Minimum Requirements for
Affiliated Church Bylaws
The following components are required for inclusion in the bylaws of affiliated churches. In order to comply with legal or Association requirements specific content is also required in some cases. Suggested content has been offered in other cases. Your church bylaws do not have to be limited to these components; they are minimum requirements.
Bylaw Components
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Title required
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Content Required
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Content Suggested
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Name, Purpose and Mission
See Model A, Article 1
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X
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X
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Office and Location
See Model A, Article 2
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X
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Affiliation
See Model A, Article 3, Section 1
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X
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X
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Governance Documents, Records, and Reports
For churches with a voting membership or partnership, see Model A, Article 3, Section 2; for churches with nonvoting membership or partnership, see Model C, Article 3, Section 2
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X
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X
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Governance Conflicts and Omissions
See Model A, Article 3, Section 5
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X
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X
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Membership/Partnership
For churches with voting members or partners, see Model A, Article 4, Sections 1-10; for churches with nonvoting members or partners, see Model C, Article 4, Sections 1-6
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X
Except Section 6, Personal Liability
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Model A, Article 4, Section 8 required for churches with a voting membership; Model A, Section 3 C (Sentence 2) required in all bylaws
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All other content suggested
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Corporate Offices
See Model A, Article 5, Sections 1-8
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X
Except Section 7, Combined Offices
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Model A, Article 5, Sections 1,2,5,6,7,8
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Section 3,4
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Senior Pastor
For churches with elected pastors, see Model A, Article 6, sections 1-8; for churches with appointed pastors, see Model C, Article 6, Sections 1-8
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X
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Model A, Article 6, last two sentences of Section 2 required in all bylaws; For churches with pastoral elections, Section 4, Paragraph 1 is required except for subparagraph A; Section 5, subsection I is required in all bylaws; Section 6, the first two sentences of subsection A and subsections B and E are required in all models; Sections 7 and 8 are required in all models
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All other content suggested
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Governing Board
For churches with elected pastors, see Model A, Article 7, Sections 1-11; for churches with appointed pastors, see Model C, Article 7, Sections 1-12
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X
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Model A, Article 7, Section 2 required in all bylaws; Section 5 the last sentence required in all bylaws; Model A, Section 6, subsection A required in all bylaws; Model A, Section 8, 9 and 11 are required in all bylaws
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All other content suggested
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Elders, Staff Pastors, and Ministry Leaders
See Model A, Article 8, Sections 1-3
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X
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Finance
See Model A, Article 9, Sections 1-10
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X
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Model A, Article 9, Sections 1-7 are required
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Property
For churches with voting membership or partnership, see Model A, Article 10, Sections 1-2; for churches with nonvoting membership or partnership, see Model D, Article 11
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X
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Opening paragraph of Model A, Article 10 required in all bylaws
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All other content suggested
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Resolution of Disputes
See Model A, Article 11
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X
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Cessation
See Model A, Article 12
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X
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X
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Appeals and Amendments
See Model A, Article 13
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X
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X
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Parliamentary Authority
See Model A, Article 14
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X
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X
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