An independent church is likely to require a constitution in order to satisfy charity law. This is a legal document. Many churches, in addition to this will provide something based on the constitution intended to be more accessible to the congregation. They may refer to it as a handbook and it is likely to include in it the following kinds of things:
- The mission statement/vision statement for the church
- A little bit of the church’s history
- The Statement of Faith/Doctrinal basis for the church
- Leadership structure
- Church rules including how decisions are made, who members are and expectations upon them for conduct. How church discipline takes place.
- Doctrinal distinctives
- Ethical positions.
I believe that these kinds of documents can be useful, especially if you are starting a church plant or involved in revitalisation. It enables you to set out clearly the DNA of the church, this will help pre-empt and resolve disputes and differences later down the line. You may feel that this is obvious right now and so unnecessary but you want to be thinking ahead for the long term, what happens when the next generation take over?
There is a risk though that this kind of thing becomes, like the constitution, another unread document, filed away somewhere. So, if you are going to have one, you want to make sure that it avoids that fate. You want the document to be useful.
So, first of all, I would ask the question “Who is this for?” Is it just something that seems to be the done thing? Is it expected by your denomination/Network? If so, then putting it together will feel like drudgery. It could be that you feel that you need something to show to others who might be sitting in judgement on your soundness or whatever, especially potential donors. I don’t think that these are good reasons for putting together a document.
My rule of thumb is that anything I do as a church elder is first and foremost to teach and equip the church family, to ensure that they are provided for (fed with God’s Word) and protected against harm. So, the next question I would ask is “Does the document do this?” Could it be used in small groups or whole church teaching. This means that primarily, the document should expound Scripture on the relevant issues.
If it’s for the church family or members, then we will want to think about who they are going to be. This is not just about who currently is in membership but who you would one day like to see there. Your current core team might be all well educated, mature Christians with a working knowledge of theology and some grasp of church history. However, if your desire is to grow by reaching the unreached, then those people will come in with no knowledge of your history, of jargon and of theological terms . So the third question I would ask is “Does the document use language that is clear and understandable for the unchurched? Does it explain terms, concepts and reasons for decisions?” And this means that I want to use language that encourages people to see that it is worth their while reading it.
Your aim with the handbook is to teach and equip but not to divide and cause controversy. So the final question I would ask is “What questions might readers have?” It’s good to anticipate those questions. Sometimes you will think “It’s great that they are asking that question but I wouldn’t want to try and answer it in the handbook.” If so, you need to think about how, where and when such questions would be discussed. However, as often as not, you’ll want to make sure that the handbook answers the anticipated questions.
Personally, if we were to have one, I’d include the following sections
Introduction and background
Here, I’d set out the mission and vision of the Church. I might also give some historical background. However, the aim here is not to give a blow by blow account of the church but rather to set out essential information that helps people to understand why the church is where it is today. This might include, when the church was founded and key events in its history, experience of renewal, revival and reformation as well as times of crisis and testing. Spo this section includes things about the past, present and future.
What we believe
Here you would include the statement of faith that you adhere to (or a summary if it’s something lengthy like the Westminster Confession. I’d do more than just copy it out though. I’d take time to explain what each section means. This may be helpful for two reasons. First, some statements of faith use technical or archaic language, so you will want to explain what is meant by them. Secondly, some can seem a little broad or woolly. You may use a statement of faith which we could all sign up to. However, it was possible to read it in a way which arguable would have allowed lots of people who we strongly disagreed on important and even first order principles. Having said that, it seems that people find enough wiggle room even to say they affirm the historic creeds which were anything but broad and woolly. So, this is an opportunity to make clear what you mean by each statement. This is about protecting the church by setting clearly the boundaries of belief.
What church life looks like
This bit might sometimes be referred to as “The rules” or practice of the church and can often seem dry, especially if you get into knots over processes, voting and quoracy. Processes should be used to help people see how decisions are made and how things happen but not to over-complicate.
My approach would be to build it around what you might describe as the DNA of the church. If DNA. DNA or Deoxyribonucleic acid is the code or building block that runs through you and carries all of the genetic information about you. It’s kind of what makes you, you. It means that you have a lot in common with every other human being and much in common with specific human who are related to you and it means that there are specific things that make you, uniquely you.
We can talk in terms of a church’s DNA. The church’s DNA will mean that it shares essential things in common with the wider church and then some things particularly in common with churches in our network and movement. There will though be things that are uniquely special about our church.
Our own church is currently working trough a monthly series looking at what its DNA is under headings like Disciples, Family, Devoted to God’s Word, Filled with the Spirit of God, Prayer, To see Jesus the most talked about in our city, to be for the good of the city and to impact the nations. I would build this section of a handbook for us around those headings.
I’d expect to talk about how you do membership, the why and the what of church discipline, your relationship to other churches, baptism and communion and any other particular distinctives you have here.
Just like with DNA, this should all link together so that people can see why each element is there and how it connects.
Some people strongly insist that you must have such a document for your church. I can see the benefits but am not so insistent. However, it is important that you do two things.
- Make sure that you are clear in your own mind, corporately as leaders and church family together on what your church life looks like.
- Do a risk check to consider what needs to be in writing and formally agreed to protect the long term health of the church.
Faithroots 