The Constitution of Crossroad Evangelical Free Church

PREAMBLE

In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to create the world and everything in it, and it was all very good.  However, our first parents (and we in them) fell from their original righteousness and communion with God.  Now, all mankind is born dead in sin.  But God, in His mercy and kindness, determined to call a people out of this fallen world unto Himself.  He sent His Son into the world to redeem these people, grant them new life and to gather them into His church through the working of the Holy Spirit.  As a group of people redeemed by God's grace shown in Christ Jesus, we willingly organize ourselves under the headship of Christ and do submit ourselves to the following articles so that all our affairs may be conductedin a fitting and orderly fashion.

ARTICLE 1    NAME

1.100  The name of this organization shall be: Crossroad Evangelical Free Church.

ARTICLE 2    CORPORATE POWERS

2.100  No part of the net earnings shall inure to the benefit of any director or officer of the church or any private individual (except reasonable compensation may be paid for services rendered to or for the church affecting one of more of its purposes.)

2.200  No officer of the church or any private individual shall be entitled to share in the distribution of any church assets upon dissolution of the church.

2.300  The church shall have all of the general powers set forth in Chapter 504 of the Code of Iowa, and as it may hereafter be amended.  These general powers shall be exercised for the attainment of the charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes of the church as set forth in this Article.

ARTICLE 3    AUTHORITY AND AFFILIATION

3.100  The congregation, at its annual, quarterly and special business meetings, is the legislative and governing body of this organization.

Affiliation:  This church is affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America and its Central District conference, and may send delegates to their conference, support their missions, and unite in all mutual efforts for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ in the measure that the church itself may officially decide.

ARTICLE 4    PURPOSE

4.100  Since God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to redeem us and make us His own, the purpose of this church shall be to glorify, worship and make known the most high and living God.  (Exalt the Lord).

4.200  This purpose shall be accomplished by using the means God has established, namely through the public reading of the scriptures (1 Timothy 4:13), preaching (2 Timothy 4:2), teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16), and the administration of baptism (Matthew 28:19) and the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:17-20).  We will perform all of these in obedience to Him with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear, regularly worshiping together (Acts 2:42, Hebrews 10:24-25), encouraging one another in the things of God (I Thessalonians 5:1, Hebrews 3:13), exercising church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 5:1-15), and performing other duties found in the scriptures.  (Equip the Saints).

4.300  In order to spread the good news of the salvation we so richly enjoy and to make disciples of Christ, this purpose will also include the support of missionary and church planting work at home and abroad (Matthew 28:19-20) as well as support of other ministries.  (Evangelize the Lost).

ARTICLE 5    STATEMENT OF FAITH

5.100  The Statement of Faith of this organization is the same as the Statement of Faith of the Central District conference and The Evangelical Free Church of America, which reads as follows:

5.101  We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of man, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life.

5.102  We believe in one God, Creator of all things infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

5.103  We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary.  He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scripture.  Further, He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Advocate.

5.104  We believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, and during this age to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, and to indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.

5.105  We believe that man was created in the image of God, but fell into sin, and therefore lost, and only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.

5.106  We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus are born of the Holy Spirit, and thus become children of God.

5.107  We believe that the Lord’s Supper and Water Baptism are ordinances to be observed by the Church during this present age.  They are, however, not to be regarded as means of salvation.

5.108  We believe that the true Church is composed of all such persons who, through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the Body of Christ, of which He is the Head.

5.109  We believe that only those who are thus members of the true Church shall be eligible for the membership in the local church.

5.110  We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church, and that every local church has the right, under Christ, to decide and govern its own affairs.

5.111  We believe in the personal and premillennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that this blessed hope has vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.

5.112  We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead: of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, and of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment.

ARTICLE 6    MEMBERSHIP

6.100  Membership of this church shall be composed of those individuals who, through saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, have been born again, who manifest the fruit of a true Christian life, who subscribe to the aforementioned Statement of Faith, and who are willing to support the church by their prayers, contributions, and attendance.

ARTICLE 7    OFFICERS

7.100  The corporation affairs shall be managed by a Board of Directors.  The members of this Board, their election and their term of office are defined in the Bylaws of this church.

ARTICLE 8    PROPERTY

8.100  This church shall have the power to receive, either by gift or purchase, and to hold such real, person, or mixed property as is authorized by the laws of the State of Iowa and as is deemed necessary for the business of the church, and shall have the power to dispose of such property by mortgage, deed, or otherwise.  All purchases of real estate or major construction and building renovations or additions must be approved by a seventy-five percent (75%) majority vote of a quorum present at any annual, quarterly or special business meeting of the church.

8.200  All debts for the corporation shall be held in the name of the corporation.  The personal and private property of the officers or members of this corporation shall not be used in the payment of the corporate debt.

8.300  In case of a division of the church (from which we pray God by His mercy will preserve us), the property of the church shall be resolved as follows:

(1) The dispute shall be submitted to mediation and, if necessary, legally binding arbitration in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, and judgment upon an arbitration award may be entered in any court otherwise having jurisdiction.

(2) All mediators and arbitrators shall be essentially in agreement with the statement of faith of this church and our basic form of government, unless this requirement is modified or waived by all parties to the dispute.  If a dispute involves an attempted revision of the statement of faith or our form of government, the mediators and arbitrators shall be in agreement with those documents as they existed prior to the attempted revision.

8.400  In case of dissolution of the church organization, the property shall be assigned to the Central District Conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America, to enable said conference to renew the work or use the value thereof for the further Gospel enterprises.  The church shall be considered dissolved if so decided by the organization or when the church has not held an annual meeting for three years, or when less than six (6) members remain.

ARTICLE 9    AMENDMENTS

9.100  Amendments to this Constitution must be submitted to the members in writing and adopted as a preliminary step at a regular business meeting of the church at least three months prior to the annual meeting.  At the succeeding annual meeting they can be acted upon for final adoption, but must receive the affirmative vote of two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the membership present and voting by secret ballot.