Internal Auditing Committee The Internal Auditing Committee shall audit the financial records of the Church at the request of the congregation and shall make a report in writing to the Pastor, unless the report includes a finding dealing with the Pastor. In such case, the Audit Committee shall report to the Budget Committee. The Auditing Committee shall consist of one Trustee, a Diaconate member and a lay person (preferably with accounting background) in addition to the Financial Secretary.

Pulpit Committee

Budget Committee 

The budget committee shall consist of the joint ministries of deacons and trustees. The chairman of the joint ministry, along with the bookkeeper, shall preside over the budget committee.

ARTICLE XI Election of Officers

The election of officers shall be held during the year-end church meeting every two (2) years as required.

ARTICLE XII Church Year

The fiscal year of the Church shall be from January to December. Regular church meetings shall take place twice (2) times a year, the last Monday of February, and the first Monday of December. Two-thirds of active church disciples in attendance shall constitute a quorum to conduct church business. Other conferences shall be called as may be required to accomplish the business of the church.

When necessary, the pastor shall call a special meeting of the church to provide for effective church business management.

ARTICLE XIII Property

The Board of Trustees in the church name may sue or be sued, acquire by purchase, gift, devise, bequest or otherwise and own, hold, invest, re-invest, or dispose of property both real and personal for such work as the church may undertake and may purchase, own, receive, hold, manage, care for and transfer, rent, lease, mortgage or otherwise encumber, sell, assign, transfer and convey such property for the general purposes of the church; they may receive and hold in trust both real and personal property and invest and re-invest the same and make any contracts for promoting the objects and purposes of the church.

ARTICLE XIV Rules of Order

Roberts Rules of Order and the Constitution will be accessible at each regular scheduled or called business meeting of the Church.

The rules contained in Robert=s Rules of Order shall govern the business proceedings of this church.

The Parliamentarian shall interpret, clarify and resolve any conflicts that may occur during meetings regarding the order of the business meeting.

The Holy Bible shall serve as the overall rule of order for the church and when found to be in conflict with other guides of rule such as Robert's Rule of Order, shall become the sole authority. 

ARTICLE XV Church Meetings

The Annual Meeting of the Church shall be held quarterly. At this meeting, the officers of the church, the Pastor (s), and all church organizations shall submit their annual reports in writing.

Special church meetings may be called at the discretion of the pastor or upon the consensus of the Joint Ministry of Deacons and Trustees to carry out the business of the church in between the regular quarterly meetings.

ARTICLE XVI Amendments 

Amendments to this Constitution and/or By-Laws may be made at any duly called church meeting by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the members present public announcements of the text of the proposed amendment(s) having been made two weeks prior to the meeting.

This Constitution was read, discussed, and accepted by a vote of the majority of the Members present at a quarterly church conference held at Tabernacle Christian Church.

COMMENTARY

The term Constitution and/or By-Laws means that churches will variously designate their ordering instrument(s).

For one office our two heritages have two words, Elder and Deacon.

The executive authority in the local church is in a single body, expressing the truth that the spiritual and the temporal are inseparable.

In the article on membership no provision is made that either the Elders and/or Deacons or the whole membership shall vote upon receiving a person into membership in the church. Some congregations will undoubtedly want to provide for such a vote either by the congregation as a whole or by the Elders and/or Deacons, since this is the traditional way. However, it might be considered that if the church belongs to Christ, what group of members has a right to vote to bar anybody from membership? Anyone who acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord and wishes to share in the fellowship of the church ought to be eligible for membership.

Many churches may not wish to permit underage members to vote.

Democracy, in the church as in the surrounding culture, is a prudential steering between tyranny and anarchy. The governance of

God cannot be equated with it, nor the discovery of God's will with any human ordering principle. Rather, it lies above and under and beyond, That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man but in the power of God (Cor.2:5)