The following plan for affiliation shall be adopted by a
particular church to affiliate with one or more denominations in
ecclesiastical fellowship:
a. The following plan is adopted by the _____________ Christian
Reformed Church of _____________, effective as of the date when
the congregation 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 its rules of
procedure and when the local classis of the CRC and the local
governing body of the additional denomination has approved the
particular plan of affiliation.
b. The purpose of this af liation is to provide for the worship
of almighty God, instruction in the Christian faith, and outreach
and diaconal ministry by a congregation which is organizing as a
dual or multiaffiliated church.
c. The dual or multiaffiliated church shall be known as the
_____________ Church.
d. The dual or multiaffiliated church shall be subject to the
Church Order/Constitution of each denomination involved as set
forth in subsections m, n, p, and
q below.
e. The council shall annually report its active membership count
and other statistics to the respective denominations as required
by each denomination.
f. In the case of an organized church, initially the officers
(elders and deacons) shall be those officers in active service at
the time of the change in affiliation. They will undertake to
perform their responsibilities as indicated in subsections
d above and m, n, p, and
q below.
g. Following the change in affiliation in an organized church, or
when an emerging church organizes as a dual or multiaffiliated
church, officers will be elected according to the rules of
procedure approved in the resulting church.
h. The minister(s) of the resulting 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 n.
i. The dual or multiaffiliated church shall make changes in its
Articles of Incorporation to include the substance of subsections
b, c, and d and the confessional
standards of the affiliated churches.
j. While recognizing the basic right of any giver to designate
the cause or causes to which a gift shall go, the council of the
dual or multiaffiliated 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 shall
decide in response to the request of the broader assemblies
(judicatories).
k. Per capita ministry shares (assessments) shall be paid to each
classis and synod (and equivalent governing bodies) on the basis
of the total confessing membership of the church, equally divided
among the denominations involved.
l. All members of the church shall be under the discipline of the
elders, according to rules agreed upon in harmony with the Church
Order/Constitution of each denomination where they coincide, and
in harmony with the mandatory provisions of the Church
Order/Constitution of one denomination where the other is
permissive, and at the choice of the elders where the provisions
may be contradictory.
m. Appeals against the actions of the council shall be made to
one assembly or judicatory only (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
nally made shall be binding on the council and on the
members.
n. The minister(s) shall be subject to the discipline of the
council and the governing assemblies of the denomination within
which that minister is ordained, 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 and classis.
o. The minister(s) shall participate in the denominational
pension plan of the denomination within which that minister is
ordained and in compliance with its requirements.
p. Protests/complaints against the actions of the council may be
taken under the Church Order/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.
q. The plan of affiliation that is formed may be dissolved by a
two-thirds vote of the congregation at two separate
congregational meetings held not less than one year and not more
than two years apart, subject to the concurrence of the classes
(regional assemblies) involved. In case of dissolution of the
plan, all property of the church, real and personal, shall be
divided according to a formula established at the time of
purchase or the plan of affiliation. If a written formula does
not exist, then the acquired property shall be divided equally
between the classes (regional assemblies) of jurisdiction, unless
a classis or presbytery chooses to waive its right to the
property.
r. Wherever the Church Order/Constitution of the denominations
differs, 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 l above),
the council of the dual or multiaffiliated 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 Church
Order/constitutional amendment.
s. 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 dual or multiaffiliated churches organized
under this provision, their members, officers, or ministers.
(Acts of Synod 2015, pp. 648-49)