Albert Association of Baptist Churches Inc. Constitution

Adopted Apr 28, 2008, Amended Oct 02, 2017, Amended June 1, 2025, Amended Oct 27, 2025

ARTICLE I – Name

This body shall be called “Albert Association of Baptist Churches Inc.” (Herein referred to also as “Albert Association” or “Association”)

ARTICLE II – Mission and Objectives

1) Mission – The Mission of the Albert Association of Baptist Churches Inc. is to encourage, support and promote outreach of our member churches working together in unity to:

– Evangelize our Communities (Matt 28:18-20)

– Serve our Communities (Matt 25:31-36)

– Provide Training opportunities in areas of mutual interest (Eph 4:11-16)

2) Objectives – The Albert Association commits its support to the member Albert County Baptist churches in cooperation with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada to promote the work of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ in the following ways:

– Regular, Faithful Prayer

– Promote Unity

– Teach

– (See Appendix 1)

3) Doctrine:  The doctrinal beliefs of this Association shall be those of the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada, as expressed in the Basis of Union – 1905.  (See Appendix 2)

 ARTICLE III – Membership

1) Delegates

• Each Member Church is expected to elect two delegates and two alternates. Two Delegates will attend and vote on behalf of their local congregation at the Association Business Meetings. The delegates are liaison officers between their Church and the Association.  The Alternates go in place of the Delegate who is unable to attend Association Meetings.  Delegates and Alternates are to be elected at a local Church Business Meeting.  The names of the elected Delegates and Alternates will be made available to the Association Secretary / Clerk.
• Any member in good standing of a church in this Association shall be entitled to attend any Association Business Meeting.
• All Pastors currently serving in Member Churches are voting delegates to the Association Business Meetings.
• Team Leaders are Delegates.
• A person recognized as a delegate under this section and serving in multiple positions in the Association is only entitled to one vote when a vote is called by the chair.

2) Member Churches

Member Churches shall be Baptist Churches in the County of Albert, in the Province of New Brunswick and shall therefore be listed with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada.

3)  Voting

All questions before the Association shall be decided by a majority vote, except in the instance of:

• Admitting new churches into Association fellowship
• Dissolving connections with churches

These instances shall require a two-thirds majority.  These also require written application two weeks prior to a regularly called meeting.

Voting results are routinely determined by counting issued delegate cards given members at the start of all meetings.

ARTICLE IV –Directors and Officers

The Directors and Officers of the Association are: Executive Director, Moderator, Treasurer, and Secretary/Clerk.

 ARTICLE V- Executive Team Structure 

The Association Executive Team (Council) consists of the following:

• Executive Director, Moderator, Secretary / Clerk, Treasurer, Vision / Mission Team Chair, Licensing Team Chair, Youth Team Chair, Nominating Team Chair, Pastoral Care Team Chair.

 

ARTICLE VI – Duties of the Executive Team (Council):

It is recognized that the Association member churches have a responsibility to assist the team chairs and the nominating team in finding qualified candidates for the teams noted below in order for them to fulfill their mandates:

• Executive Director – Gives leadership to the Executive.
• Moderator – Chairs the meetings.
• Secretary / Clerk – Leads the Communication Team in the development and maintenance of such items as mail lists, meeting minutes, website information and prayer notices.
• Financial Team – The Association Treasurer chairs the finance team in the procurement and distribution of funds.  The finance team will select a person to be assistant treasurer.
• Vision/Mission Team Leader – Brings Spirit led input to the overall direction of the kingdom work happening in our area.
• Licensing Team Leader – Leads the team responsible to promote and develop high standards of ministry practice.
• Youth and Children’s Team Leader – Gives leadership to our collective youth ministries including Christian Education, Camp Wildwood, Youth Mission Tours and Young Life Ministries.  Support for staff and volunteer youth workers.
• Nominating Team Leader – Leads the nominating team in discerning who the Lord is calling to serve on various teams in our common work.
• Pastoral Care Team Leader – Provides support and promotes spiritual and practical health and care for our pastoral leadership.
• Team job descriptions (See Appendix 3)

The role of the Council is to carry out the mandate given to it by the Albert Association of Baptist Churches Inc. as outlined in the Constitution Articles VI and VII.  Acting as the agent of The AABC Inc. between business meetings, the Council is entrusted with the responsibility to:

• Administer, manage, and give oversight to the administrative affairs, activities, business, and property of the Association between Membership Meetings.

ARTICLE VII – Times of Association Meetings/Fiscal Period

1.  The Association holds two regular meetings each year, one in the spring, referred to as the Annual Business Meeting and the other in the fall, with dates to be determined by the Executive Team.
2. An inspirational Celebration Service will be held in the spring following the Annual Business Meeting, at a date to be determined by the Executive Team Council). This will be a celebration of God’s goodness and a time of equipping the churches.
3. At the fall Executive Meeting, the Executive Team (Council) will evaluate the effectiveness of the previous year.
4. The Executive Team (Council) can call a Special meeting by giving two weeks notice to all church pastors, clerks and known delegates.
5. The Association’s fiscal period will be the twelve (12) month period ending on the last day of February each year.

ARTICLE VIII – Terms of Office and Replacement of Team Members

(1) Team members shall be elected at the annual business meeting for a period of

two (2) years and shall be eligible for re-election at the close of that period. No member of any Team or the holder of any Office shall serve longer than six (6) years consecutively in that position but may be re-elected after a lapse of one (1) year. Team members are eligible immediately, following their term, for nomination and election to any other Office/Team within the Association

(2) Any member of a Team who moves from a church served by the Association shall automatically cease to be a member of such Team, and a replacement shall be made by the Executive Team next in session, if not sooner replaced as hereinafter provided.

(3) Any member of a Team who has lost “good standing” or membership with his/her local church shall automatically cease to be a member of such a Team.

(4)  The Executive Team (Council) reserves the right to remove any or all members of a Team by majority vote.  This authority is only exercised after attempts of reconciliation have been exhausted.

(5)  Process to replace vacant positions:

Any team vacancies may be filled, if it seems prudent to do so, by The Executive Team (Council), after seeking nominations from the Nominating Team. The Nominating Team must seek input on possible replacements from the respective team chairs during this process. Any persons appointed in this way will serve until the next duly called meeting of the Association, and his/her name shall be added to the report of the Nominating Team, if he/she is willing to complete the unexpired term.

(6) Notwithstanding Clause- If the process concerning electing team members and the process to replace vacant positions, as described in Articles VIII.1 and VIII.5 above, does not produce any suitable replacement candidates, the Nominating Team can override Articles VIII.1 and VIII.5 and ask the incumbent to stay in their position for an additional one (1) year term(s) until a suitable candidate is found, subject to a member vote at the next duly called meeting of the Association.

ARTICLE VIX – Process to Amend Constitution

This constitution may be altered, amended or cancelled at any Association Business meeting by a two-thirds majority vote of the members present, provided notice of such intention has been given at the previous duly called meeting of the Association.

 ARTICLE X – Quorum

A quorum for the transaction of business at a duly called business meeting shall consist of twelve (12) Delegates representing not less than six (6) Member Churches.

 ARTICLE XI – Statement on Rules of Order and Standards of Meetings

The Association Moderator who is appointed by the executive team shall follow the “Rules of Order for the Conduct of Meetings” as written in “A Manual for Worship and Service” prepared for Canadian Baptist Churches 1998 edition pages 151-156. (See Appendix 4)

Appendix 1 – Objectives

Regular, Faithful Prayer

•             Daily Prayer for individual and collective church ministries
•             Youth, Music and Prayer Encounters
•             Participate in Church Prayer Chains
•               Sick, Unsaved, Marriages, Teachers
•             Pastors, Inspiration, Leadership and Discipleship
•             Unsaved (Outreach)
•             Attend Monthly Prayer Days in the County as they rotate.

Promote Unity

•             Inspirational Celebration Meetings
•             Create and Manage a Communication Website
•             Create and Manage a Resource Website of Skills and Materials (Acts 2:42-47)
•             Teaching Materials, DVBS Resources, Discipleship Class Materials, Youth Ministry, Facebook

and Church Websites

•             Participate and Assist with Local Church Special Events When Requested
•             Men’s and Ladies Breakfasts, Musical Evenings, Anniversary Services, Induction and

Ordinations, Leadership Training Events

•             Promote Innovation
•             New Ways to Minister, Engage the Youth

Teach

•             Vision Team, Mission Team
•             County-Wide Pulpit Exchange
•             Access Opportunities at Crandall U/ ADC
•             Pastoral Care Events and Training

Appendix 2 – Statement of Agreed Doctrine

The Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (CBAC) was formed in 1905-06 with the union of the Regular Baptists and the Free Baptists. Sharing many of the same concerns, the two bodies were brought together by their common interests.

The basis of union was a statement of agreed doctrine and church polity. Each church within the two bodies voted on the statement. All supported it with the exception of six churches, and none of the six voted negatively.

Thus the CBAC was brought into being upon an agreed statement of faith, which was approved by the churches themselves. Today, it remains the basis upon which we work together.

Doctrinal Statement  

The Scriptures — The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments have their authority from God alone, and are given to us by divine inspiration. They are the only perfect, supreme, infallible and sufficient standard of faith and practice.

God — There is one true and living God; He is an infinite Spirit; self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, good, wise, just and merciful. He is the creator, preserver, and sovereign of the universe; He is inexpressively glorious in holiness, and worthy of all honour, confidence and love. In the Godhead there are three persons in one: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are equal in every divine perfection, and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

Jesus Christ — Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the person of the trinity who, by virtue of His sacrificial work, is the world’s redeemer and the savior of all who believe. He is at present the intercessor of all His people at the right hand of the Father, and is to be the judge of all men.

The Holy Spirit — The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, by whom all saving, comforting and sanctifying power is exerted upon human hearts.

State and Fall of Man — Man was created sinless. By his own disobedience he fell into sin. Through his fall into sin, an evil nature was transmitted to the whole race, revealing itself in actual transgression, and bringing all under the reign of condemnation and death.

Atonement — The perfect life, vicarious death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, have removed the obstacles in the way of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating power and of the Father’s forgiving grace being extended to the sinner, and constitute for every believing soul an all prevailing plea and sufficient ground for righteousness before God.

Regeneration — In regeneration a new life principle is begotten in the soul of man by the Holy Spirit through the word of truth, producing a disposition to joyful obedience to Christ and to holy conduct in life.

Repentance — In repentance the sinner, having seen his sin, being moved by the energy of the Holy Spirit, is led to grieve for and hate it as an offence against God, and apprehending the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, he lovingly returns to God to walk in the way of His commandments.

Faith — Faith is a conviction of the intellect that God will perform all that He has promised and an implicit trust of the heart in Christ as a personal savior. It includes a hearty concurrence of the will and affections with the whole plan of salvation as revealed in the gospel, and is a condition of justification and of cleansing from the pollution of sin and of all subsequent gospel blessings.

Justification — Justification is an act of God wherein He accepts as righteous the sinner, to whom is imputed the perfect righteousness of Christ, on the condition of faith alone.

Sanctification — The Scriptures teach that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, Christians are made partakers of His holiness; that it has its beginning in regeneration, and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, in the continual use of the appointed means: the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness and prayer.

The Christian Sabbath — We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s day or Christian Sabbath and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes by abstaining from all secular labour and sinful recreations, by the devout observance of all means of grace, both private and public, and by preparation of that rest that remaineth for the people of God.

A Gospel Church — We believe that a church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word. In the more general sense, the word church is used to designate all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The only scriptural officers are bishops (pastors), and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are defined in the epistles of Timothy and Titus.

Baptism — This is the immersion of believers in water into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in which are represented their death to the world, the washing of their souls from the pollution of sin, their resurrection to newness of life, the burial and resurrection of Christ, their resurrection at the last day, and their engagement to serve God.

The Lord’s Supper — The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Christ, to be observed by the churches in the manner indicated by Him in Matt. 26:26-30.

Death — At death our bodies return to dust, our souls to God who gave them. The righteous being then perfected in happiness are received to dwell with God, awaiting the full redemption of their bodies. The wicked are cast into Hades reserved unto the judgement of the great day.

Resurrection — There will be a general resurrection of the bodies of the just and of the unjust; the righteous in the likeness of Christ, but the wicked to shame and everlasting contempt.

General Judgement — There will be a judgement of quick and dead, of the just and unjust, on the principles of righteousness, by the Lord Jesus Christ, at His second coming. The wicked will be condemned to eternal punishment, and the righteous received into fullness of eternal life and joy.

Church Polity 

Article I — The voluntary principle underlies the whole church polity of the New Testament. Each church is independent, but the churches are interdependent. All the power the more general bodies have over the less general and the individual churches, is to advise and to enforce advice with the strongest moral motives. In case a church, or the churches composing a less general body, depart from the belief and practice of the denomination, it shall be the right of the more general body to withdraw fellowship.

Article II — Each church, as occasion may require, shall have the right to appeal to the more general body for the help of their advice and moral influence, or to call a council from other churches. If a church, torn by dissensions and heresy, declines to seek assistance of this kind, it is the right of the more general body to send a delegation to assist the church as far as this may be possible.

Article III — Any church should be careful in granting a license to preach. Every license, to be valid, must be signed by the pastor and clerk of the church granting it, and countersigned by at least two neighbouring pastors after an examination of the candidate’s qualifications.  Note with regard to Article III — The local church license to preach has been replaced with the License to Minister. Also, neighbouring pastors are no longer required to countersign and examine candidates. This process has been replaced by the association License to Minister.

Article IV — When a church desires the ordination of a brother, a council from as many of the nearest churches as will secure the attendance of at least five ordained pastors, with a suitable number of laymen may be called; or the more general body may be requested to attend to the matter.  Note with regard to

Article IV — In 1922, this policy was replaced by the current practice of having a convention examining council consisting predominately of association representatives. Nevertheless, ordination still continues to be the responsibility of the local church.

Appendix 3 – Team Descriptions

Team Members can be made up from any member in good standing of our Association Churches. The Teams elect a Chair who becomes a member of the Executive Team (Council) and a voting delegate.  The Team Members meet and elect a chair (who may also be team leader) within 30 days of the Annual Business Meeting.

1. Nominating Team

• The Nominating Team shall be made up as a minimum the Executive Director or his / her delegate,

the Secretary / Clerk, and at least three others nominated by the Executive Team (Council) for election at the Annual Meeting.

• The Nominating Team shall prepare nominations for the Teams of the Association. They also

nominate the Association Delegate to the annual meeting of Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada Inc.

• This Team may make nominations for outside appointments as the Executive Team (Council) deems necessary from time to time.
• Nominations may also be presented from those in attendance at any duly called meeting.

1. Licensing Team

• This Team shall consist of not less than four members.
• The Licensing Team is to become thoroughly acquainted with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada Inc. regulations regarding the Licensing of Pastors.
• This Team is to establish and maintain communications with all churches in the Association with a view to contact all persons considering a call to the pastoral ministry, or are desirous of entering training for such purposes.
• This Team interviews persons annually and makes recommendations at an Association Business Meeting, to grant or renew licenses in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada.
• This team elects from its membership the Association delegate and alternate to the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada Ordination Examining Council.

1. Vision / Missions Team

• The Vision / Missions Team shall be drawn from the members of the Executive Team (Council) with power to recruit competent assistance from the Association churches.
• This Team shall consist of not less than four members one of whom is the Executive Director.
• Focus on Mission / Vision Objectives of the Association (i.e. Moncton Hospital Chaplaincy, Camp Wildwood)
• Initiate Opportunities to Help Churches be More Effective in Kingdom Building Locally and Globally
• Implement key plans and strategies (i.e. conferences, outreach opportunities, service, mission projects, etc.)
• Primary Purpose: Mission – NOT Maintenance

1. D. Youth and Children’s Ministry Team

• This Team shall consist of not less than four members.
• The Youth and Children Ministry Team may need to have additional ad-hoc subcommittees from time to time.
• Develop training opportunities for staff and volunteer youth leaders
• Promote local and global youth missions (i.e. Tidal Impact, BWA Youth Conference)
• Engage students in peer – peer ministry and evangelism
• Assist with the Communication between Association Churches and Area youth events.

1. Communication Team

• Team Chair – Secretary / Clerk
• This Team shall consist of not less than three members.
• Develop and maintain mailing lists, email group distribution lists and phone networks.
• Develop and maintain an Association website, resource database and calendar of events.
• Distribute minutes of Association meetings to delegates, pastors and church clerks.
• Develop weekly prayer notices to be included in local church bulletins.
• Co-ordinate active prayer chain captains for emergency prayer requests.

1. Pastoral Care Team

• This Team shall consist of not less than three members.
• To deliberately connect and work closely with the churches and pastors of the Association. (This

will help determine where there are needs and where to focus the resources.)

• To develop a pastoral support team within the churches and to encourage its effectiveness if one

is in place.

• This team includes the delegates to Albert / Westmorland-Kent Chaplaincy.
• To encourage the building of relationships with pastors and lay leaders within the Association;

both collectively and individually. This could be accomplished through personal contacts or through mentoring, retreats, social events, etc.

• To teach congregations how to be understanding and sensitive to the needs of pastors, spouses and children.
• To develop resources that will provide practical help during crisis situations; i.e. multiple funerals,

pulpit replacement, conflict management, medical emergencies.

• To encourage growth in spiritual formation, education and training through seminars, extension courses and other helpful learning opportunities.
• To help pastors discover financial resources that may be available through CBAC, Universities, scholarships, etc.

1. G. Finance Team

• Team Leader – Association Treasurer
• This Team shall consist of not less than three members, one of whom will be appointed the Assistant Treasurer.
• To provide the banking & treasury functions for the Association.
• To provide any government reporting, as required, for the Association.
• To provide a financial report to committees on their activities at least once per fiscal period

comparing actual to planned activities.

• To prepare a written annual report that summarizes the last fiscal periods’ financial activities and

presents the next fiscal periods’ budget at the annual business meeting.

• As required, assist each committee in determining their financial budget for the next two fiscal

periods.

• To assist each committee in fund raising to meet their next two years financial budget.
• Any one of the Executive Director or Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer will be the Association’s

Signing Officers