ST. PAUL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH BY LAWS

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THE 3Ms:
Our mission at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church is to make, mend, and mold disciples after Christ.

VISIONS:
To impact our community, city, state, and even the world in a positive manner by spiritually empowering people physically, socially, and economically with the holistic teachings and principles of Jesus Christ.

HOW WE SEEK TO ACCOMPLISH (Our Vision and Mission)
1.  PRAYER:  Continuously.
2.  LEADERSHIP AND MOBILIZATION: To provide ongoing leadership training and support.
3.  PARTNERSHIPS: To work intentionally in order to provide opportunities to accomplish our vision and mission through partnerships.
4.  STRATEGIC INVOLVEMENT: with things that support and/or advance our mission and vision.
5.  STRUCTURES: To continually evaluate the structure of our church/leadership to ensure its effectiveness in allowing us to work towards achieving our goals.
6.  RESOURCES AND FUNDING:
(A) Tithes and offerings
(B) Grants through 501c
(C) Partnerships PREAMBLE

For the preservation and security of the Doctrinal Statement and church Covenant, and to the end that this assembly of baptized believers may be governed in an orderly manner consistent with the New Testament Order; we therefore band ourselves together as a body of baptized believers in Jesus Christ and adopt for our government, plan of worship, and service the following Constitution and prescribed Bylaws.

CHURCH NAME
This local church shall be called Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tennessee, as duly chartered and incorporated by the laws of the State of Tennessee.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this local church is the salvation of the lost souls, the edification of the Christians through the teaching of God's Word, the encouragement of members to do the work of the ministry, the worldwide proclamation of God's saving grace through the shed blood and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, the promotion of godly worship, the defense of the faith once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3), and cooperation with Christian activities functioning in harmony with God's Holy Word, until Jesus comes for His church.

It is the intent of this church to function freely as a missionary, evangelistic, premillennial independent Baptist church, recognizing no ecclesiastical authority higher than the local assembly. Further, we will operate in true Biblical, Baptistic, autonomous fashion. We have taken a stand against all worldly philosophies that seek to destroy true Biblical Baptistic Christianity.

The Authorized King James Version is to be used in the pulpit and by all teachers and workers. No other version or translation is to be used in preaching or teaching in English language ministries. The Pastor shall approve any translations used in non-English speaking ministries.

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
-We believe in the Holy Scripture, accepting fully the writings of the Old and New Testaments as the very Word of God, verbally inspired in all parts in its original autographs, our infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice.

-We believe there is one God eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

-We believe in the deity of Christ; His virgin birth; His shed blood for atonement; His bodily resurrection; His ascension into Heaven there to be our Intercessor; His lordship over all creation.

-We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, makes believers children of God through the new birth, assures them of Heaven, and by His indwelling enables Christians to live a godly life.

-We believe that all men are sinners by nature and choice, sinful and lost, and have within themselves no possible means of salvation without Christ.

-We believe in salvation by grace through faith; that salvation is the free gift of God, not by any virtue or works of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and all true believers possess the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish.

-We believe in the existence of Satan, the deceiver and god of this present world; that he was defeated and judged at the cross, and therefore his final doom is certain.

-We believe in the second coming of Christ; the time being unrevealed but always imminent; that when He comes He will first by resurrection of the dead and the translation of the living remove from the earth His waiting church; then pour out the righteous judgments of God upon the unbelieving world, afterwards descend with His church and establish His glorious and literal kingdom over all the nations for a thousand years.

-We believe that the spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven; that at His second coming their works will be judged and rewards determined; that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hell until the final day of judgment, at which time their bodies shall be raised from the grave, judged, and cast into the lake of fire, the place of final and everlasting punishment.

-We believe in the priesthood of all believers, that Christ is our Great High Priest and through Him every born-again person has direct access into God's presence without the need of a human priest; that the believer has the right and responsibility personally to study and interpret the Scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit.

-We believe that a New Testament church is an organized body of born-again baptized believers practicing scriptural ordinances and actively engaged in fulfilling the Great Commission.

-We believe in the separation of church and state; that God has ordained both, and has delegated authority to each; the authority of one must not interfere with the other; however, this does not mean that the state is to be non-religious nor does it mean that the church and its members may not be involved in the political processes of this nation.

-We believe the officers of the church includes the Pastor, Deacons & Trustees.

-We believe the two scriptural ordinances given to the local church are baptism by immersion of believers only, and the Lord's Supper to be partaken of by obedient Christians.

CHURCH COVENANT
Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We endeavor, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We also endeavor to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale of, and use of, intoxicating drinks as a beverage; to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Saviour.

We further endeavor to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

We moreover endeavor that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's Word.

ORDINANCES
We believe, according to Scripture, that Jesus Christ commanded the observance of two ordinances before He ascended unto His Father in Heaven; namely Baptism (Matt. 28:19) and the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:23-30).

BAPTISM
We believe that all truly born-again believers are to follow the Bible example of baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:13-17). As we believe that He was immersed, so we conclude that we are to be immersed after this example. Although salvation is not contingent upon baptism (Eph. 2:8, 9), we believe that every born-again believer will gladly follow the Lord in Scriptural baptism as soon after conversion as possible as a public confession of the salvation experience: a complete break with all known sin and the world, and a sincere intent to reckon oneself dead unto sin and alive unto God (Rom. 6:3-5). This ordinance openly signifies that the believer is truly crucified with Christ and buried with Him, being dead to sin and resurrected with Him by the power of God to newness of life through Him (Acts 2:38-41).

LORD'S SUPPER
The Lord's Supper is a commemorative ordinance to be observed by the church in memory of the Savior (I Cor. 11:24). "This do in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). Only baptized believers have a right to partake of the Supper (Acts 2:41, 42).The fellowship of this table will be observed normally once a month or at other times as deemed wise by the Pastor and Deacons.

A careful examination of the heart should have been made by each believer, for the unworthy partaking of the Lord's Supper brings damnation (judgment) upon himself. (I Cor. 11:28-30).

GOVERNMENT
The government of this church, under the Head of Christ and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, is vested in the spirit lead active members of the church.

By action of the church in electing its officers, the immediate direction of spiritual and temporal affairs of the church shall be committed to said officers and Deacons during the term of office as further provided elsewhere in this Constitution.

St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church acknowledges the Lord Jesus Christ as it’s only Head, and receives the Holy Bible as the only infallible guide in matters of faith, church order and discipline, and is amenable to no Ecclesiastical Body.