least thirty days prior to the Annual Meeting, and to the Annual meeting. The committee will use the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message as amended in 1998 or newer SBC Statement of Faith in evaluating the petitioning church’s statement of faith for harmony with the CBA member church’s sincerely held religious beliefs.
Section 2: The principal of a unanimous vote in matters of fellowship shall be observed in the admission of churches. In case of objections the matter shall be referred to the Credentials Committee without discussion to determine whether the objection involves a matter of fellowship between or among the churches. The resultant report of the Committee shall be accepted or rejected by a majority vote in the Association. Messengers in question shall be seated only after final action is taken. The pastor of a church desirous of entering into fellowship with the Association may be granted the courtesy of fellowship and nonvoting membership in the Executive Board prior to a given Annual Meeting. The Executive Board may recommend waiving the one year restriction and/or thirty day restriction in cases where a mission of Collin Baptist Association needs to be organized and recognized in order to expedite the Lord’s work.
Section 3: A church petitioning for membership in the Association which has not been sponsored by an Association church shall be received on condition that during its first three years of membership it will work closely with the Operating Board.
Section 4: A church can be removed from Association membership only on the recommendation of the Credentials Committee and a two- thirds majority vote by the messengers at the Annual Meeting. Churches departing from the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message as amended in 1998 or newer SBC Statement of Faith will be referred to the Credentials Committee for review of their member standing.
ARTICLE II: ANNUAL MEETING
Section1: Each church recognized by the Association shall be entitled to two messengers for every twenty-five members or major fraction thereof, provided that no church shall have more than ten messengers.
Section 2: Messengers to the Annual Meeting of Collin Baptist Association shall be properly elected by those churches which are members of Collin Baptist Association, such messengers to be listed in the annual associational church profile to the Association.
ARTICLE III: OFFICERS
Section 1: The officers of the Association shall consist of a Moderator, a Vice-Moderator, a Clerk, a Treasurer, Trustees, and other such officers as the Association may require. All of these officers shall be members of churches affiliated with this Association. They shall be elected annually in any fashion the association may desire.
Section 2: The Moderator shall preside over the meetings of the Association and the Executive Board and shall appoint special committees as the Executive Board shall authorize. He shall not be eligible for election for more than two consecutive years.
Section 3: The Vice-Moderator shall preside over the meetings of the Association and the Executive Board in the absence of or at the request of the Moderator. If the office of the Moderator shall become vacant during any term, the Vice – Moderator shall assume the duties of the Moderator.
Section 4: The Clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the meetings of the Association and the Executive Board and with the assistance of the associational staff shall care for all proper communication of the Association and of the Executive Board. The Clerk shall have printed and distributed the Minutes of the Annual Sessions of the Association.
Section 5: The treasurer shall be an ex-officio member of the Finance Committee and shall receive funds of the Association and shall disburse them upon instruction of the association and the Executive Board. The Treasurer shall make a financial report at each meeting of the Executive Board and an annual report to the Association at the Annual Meeting.
Section 6: The Trustees shall be custodians of all property of the Association, acting solely upon the instructions of the association of the Executive Board in all matters pertaining to the properties, real or personal, of the Corporation.
ARTICLE IV: EXECUTIVE BOARD
Section 1: The Executive Board shall consist of the pastor of each church in the Association, the pastor of each sponsored mission, and one member from each church, to be elected by the church to be represented and also to be elected by the Association. The following shall also be recognized as members of the Executive Board: The Moderator, the Vice-Moderator, the Clerk, the treasurer, the Trustees, the associational Woman’s Missionary Union director, the Collin Baptist Men’s director and members of the Operating Board. The Executive Director and the Associated Directors shall be recognized as non-voting members of the Executive Board.
Section 2: The Executive Board shall meet regularly at a time designated by the Board. The Board may be called into special session by the Moderator, notification of the purpose having been given in sufficient time in advance of such meeting.
Section 3: A quorum shall consist of those Executive Board members present, provided a majority of those members present approve the presence of a quorum, with a minimum of 15 board members present. When matters involving real property of the employment or discharging of professional staff members or a proposed change in the Constitution are considered, written notification of the subject matter to be considered must be given to Executive Board members at least two weeks in advance of the date of the meeting.
ARTICLE V: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Association of the Executive Board shall elect an Executive Director who shall administer the total program of the Association. He shall be a resource to the churches, offering counsel to them and to members of their staffs. He shall supervise all other associational staff members and employees. He shall be extended an indefinite call and shall be responsible to the Association.
ARTICLE VI: AMENDMENTS
These by-laws may be amended at any regular Annual Meeting by a two-thirds majority vote.
ARTICLE VII: CBA Operating Board
Section 1: The CBA Operating Board, accountable to the CBA Executive Board, shall have authority to tender the day to day operations and such appointment of teams or committees as needed. Committee and Team assignments will be promulgated in the CBA policy manual.
Section 2: This board is responsible for providing ongoing advice, counsel, support and guidance to the associational organization in accomplishing its goals. It is authorized to make adjustments to the CBA budget based on current receipts and associational needs. It may not transfer real property without Executive Board action. The board is the Credentials Committee for the association.
Section 3: This Board shall be made of 7 persons including the CBA Executive Director and 6 other members who are in good standing of a CBA church or mission. Upon nomination, these persons – excluding the Director – shall be elected at the CBA Annual Meeting and shall serve 3 year, rotating, terms – with 2 persons completing and 2 persons elected annually.
Section 4: The presence of CBA auxiliaries or other CBA ministries as participants at the meetings of the Operating Board, shall remain the decision of this Board. However, the 6 elected positions need not be represented by our auxiliaries or other standing ministries.
ARTICLE VIII: POLICIES
Section 1: An Associational Policies Manual which defines the program and structural operations of the Association shall be kept current. The manual may be automatically amended by action of the Association or Executive Board to delete, activate, or redefine business or ministry assignments.
Section 2: All matters pertaining to the business or ministry assignments shall be referred automatically to the appropriate group unless the Executive Board, by official action, shall take the matter under its own advisement.
Section 3: Officers and Operating Board members shall be recommended by the Operating Board or its designee. Auxiliary groups will submit leadership, according to their own selection process, for recommendation to the Operating Board. Three consecutive years shall be considered the limit of service for anyone on any standing committee or Operating Board. After one full year, one may be eligible for re-election. No one shall serve as a chairman of a committee more than two consecutive years. Committees shall consist of multiples of three. Officers and Team Leaders are elected annually.
Section 4: The Moderator or Vice-Moderator shall be ex-officio members of committees with voting privileges. The Executive Director and/or the Associate Directors shall be nonvoting members of committees.
ARTICLE IX: PROCEDURES
An Associational Procedures manual which defines and/or describes the implementation of CBA policies shall be formulated and kept current by the Operating Board and administered by the office of the Executive Director. Suggested procedures may be submitted to the Operating Board for consideration and/or inclusion into the procedures manual.
Adopted October, 2015
CBA Sexual Conduct Policy for Employees and Volunteers
Collin Baptist Association will be guided by the biblical understanding and sincerely held religious belief that human sexuality is a gift from God and that physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity. The CBA will also be guided by the biblical understanding and sincerely held religious belief that God created humanity as two genders, male and female and that one’s gender is an immutable gift from God. Gender is assigned biologically, not psychologically. CBA desires for its personnel and volunteers to treat all people, including those who do not agree with this biblical position, with love and respect with the understanding that this does not imply approval of the conduct.
The CBA constitution states that the Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice—this is our sincerely held religious belief. Based on the teaching of the Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments, marriage is an institution ordained by God intended as a lifelong union of one man and one woman. This is the definition of biblical marriage and biblical union.
- Sexual activities outside of marriage are misuses of God’s gift of sexuality and include but are not limited to sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, fornication, adultery, incest, homosexuality, pedophilia, polygamy and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Lewd conduct, transgender behavior, and the creation or distribution or the viewing of pornography are incompatible with God’s intention and Christian witness. It is expected that all CBA employees, staff, officers and volunteers will engage in behaviors consistent with this understanding of human sexuality.
- Gender is a gift from God and is assigned biologically, not psychologically. All CBA personnel and volunteers will embrace their own gender and refrain from transgender
- It is CBA policy that CBA facilities and property may not be used for any purpose that in any way approves of, solemnizes, supports or allows a same- sex union, polygamist union or any union which, in the judgment of the CBA, is inconsistent with our It is also the policy of the CBA that no CBA officer, trustee, employee or volunteer shall officiate or participate at any ceremony designed to solemnize, promote, create, or approve of any such ceremony, nor may any CBA employee or CBA volunteer enter into such a union without being subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment or removal as a volunteer. CBA will recognize any civil government unions/marriages only to the extent that it is consistent with the definition of marriage found in this Policy Statement.