With unswerving faith in the Triune God, and unquestioning acceptance of the Bible as the Word of God and our all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, and sincere supplication unto God for His blessing, we offer the following articles of agreement of cooperation to whom it may concern.
The name of this body shall be: Northwestern Association of Missionary Baptist Churches.
The object of this Association is to encourage Missions and Religious Education on a New Testament basis among the churches cooperating. To this end, this association may honor and glorify our Heavenly Father in providing a medium of cooperation of Bible principles for our churches.
This Association shall be composed of strict Missionary Baptist Churches as defined by our Doctrinal Statement.
Each church shall be entitled to three messengers whose qualifications shall be determined by the church electing them; except, no messenger shall be seated who is not certified as a messenger or alternate by the church of which he is a member in their regular letter, nor whose personal conviction is either or all of the following: open communion; invisible or universal church theory; alien baptism; direct or indirect as defined hereinafter.
Churches in absolute harmony with the principles of this Association as herein defined may be admitted by three-fourths vote of messengers of said Association in regular meeting.
AMENDMENT:
In the event a church is approved for membership in this Association and a challenge is made concerning her being seated, the Moderator shall appoint a committee of three to investigate the charges against her. Any person or group challenging the seating of a church in this body must do so in writing, stating the ground upon which the challenge is made, and the challenge must be signed by the challengers before an investigation is made, or the seating of the church is denied. The seating of the church or messengers shall be delayed until a later session of the same meeting to permit the challenge to be submitted in writing.
If a church fails to represent by letter or messenger for two consecutive annual sessions, the clerk will write such church and ascertain whether or not they desire to retain their membership. In case the church fails to reply, or replies negatively, they shall be dropped from the list at the next annual meeting, and that without a vote of the body.
A church shall be excluded from membership in this association if her doctrinal views in theory or practice run contrary to the principles of this association.
No member church shall grant to or receive letters from any church that practices open communion, or that receives baptism from other denominations, or that exchanges letters with churches who do those things.
Affiliation with any association or convention whose representation is based on numbers or contributions is contrary to the principles of this association.
Visiting brethren of the exact same faith and order may be invited to sit in council with this body, but have no vote in deliberations.
This Association is the joint cooperation of the churches composing it.
The regular meeting of the Church messengers shall be at such time and place as the assembled messengers may appoint. This meeting shall be rotated between states participating where an invitation is available, and; the officers of the Association are herein empowered to make called sessions when necessary.
The power of this Association shall be limited to the execution of the specified will of the churches composing it according to the teaching of the Word of God, and shall in no way infringe upon the sovereignty of the church, but may make recommendations to them and refer matters for approval.
The officers of this body shall be a Moderator, Assistant Moderator, Clerk/Treasurer (one office), Assistant clerk/Treasurer who shall hold office until their successors be elected by majority vote of messengers present. Duties of said officers to be such as usually and regularly devolve upon them. In case there is no election on the first vote, the two receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared nominated and vote is again taken as before. Any member of any church in this Association in good and regular standing with his church may be elected to fill any office of the Association.
Only male members shall be considered for Moderator and Assistant Moderator.
It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take charge of money and valuables not specifically entrusted to someone else and to dispose of same as the Association may direct, or as instructed by these Articles of Agreement, and to report in writing the full receipts and expenditures of his office to the regular session of this Association.
It shall be the duty of the Clerk to report the business of this Association and arrange for the printing of the minutes to be distributed among the churches according to their need. The Clerk, upon request, shall read the minutes at the close of each day for correction and approval of the messengers. The Clerk shall preserve a file of the minutes.
The messengers of the churches in regular session may recommend for support, one or more men for the mission work who have been endorsed, or can secure endorsement, by the church in which their membership is held.
Be it understood
that the action of the churches in recommending support for missionaries
shall not infringe upon the scriptural right of any church to elect a
missionary without such recommendation.
For the purpose of service and information, there shall be a Missionary Committee composed of two committeemen from each cooperating church of this Association.
(1) A quorum for the Missionary and Publications Committee shall require that a minimum of two thirds of the member churches of the Northwestern Association be represented by messenger.
(2) Shall the necessity arise, the Chairman shall call the committee together in special meeting to fill any vacancies among missionaries, which might occur between Association meetings. This committee shall have no control whatsoever over the churches or missionaries, but shall keep the churches informed of the needs of the field and of the missionaries, and serve the churches as they may direct.
This committee shall be recognized as the Publications Committee.
The Northwestern Baptist Youth Encampment is to be recognized as a permanent department of the Northwestern Association of Missionary Baptist Churches. The minutes of the Youth Encampment Committee are to be surrendered by their secretary, to the clerk of the Association, and are to be included in the minutes of the Northwestern Association. This department shall be given time at each annual session for the reporting of its activities to the messenger body.
The Women's Missionary Auxiliary of the Northwestern Association is to be recognized as a permanent part of the Northwestern Association of Missionary Baptist Churches. The minutes of the Women's Missionary Auxiliary of the Northwestern Association shall be given to the clerk of the Northwestern Association and shall be incorporated in the minutes of the Northwestern Association of Missionary Baptist Churches.
The Northwestern Loan Association is to be recognized as a permanent department of the Northwestern Association of Missionary Baptist Churches. The minutes of the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees shall be submitted by the secretary to the clerk of the Association and shall be included in the minutes of the Northwestern Association. This department shall be given time at each annual session for the reporting of its activities for the year to the messenger body.
The Committee on Religious Exercise shall consist of all messengers present. Its duty shall be to choose the speakers at Association meetings by majority vote.
The
Articles of Agreement may be changed or amended by three-fourths vote
of messengers present provided a change or amendment be offered in
writing to the Clerk and a copy be given to each messenger on the first
day of the regular session and allowed to lie over until the second day
of the same session at which time a vote is taken, or by three-fourths
vote of the churches as local units and offered in their regular letters
to the Association.