Provisions for forming union churches
1. The following plan of union shall be adopted by particular
churches forming a union church:
a. The following plan of union is adopted by the
___________________ Christian Reformed Church
of ____________, effective as of the date when each of the
congregations has approved the plan by a two-thirds majority of
those present at a regularly called congregational meeting with
such notice and quorum as is required by the constitution of each
church and when the classis (presbytery) of each church has
approved the particular union and this plan of union.
b. The purpose of this union is to provide for the worship of
almighty God, instruction in the Christian faith, and outreach
and diaconal ministry by a united congregation which will share
the property, real and personal, of the uniting churches and
provide for the services of a minister or ministers for the
united church.
c. The united church shall be known as the ____________ Church of
____________.
d. The united church shall be subject to the constitution of each
church involved as set forth in subsections r, s, u, and
v.
e. The council (session) shall submit its records annually, and
whenever requested, to each broader assembly (judicatory).
f. The membership of the united church shall consist of those who
were members of the uniting churches, plus those received by the
council (session) of the united church.
g. The council (session) of the united church shall report an
equal share of the total membership to each broader assembly
(judicatory), and such membership shall be published in the
minutes/acts/directory of the synod/general assembly with a note
to the effect that the report is that of a union church and with
an indication of the total actual membership. A report of
additional vital congregational information shall be made by the
council (session) and properly noted by each (general)
assembly.
h. Initially the officers of the united church (elders and
deacons) shall be those officers in active service of the uniting
churches, who will undertake to perform their responsibilities
under the constitution of each church, as indicated in
subsections d above and r, s,
u, and v below.
i. At the first annual meeting subsequent to the effective date
of the union, new officers shall be elected by the united
congregation to replace the officers noted in subsection
h above according to the constitutional procedure in
force as a consequence of subsection v below.
j. The pastoral relations of the ministers of the uniting
churches shall be dissolved automatically by the action of the
classis (presbytery) in approving this plan, but they may be
eligible to be ministers (pastors) of the united church according
to the election of the united congregation.
k. The minister/s of the united church shall be full and
responsible members of each assembly (judicatory) of immediate
jurisdiction and shall be subject to discipline as provided below
in subsection s.
l. The united church shall cause a corporation to be formed under
the appropriate laws of the state, where permissible. The
corporation shall include in its articles or charter the
substance of subsections b, c, and d
above and the confessional standards of the uniting churches.
m. All property of the uniting churches, real and personal, shall
be transferred to the corporation formed in section l above. The
new corporation shall be the legal successor of the corporations,
if any, of the uniting churches, and it shall be bound to
administer any trust property or monies received in accordance
with the provisions of the original establishment of the trust.
All liabilities of the uniting churches shall be liabilities of
the united church. In any state/ province where a church
corporation is forbidden, the purposes of this section shall be
achieved in harmony with the law of that state.
n. Trustees of the corporation (or the unincorporated body) shall
be elected in harmony with civil law according to the
constitutional provisions outlined in subsection d
above, as interpreted by subsection v below.
o. While recognizing the basic right of any giver to designate
the cause or causes to which the gift shall go, the council
(session) of the united church shall annually propose to the
congregation a general mission or benevolence program which shall
be divided equitably among the officially approved causes of each
denomination. The proportions shall be as the council (session)
shall decide in response to the request of the broader assemblies
(judicatories).
p. Per capita ministry shares (apportionments) shall be paid to
each classis (presbytery) and to synod (general assembly) on the
basis of the total communicant membership of the union church,
equally divided among the denominations involved.
q. All members of the united church shall be under the discipline
of the elders (session) according to rules agreed upon in harmony
with the constitution of each denomination where they coincide,
in harmony with the mandatory provisions of the constitution of
one denomination where the others are permissive, and at the
choice of the elders (session) where they may be
contradictory.
r. Appeals against the actions of the council (session) shall be
made to one assembly or judicatory only (presbytery or classis),
at the choice of the members, and all subsequent appeals or
complaints shall be in the assemblies of the members’ original
choice, and decisions so finally made shall be binding on the
council (session) and on the members.
s. The minister/s shall be subject to the discipline of the
council/classis/presbytery provided that when an assembly begins
an action, it shall invite a committee from the others to join in
formulating and pressing the charges. In the event of appeal, the
case shall be finally decided by the broadest assembly to which
the appeal is taken in the church which commenced the action, and
that decision shall be equally binding on the
council/classis/presbytery.
t. The minister/s shall participate in the denominational pension
plan of one of the churches. If already participating in a plan,
the minister/s shall remain in that plan. If there has been no
participation in any pension plan, the minister/s may choose
which denominational plan to join.
u. Protests/complaints against the actions of the council
(session) may be taken under the constitutional provisions of
only one denomination, according to the choice of the
complainant; once a complaint is registered with an assembly
(judicatory), no other denomination shall accept jurisdiction in
the same matter.
v. Wherever the constitutions of the denominations differ, the
mandatory provisions of one shall apply in all cases when the
others are permissive. Wherever there are conflicting mandatory
provisions (except as provided in subsection q above),
the council (session) of the united church shall petition the
assemblies (judicatories) of immediate jurisdiction to overture
their respective broadest assembly to resolve the conflict either
by authoritative interpretations or by constitutional
amendment.
w. A union church may be dissolved by a two-thirds vote of two
congregational meetings held not less than one year and not more
than two years apart, subject to the concurrence of the classes
(presbyteries) involved. In case of dissolution of a union
church, all property of the united church, real and personal,
shall be divided equally between the classes (the presbytery and
the classis) of jurisdiction.
2. No provision in this document shall be construed as modifying
or amending the church order/constitution of this church in its
application to any but union churches organized under this
provision, their members, officers, or ministers.