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Timeline

• May 18 — Family Meeting at noon in the Worship Center to review the proposed changes
• June 1 — Congregational vote from 9 a.m. to noon, via paper and e-mail ballots with more details on email voting to be provided

If you have questions or comments, please see the following opportunities:

• May 14 and 21 — Question & Answer Sessions are available for members from 5-8 p.m. each night in the Fellowship Hall. Members can drop in anytime to ask specific questions.
• Members of the Pastoral Body are available to address questions from church members via phone or face-to-face meetings, if requested.
• Members may also email questions and comments to constitution@richlandcreek.com.

Summary of the Major Changes

Note: The changes from 2006, and from the Article 7 update in 2020, are numerous.  However, many of the changes can be categorized as formatting, consistent capitalization, punctuation, streamlining, or legal adherence, in accordance with recommendations from the CLA.  Listed directly below is a summary of the major changes.

Membership (Article IV)

• Added a Provisional Membership category for those under the age of 18 who have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation and been baptized by immersion. At the age of 18, the Provisional Member will be encouraged to participate in the church membership class and complete the remaining necessary steps to become an active member.
• Members must now vote on the removal of the Lead Pastor.
• Members must now vote on the sale or conveyance of real property.
• Added the following as new member requirements, in addition to the existing ones:
• A signed covenant
• Completion of a membership interview
• Affirmation by the entire Pastoral (Elder) Body 
• Presentation to the congregation
• Regarding church discipline, the changes allow for immediate removal if the severity and/or breadth of sin warrants it. This would be an exception, but would prevent delayed removal, not having to wait until the next Family Meeting.

Church Leaders (Article VII)

• The position of Vision and Preaching Pastor was changed to Lead Pastor to reflect more responsibility for vision casting and the day-to-day leadership of the church. The Lead Pastor will lead the Directional Team in conjunction with the Directional Team Chairman and will lead within a plurality of Pastors (Elders) within the Pastoral (Elder) Body.
• To improve ministry and operational efficiency while maintaining proper oversight and accountability, a significant number of the Pastoral Body’s day-to-day responsibilities and decision-rights have been disbursed to either the Directional Team or Executive Pastor (under the oversight of the Lead Pastor and the Directional Team).
• For informational purposes only (this information is NOT in the Constitution), the Directional Team will initially be comprised of 7 Directional Pastors:
• Consisting of 3 Staff Pastors and 4 Lay Pastors
• The new Directional Team includes Mike Powers (Lead Pastor), Tony Donato (Executive Pastor), John Wright (Staff Pastor), Stephen Snyder (Lay Pastor and Chairman), and Lay Pastors: Andy Collins, Bryan King, and Gary Workman
• The Lead and Executive Pastors are permanent positions on the team
• The one additional Staff Pastor serves a 2-Year term repeatable term
• The four Lay Pastors serve 2-year repeatable terms
• The entire Pastoral Body selects the Lay Pastor members
  

Details of Remaining Changes, by Article

• Changed the name “Pastor(s)” to “Elder(s)” throughout the entire document, better aligning with the scriptural term for Overseers.  Elders will still be called “Pastor Mike” or "Pastor Andy” in conversations, but will be referred to as the Elders of the church.

Name and Principal Office and Purpose (Articles I and II):

• Consolidated the language

Membership (Article IV):

• Removed the actual church covenant content from the Constitution (this will allow future changes to the covenant without necessitating a change to the Constitution)
• Added that votes by proxy are now allowed if away on church business, retreat, mission trip, etc.
• Made various edits related to termination of church membership
• Removed Resident vs. Non-Resident Members classification and replaced it with Active Member
• Clarified that church membership votes on acquisition of Real Property, except when gifted to the church
• Clarified church membership voting on increased budget spending from general language of “significant increase” to specific language of “spending from operations, reserves, and designated accounts if greater than 4% of current year church budget”
• Changed voting rights from 16 to 18 years old
• Official method of voting now explicitly states the inclusion of electronic voting, when chosen

Ministry of Education (Article V): 

• Added that all staff require a background check and must agree with and uphold the Statement of Faith

Meetings (Article VI):

• Meetings will be called on a regular basis vs. quarterly by the Directional Team
• Members will now vote on the sale or conveyance of real property
• Added new sections on Arbitration of Disputes and Conflict of Interest as recommended by the CLA
• To allow for some Family Meetings that include worship, prayer, and are for informational purposes only, we clarified the sentence:
• “The moderator shall determine the rules of procedure according to his sense of fairness and common sense, giving all members a reasonable opportunity to be heard on a matter” by replacing it with the following sentence: “The moderator shall exercise wisdom and discernment in determining when discussion is appropriate, seeking to ensure that members are afforded a fair and reasonable opportunity to be heard when the nature of the matter warrants it”

Church Leaders (Article VII):

• Below are some major responsibilities and decision-rights that were transferred from the Pastoral (Elder) Body to the Directional Team or Executive Pastor:
• The Directional Team will now provide accountability and oversee pastoral discipline matters as needed.
• The Directional Team will now drive changes to the Staff Pastor (Elder) composition of the team.
• The Directional Team will now lead the process to fill a pastoral vacancy or expand the Pastoral (Elder) Body (including the Lead Pastor) before being presented to the Congregation for final approval. However, the Pastoral (Elder) Body must approve the calling of a Lead Pastor or Executive Pastor and be consulted as needed on all other pastoral positions before being presented the Congregation for final approval.
• The Directional Team will now determine if a Pastor (Elder) has failed to consistently meet established performance standards, that a Pastoral (Elder) position should be eliminated, or that a Pastor (Elder) is determined to be disqualified from ministry.
• The Directional Team will now appoint and determine the number of Church Trustees.
• The Directional Team will now determine the Family Meeting schedule.
• Budget Management, minor modifications to the budget, reallocation of unused budget, and approval to spend unbudgeted resources, up to 4% of the annual budget expenses is now the responsibility of the Executive Pastor (with any amount over 3% requiring Directional Team approval.)
• The Directional Team is also responsible to ensure that the appropriate existing leadership teams are maintained and new ones created, as needed, to drive day-to-day operations. Current leadership teams include:
• Executive Leadership Team
• Worship Planning Team
• Discipleship Leadership Team
• Finance Team
• Mission Planning Team
• Trustees
• The Directional Team appoints officers when there are vacancies.
• The Directional Team shall appoint a Deacon selection committee to review Deacon nominations rather than the Senior Pastor, Deacon Chairman and 2 Pastors (Elders) comprising the committee.
• Vice-President is a new legal position created in the case of a vacancy of the President and will be filled by the Executive Pastor.
• The Moderator (of Family Meetings), the Church Clerk, and Church Treasurer shall be determined by the Directional Team.
• Rather than being a team member only, the Lead Pastor will lead the Directional Team in conjunction with the Directional Team Chairman (Lay Pastor/Elder).
• The "Authority to Execute Legal Documents" section was removed as that responsibility implicitly goes to the Trustees, President, Vice-President, Clerk, and Treasurer. 
• The "Finance Committee" section was removed as the Committee has been renamed as the Finance Team and is referenced throughout the proposed Constitution where appropriate and is under the general oversight of the Executive Pastor.

Amendments (Article XII):

• Changed Constitution and Bylaws review timing from 5 years to 3 years

Finances (Article XIII):

• Removed annual budget process language so that future changes can be made to the process, as needed, without necessitating an amendment to the Constitution
• Removed review/audit language and assigned it to the Treasurer
• Removed unnecessary detailed financial language regarding Operating Bank Accounts, Fiscal Year, Accounting Procedures, and Records and Reports
• Clarified Designated Fund language

Ordination (Article XV):

• Added that ordination is “at the discretion of the Pastoral (Elder) Body” to state where the final authority rests for that decision.
• The Directional Team is now responsible to convene an ordination counsel rather than any single Pastor.
• The ordination council will now recommend the candidate for ordination to the entire Pastoral Body rather than ordaining without full Pastoral Body consent.

Tax Exempt Organization (Article XVI):

• Removed any mandated payments to Staff Pastors (Elders) and employees in the event of dissolution of the church