The importance of church bylaws

By Pastor Bernie Blauwkamp

The United States Supreme Court has observed that all who unite themselves to a church do so with the implied consent to its government and are bound to submit to that church’s government. The articles of incorporation are the church’s birth certificate. This document, when approved and certified by the appropriate government officials, is commonly referred to as a Corporate Charter or the Articles of Incorporation. Church charters typically set forth the name, address, period of duration (which is typically perpetual), purposes of the corporation, doctrinal tenets of faith, and names and addresses of the incorporators and directors. However, charters rarely contain rules for internal government of the corporation therefore; it’s desirable and customary for churches to adopt rules for their internal operation. These are typically referred to as Bylaws. At times people refer to these as Constitution and Bylaws, but for our purposes we are merely going to refer to them as Bylaws.

At a minimum, church bylaws should cover the following matters:

• Qualifications, selection and expulsion of members
• Time and place of annual business meetings
• The calling and rules for special business meetings
• Notice for annual and special meetings
• Definition of quorums, voting rights, selection, tenure and removal of officers and directors
• Filling of vacancies
• Responsibilities of directors and officers
• Method of amending the bylaws
• Purchase and conveyance of property

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