Elections. At the annual church meeting there shall be an election, by ballot, of the stewards (137), the trustees (141, 142.1), the Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International superintendent (SDMI) (146), and the members of the SDMI Board (145), to serve for the next church year and until their successors are elected and qualified. Where laws permit and when it is approved by a majority vote of the church members present, all those elected may serve a two-year term. All those elected shall be active members of that same local Church of the Nazarene.
We direct our local churches to elect as church officers active members of the local church who profess the experience of entire sanctification and whose lives bear public witness to the grace of God that calls us to a holy life; who are in harmony with the doctrines, polity, and practices of the Church of the Nazarene; and who support the local church faithfully in attendance, active service, and with tithes and offerings. Church officers should be fully engaged in “making Christlike disciples in the nations.” (34, 127, 145–147)
Membership. Every local church shall have a church board, composed of the pastor, the Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI) superintendent, the president of the Nazarene Youth International (NYI), the president of the Nazarene Missions International (NMI), the stewards, and the trustees of the church, and the members of the SDMI Board when elected as the Education Committee of the church board by the annual church meeting. If the NMI president is the pastor’s spouse, and chooses not to serve on the board, the vice president may serve; however, if the president is the pastor’s spouse and chooses to serve on the board, he or she shall not be a part of the review process of the pastor.
There shall be no more than 25 regular members of the church board. (113.11) Ordained and district licensed ministers unassigned by the district and paid employees of the local church are not eligible to serve on the local church board.
We direct our local churches to elect as church officers active members of the local church who profess the experience of entire sanctification and whose lives bear public witness to the grace of God that calls us to a holy life; who are in harmony with the doctrines, polity, and practices of the Church of the Nazarene; and who support the local church faithfully in attendance, active service, and with tithes and offerings. Church officers should be fully engaged in “making Christlike disciples in the nations.” (34, 113.11, 137, 141, 145–147, 151, 153.2, 160.4)
The trustees of the church shall be no fewer than three or more than nine in number. They shall be elected from among the members of the local church to serve for the next church year and until their successors have been elected and qualified. (34, 113.11, 127)
In all cases where the civil law requires a specific mode of election of church trustees, that mode shall be strictly followed. (113.4)
Where no particular mode of election is required by civil law the trustees shall be elected by ballot at the annual meeting of the local church or at a special meeting duly called for that purpose. (113.7, 113.11)
The duties of the trustees are:
A vacancy in the office of trustee may be filled by the local church at a duly called church meeting. (113.8)
It shall not be lawful for a local church, its officers, or members, to send appeals to other local churches, their officers, and members, to solicit money or financial assistance for their local church needs or for the interests that they may support. It is provided, however, that such solicitation may be made to local churches and church members located within the bounds of the assembly district in which the solicitor is located, but only on condition that the solicitation be approved in writing by the district superintendent and the District Advisory Board.
Elect boards of control for educational institutions serving multiregional areas, to serve until their successors are elected and qualified and in accordance with the following provisions:
The boards of control shall be comprised of persons from the respective areas served by the institution.
In instances where the institution serves a multiregional area, election of that board shall be conducted in the General Assembly regional caucus(es) composed of delegates from the regions primarily served by the schools.
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