233

The District Church Properties Board shall be composed of the district superintendent ex-officio and no fewer than two assigned ministers and two lay members. Members may be elected by the district assembly to serve for a term of four years or until their successors are elected and qualified. The District Advisory Board may serve as the District Church Properties Board upon favorable vote of the district assembly.

234

The duties of the District Church Properties Board are:

234.1

To advance the cause of constructing church-related buildings within the bounds of the assembly district, in cooperation with the District Advisory Board.

234.2

To verify and conserve the titles to local church property.

234.3

To consider propositions submitted by local churches relating to the purchase or sale of real estate or the erection of church buildings or parsonages, and to advise them concerning the propositions submitted. (103–104)

234.4

To approve or disapprove, in conjunction with the district superintendent, propositions submitted by local churches relative to church building plans and the incurring of indebtedness in the purchase of real estate or the erection of buildings. The Church Properties Board shall normally approve a request to increase indebtedness subject to the following guidelines:

  1. The local church requesting approval to increase indebtedness paid all financial apportionments in full for the two years preceding the request.
  2. The amount of total indebtedness will not exceed three times the average of the amount raised for all purposes in each of the preceding three years.
  3. The details of the planned remodeling or construction shall have been approved by the Church Properties Board.
  4. The amount of indebtedness and the terms of payment will not jeopardize the spiritual life of the church.

The Church Properties Board may approve requests that do not meet these guidelines only with the approval of the district superintendent and the District Advisory Board. (103–104)

234.5

To do whatever else the district assembly may direct regarding the matter of local church property.