ARTICLE X (from C&MA Manual)

 

COMMITTEES AND ORGANIZATIONS

Section 1. Elders. The call of Christ the Chief Shepherd to men to serve as elders is both discerned and confirmed by the church membership. Elders shall therefore be male members of this church and shall be elected as specified in the church bylaws. The pastor and the other elders are the highest level of servant leadership in the church. As undershepherds, elders shall serve with the senior pastor to oversee both the temporal and spiritual affairs of the local church in order to accomplish Christ’s mission. They shall constitute the Committee on Membership. They shall be the Committee on Discipline in accordance with the Uniform Policy on Discipline, Restoration, and Appeal of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. All officers, committees, and organizations except the Nominating Committee are amenable to the collective oversight of the elders through the governance authority.

 

Section 2. Deacons. The deacons shall be members of this church and shall be appointed or elected as specified in the local church bylaws. The deacons shall have charge of those ministries and charities of the church as specified in the bylaws, receive offerings for such purposes and dispense the same, and make monthly reports as directed. Where there are no deacons, the governance authority shall assume responsibility for their ministries until such are elected or appointed.

 

Section 3. Deaconesses. Deaconesses shall be members of this church and shall be appointed or elected as specified in the local church bylaws. The deaconesses shall have charge of those ministries as specified in the bylaws. Where there are no deaconesses, the governance authority shall assume responsibility for their ministries until such are elected or appointed.

 

Section 4. Trustees. The trustees shall be members of this church and may be appointed or elected as specified in the local church bylaws. Trustees shall have charge of those ministries and duties as specified in the bylaws, or the laws of the state in which the church is located. Where there are no trustees, the governance authority shall assume responsibility for those ministries and duties until such are elected or appointed.

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Local Church. All church leaders should satisfy scriptural standards.

(1) Election. Church leaders are elected at the annual meeting by the congregation. Their term of office is established by the local church bylaws. The bylaws may also establish whether or not they may succeed themselves in office and whether or not terms of office are staggered.

(2) Commissioning. New church leaders may be commissioned through the laying on of hands by the elders.

(3) Qualifications. The qualifications of all officers, elders, deacons, and governance authority members are set out in 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and Titus 1:6–9.

(4) Duties. The duties of leaders are set forth in the Uniform Constitution for Accredited Churches, and the local church bylaws may add to or refine those duties.

(5) Women. Women may fulfill any function in the local church which the senior pastor and elders may choose to delegate to them consistent with the Uniform Constitution for Accredited Churches and may properly engage in any kind of ministry except that which involves elder authority.