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 Council 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 Council 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 – Officers

The Association Executive Team 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 V – Duties of the Officers:

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 Leader – 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)

ARTICLE VI – Times of Association Meetings/Fiscal Period

1. Association Council – 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. 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 will evaluate the effectiveness of the previous year.
4. The Executive Team 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 VII – 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 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, 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 VII.1 and VII.5 above, does not produce any suitable replacement candidates, the Nominating Team can override Articles VII.1 and VII.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 VIII – Process to Amend Constitution

This constitution may be altered, amended or cancelled at any Association Council 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 IX – Quorum

 A quorum for the transaction of business at a duly called business meeting shall consist of not less than twenty (20) Delegates representing not less than eight Member Churches.

ARTICLE X – 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)