CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE I: NAME
This body shall be called Collin Baptist Association
ARTICLE II: OBJECTIVE
Section 1: MISSION – Collin Baptist Association is a network of Great Commission Churches who connect, collaborate and engage in the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Collin County and beyond.
.Section 2: VISION – We live for the day when every girl, boy, woman and man in Collin County experiences a living witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Scriptural reference: 2 Peter 3:9)
Section 3: COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIPS – Collin Baptist Association is an autonomous body in voluntary relationships with the Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist General Convention of Texas and other entities that would help the association accomplish its mission.
Section 4: CORE VALUES-These are the guiding principles for accomplishing the mission and vision of Collin Baptist Association. Our adopted core values are:
REVELATION OF GOD-By His Spirit and through His Word, God continues to reveal Himself to us. Our desire is to seek where He is active and to join Him in that activity so that His vision becomes our vision and we find ourselves in harmony with His will.
PEOPLE-We value people as they are and seek to meet them at their point of need. We acknowledge their uniqueness and diversity and seek to create an association of genuine inclusiveness where grace abounds in the context of biblical authority.
ACCOUNTABILITY-We are accountable first to God and then to member churches and to ourselves and must continually seek ways to satisfy this responsibility.
COOPERATION-We believe, in order to reach Collin County and the world in building the Kingdom of Christ, it is necessary for there to be cooperation between churches, staffs, and members. This requires an environment where relationships of support and trust are developed and an understanding that the mission will not be accomplished without interdependence.
RELATIONSHIPS-It is through relationships, individual and corporate, that we are most effective in achieving our vision statement. These relationships will provide networks where information and resources can be utilized and shared by our individually autonomous churches.
STEWARDSHIP-Stewardship is our accountability in the areas of time, talent, money, and other resources in order to function effectively and efficiently. We must regularly evaluate all we do by the standards of Christ and his Word.
RESULTS-We expect to get His things done, His way. This will require us to be relevant, timely, and to meet or exceed expectations.
EXCELLENCE-we will continually evaluate the who, when, what, where, why, and how of the things we do and seek to achieve them with the highest standards.
KINGDOM MENTALITY-We will challenge churches and leaders to exercise the mind of Christ, particularly in regard to evangelism and missions, in all of Collin County and beyond.
INNOVATION-We believe innovation is necessary to reach our world with the gospel message of Christ. We valve creativity, flexibility, and change as a means of assisting and leading churches in accomplishing their biblical functions.
HERITAGE-Heritage is our counter-balance to innovation. Awareness and understanding of our Christian and Baptist history will help us to retain the good of the past as we move into the future.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: The churches of this Association shall be Baptist churches in harmony with the objectives of this Association and shall be in doctrinal harmony with the historic Baptist position that the sole authority for faith and practice is the Bible.
Section 2: The Association, when duly assembled, shall be the sole judge of the qualifications of the qualifications of its membership, both as to churches of the common fellowship and individual members to the Annual Meeting. In justice and propriety, it claims the power to deny seats or to withdraw fellowship
ARTICLE IV: ANNUAL MEETING
There will be an Annual Meeting of messengers from the churches, dates to be set by the previous Annual Meeting, to receive reports from the churches, reports from the work of the Executive board, and to authorize work for the oncoming year.
ARTICLE V: EXECUTIVE BOARD
An Executive Board shall be empowered to transact all business and ministry operations of the Association in the interim between Annual Meetings.
ARTICLE VI: BY-LAWS
By-laws shall be kept current by which the regular operation of the Association is guided.
ARTICLE VII: RULES OF ORDER
In all proceedings of the association and its Executive Board, Robert’s Rules of Order shall be the authority.
ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS
This constitution may be amended by a three-fourths majority at two successive Annual Meetings of the Association provided the amendment is introduced and considered by the Executive Board prior to the Annual Meeting in which it is introduced.
Adopted 10-12-2014