Planting Churches Among the City's Poor - Volume 2

P ART II: C HURCH P LANTING T OOLKIT • 335

Sample Church Constitution The Urban Ministry Institute

Article 1 – Name

The name of this church, a Kansas non-profit corporation, shall be Anyname Fellowship Church-Wichita.

Article 2 – Purpose

As a community of faith and love, Anyname Fellowship centers its faith and life in Jesus Christ. Believing that the Lord has called us together to be His people, we devote ourselves to celebrate new life in Christ as His royal priesthood, cultivate Christian community as members of His family, communicate Christ and His kingdom to the lost as His ambassadors, and care for our members and others with Christ’s compassion as God’s servants.

Article 3 – Dissolution

The term of existence of this corporation shall be in perpetuity without a specific term of existence. The property of the corporation is irrevocably dedicated to religious or charitable purposes, and upon the liquidation, dissolution, or abandonment of the corporation, after providing for the debts and obligations thereof, its assets will not inure the benefit of any private person, but shall be distributed, as the existing membership directs, to exclusively religious or charitable organizations which are in keeping with the objective of the church, and whose purposes are within those specified in the Internal Revenue Code, section 501(c)(3).

Bylaw 1 - Statement of Faith

1. The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God , inerrant in its original autographs, and are the final authority for Christian faith and living ( Matt. 4.4; 5.17-19; 24.35; John 8.31-32; 2 Tim. 3.16-17; 2 Pet. 1.20-21 ). 2. God exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit , and has revealed Himself to be perfect in love, righteous in all His ways and creator of all things ( Gen. 1.1; Ps. 145.17; Isa. 6.3; Matt.