THE CHURCH BYLAWS

These Bylaws build on the provisions of the Constitution by giving further details of how the different parts of the Church are to function.

b.1    Membership

b1.1.      The true Church is composed of persons who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit through saving faith in Jesus Christ, are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is Lord and Head and are commissioned for the God-given task of proclaiming the Gospel to every person.  Only those who are thus members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership of the Nairobi Baptist Church.

b1.2.        A member of the Nairobi Baptist Church shall confess personal faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and commit himself to this body of believers by accepting the responsibilities of membership and entrusting himself to its spiritual care and counsel.

b1.3.       A Junior Member, who attains the age of eighteen, will become an Ordinary Member upon notifying the Honorary Secretary, in writing, of their attainment of the age of eighteen, provided that such member demonstrates evidence of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and participates in the life of the Church.

b1.4.       In joining the membership of the Church, a member joyfully and solemnly enters into a covenant with other members to:

 b1.4.1.      Walk together in Christian love and watch over one another by the power of the Holy Spirit;  remember one another in prayer and aid one another in sickness and distress.

b1.4.2.       Strive for the advancement of this Church, in knowledge, holiness, witness and service;  promote its prosperity and spirituality;  grow its worship and uphold its discipline and doctrines;  contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the work and expenses of the Church. 

b1.4.3.        Maintain family and personal devotions;  seek the salvation of family members, neighbours, colleagues  and acquaintances;  be just in their dealings, faithful to their commitments, and exemplary in their conduct;  be zealous in their efforts to advance the Kingdom of our Saviour and Lord. 

b1.5.          Members shall:

b1.5.1.       Receive and approve the Strategic Plan, annual plans, policies, audited accounts and budget of the Church.

b1.5.2.        Appoint the auditor, Church Trustees, Call Committee and be responsible for the calling of the Senior Pastor at an appropriately convened Church General Meeting.

b1.5.3.        Be responsible for the appointment of Elders, the Honorary Secretary, the Honorary Treasurer, Board Chairpersons and members and Committee Chairpersons, and ratification of the appointment of Associate Pastors.

b1.5.4.        Receive new members at the Sunday worship services soon after approval by the Elders on the recommendation of the Membership Committee.

b1.5.5.       Approve the acquisition and disposal of all immovable assets.

b1.5.6.        Approve all unbudgeted expenditure in excess of 10% of the annual budget per annum.

b1.5.7.       Be responsible for providing feedback to the Elders and the Pastorate.

b1.6.     Membership may be terminated by:

b1.6.1.        Transfer:  any member who wishes to affiliate with another church may, at the discretion of the Elders on the recommendation of the Membership Committee, be granted a Letter of Recommendation upon request by the church with which he desires to associate.  The letter will be forwarded by the Honorary Secretary.

b1.6.2.        Request:  any member who requests termination of membership for whatever reason will be granted that request.  If there are unresolved issues between the requesting member and the Church and/or (an)other Church member(s), efforts will be made by the Elders to reconcile and resolve any points at issue prior to the granting of the request.

b1.6.3.        Disciplinary Action:  should any member of this Church be found to be flagrantly negligent in living the Christian life, the Church reserves the right to administer biblical forms of church discipline, as outlined in its Discipline Policy.  Should faithful efforts by and through the Elders render no promise of reform or manifest no spirit of repentance on the part of the member in question, membership may be terminated by the Elders, whose decision in this respect shall be final.  The Elders shall then inform the membership accordingly.  A member removed from fellowship by disciplinary action may be reinstated only by means of the procedure of admission to membership in Article c5 on Membership.

b1.6.4.        Inactivity:  a member known to be absent from Church life for twelve consecutive months, without having notified the Honorary Secretary in writing, shall be deemed to have resigned from membership.

b1.6.5.        Death.

b2.     Elders

b2.1.        Shall be of spiritual maturity, with proven Christian character and wise judgment, exemplary in their conduct, effective leaders and teachers, and shall be qualified in accordance with the guidelines of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 and willing, together with their spouses, to be servants of the Church.  Additionally, they shall have proven themselves before the Membership in other capacities of service within the Church and/or the Body of Christ.

b2.2.        Together with the Pastorate, shall be responsible for the exercise of the authority of Scripture in all matters of Church life including the interpretation of the same (should a doctrinal controversy arise in the Church) and the administration of Church discipline of members.

b2.3.        Shall initiate and review long-term plans and strategies, which are consistent with the fulfilment of the vision of the Church and present them for approval by the members.

b2.4.        Together with the Pastorate shall nurture the unity and maturity of the Church including the approval of preaching assignments and their texts/themes.

b2.5.        Shall review progress and implementation of all Court, Board and/or Committee plans and assess opportunities for growth or contraction.  This shall include the establishment of additional or dissolution of standing Boards and/or Committees:

b2.6.        Shall cause to be written, regularly reviewed, updated and their content communicated as necessary to the members, a Church Philosophy of Ministry document and a Policy/Procedure Manual, covering all aspects of Church life.

b2.7.        Shall identify, investigate, interview and recommend to the members a candidate to be appointed to serve as an Associate Pastor.

b2.8.        Shall be responsible for the calling, appointment and deployment of all other members of the Pastorate.

b2.9.        Shall be responsible for the Pastorate, their terms and conditions of service, including job descriptions, salaries, supervision, motivation, appraisal and development, ensuring that teamwork is enhanced.  

b2.9.1.       The Elders shall assign one of the Associate Pastors to act in the absence of the Senior Pastor.

b2.10.      Shall develop and maintain fellowship, linkage and partnerships with sister churches and other evangelical churches, organisations and ministries in Kenya and abroad.

b2.11.      Shall receive and approve candidates and financial allocations as submitted by the Missionary Allocations Committee.

b2.12.      May approve unbudgeted expenditure totalling up to 10% of the recurrent budget per year.

b2.13.      Shall elect from amongst their number a Chairman and a Vice Chairman every three years and shall meet at least four times a year.

b2.14.      The quorum for meetings of the Elders shall be a majority of its members.  Elders missing three consecutive regular meetings without good reasons shall be encouraged to reconsider their position.

b3.     Pastorate  

b3.1.        Shall undertake the ministry of the Word, prayer and action so that the Church lives and thrives ultimately by God's truths and God's resources;  growing quantitatively in terms of numbers  and qualitatively in terms of Christian depth and impact.

b3.2.        Shall ensure that, in implementing its vision, the Church will be guided and shaped by the Word and Spirit of God and not by concepts and considerations alien to it.

b3.3.         Shall, as Servant Leaders, train, equip and mobilise members for the work of ministry.

b3.4.       An Associate Pastor/Administrator shall be responsible for ministries under the Board of Administration.

b4.     Senior Ministry Team

b4.1.       The Senior Ministry Team shall:

b4.1.1.        Give leadership in the realisation of the vision and objectives of the Church   by ensuring sound stewardship of the Church on a day-to-day basis so that the Church is effective in both the short and the long term.

b4.1.2.        Ensure that there is cohesion, communication and co-ordination in the work and ministries of the Church across all its Boards and Committees.

b4.1.3.        Deliberate, prepare, compile and present to the Elders’ Court proposals and/or reports on strategic thinking and/or significant operational concerns with respect to the Church.

b4.1.4.        As the principal Pastoral team, shall seek to know the physical needs, moral and spiritual struggles of all members and endeavour to relieve and encourage those who are in need.

b5.     Boards

b5.1.        The overall responsibility of the Boards is to guide, encourage, co-ordinate and harmonize the planning (short and long term), budgeting, implementation and evaluation of the work of the various committees under them and that this is done in a climate of trust, truth and grace.

b5.2.        The number of Boards shall be determined by the membership on the recommendation of the Elders’ Court.  Initially, there shall be six Boards, namely the Boards of Children, Youth, Adults, Worship, Outreach and Administration.

b5.3.        The Boards shall report to the Elders’ Court.

b5.4.        The Boards shall formulate and recommend to the Elders such Church policies as would help, guide and enhance growth in their particular ministry area.

b5.5.        The Boards shall ensure that leadership in the committees is thoroughly equipped and effectively deployed so that there is service with joy and fruitfulness.

b5.6.        The Boards shall appoint the members of Committees for which they are responsible after receiving nominations from the Committees and shall approve any ad hoc Committee.

b5.7.       The Boards may co-opt additional members to aid in their work.  Such members must be approved by the Elders’ Court.

b5.8.       The Boards shall elect a Vice-Chairman from amongst the Board members.

b5.9.       The Associate Pastor shall be the Secretary of the Board.

b5.10.      Board Chairpersons and members shall serve for a period of three years and then be eligible for re-election for a further period of three years.  A Board member who has served continuously for six years shall step down for at least one year before being eligible for re-election.

b6.     Committees

b6.1.        Shall be responsible for grassroots ministry and accountable to their respective Boards.

b6.2.       The establishment or dissolution of any Committee may be initiated by the respective Board and must be approved by the Elders’ Court.

b6.3.       The Church shall appoint the Chairpersons of Committees:

b6.3.1.        Names of consenting nominees for appointments, which have been proposed and seconded, shall be circulated to members with the agenda for the Annual General Meeting.  Those appointed shall serve for three years, unless they resign or their appointments are revoked by the Church.  They shall be eligible for re-appointment for a second and final term of three years.

b6.3.2.      Committee Chairpersons shall automatically serve as members on their respective Boards.

b6.3.3.      A Committee Chairperson who has served continuously for six years shall step down for at least one year before being eligible for re-election.

b6.4.  Members serving on Committees:

b6.4.1.        Committees shall nominate their members and forward nominees’ names to their respective Boards for appointment. 

b6.4.2.       Committee members shall serve for a three-year term, unless they resign or become disqualified by Scripture.  Those not disqualified by Scripture shall be eligible for re-election for another three-year term.

b6.4.3.       A Committee member who has served continuously for six years shall step down for at least one year before being eligible for re-election.

b7.     Meetings of Boards and Committees

b7.1.         All meetings of Boards and Committees shall be run in an orderly manner and   shall be guided by the following:

b7.1.1.         Shall, when the regular Chairman and Vice Chairman are absent, appoint from amongst their number a person to chair a duly convened meeting.

b7.1.2.        The quorum for any meeting shall be a majority of its members.

b7.1.3.        A record of the proceedings of a meeting shall be kept and duly confirmed.

b7.1.4.        Board or Committee members missing three consecutive meetings without good reason shall be encouraged to reconsider their position.

b7.1.5.        Boards shall meet at least four times a year.

b7.1.6.         All Board reports shall be circulated to the Elders’ Court and the Senior Ministry Team.

b7.1.7.         Committees shall meet at least four times a year.

b8.     Call Committee

b8.1.        Shall identify, investigate, interview and recommend a candidate to be appointed to serve as Senior Pastor.

b8.2.       Shall be an ad hoc committee, appointed by and responsible to the membership.

b8.3.       Shall have twelve members of whom at least four shall be Elders.

b8.4.       Shall appoint a Chairman from among the Committee members.

These Bylaws were approved by the members of the Nairobi Baptist Church at a Special General Meeting/Members’ Day duly convened pursuant to the provisions of Clause 10.1 and 10.3 of the existing Church Constitution on 2^nd December 2006.