Constitution: Annapolis-Digby Baptist Association Adopted May 30, 2009 at Annapolis Royal, NS
Article I: Name
This body shall be known as the Annapolis-Digby Baptist Association serving Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches in the geographic areas covered by the counties of Annapolis and Digby in the province of Nova Scotia.
Article II: Members
All churches already members of the Association, and those Baptist churches in future received into this continuing Association upon written application, and by a two thirds majority vote of the member churches, followed by a service of recognition, shall be members of the Annapolis-Digby Baptist Association.
Article III: Doctrine
The Doctrinal Beliefs of this Association shall be those of the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches as expressed in the Basis of Union of 1905-1906.
Article IV: Object
The object of this Association is to promote the work of Christ’s Kingdom within the Association, in harmony with the CABC, including the promotion of fellowship, unity, spiritual development, growth among the churches comprising the Association, reaching out to meet the needs of the communities within the area, and supporting the denomination in its missionary and educational work at home and overseas.
Article V: Structure
1. There will be four components to the structure of the Association: Association Churches, Council, Executive, and Working Groups.
A. Association: Membership in the Association is defined in Article 2. The Association delegates authority to the Association Council to carry out the activities of the Association. When it is necessary for the Association to vote on an issue, it can be done at a meeting of the full Association, electronically or by mail. Notice of such votes will be communicated 30 days in advance. For an Association vote to be valid, at least 51 percent of the Association churches must participate in the vote. Each member church will have one vote on any issue.
Association will generally meet once a year as a body for fellowship, worship, education or some combination of these.
Cluster groups within the Association will be encouraged to meet at least once a year to deal with local concerns.
B. Council: The Council is made up of all pastors of member churches and one delegate from each member church. Pastors who are not accredited by CABC and who are not in the accreditation process are members without vote.
The Council will be primarily a forum for leadership to discuss issues of concern for Association churches with a focus on developing new vision and ways of helping member churches. Council will discuss topics such as fellowship among the churches, education, relationships with other Baptist bodies, ways to discover the needs and views of member churches but will not be limited to this list of topics.
Council will normally meet twice a year, in March and September if possible. Other meetings may be arranged as appropriate by the Council or the Executive. A quorum for Council meetings will be 11 members. If a quorum is not present, Council may still continue with discussion but may not vote.
C. Executive: Council will elect from its members an executive committee consisting of a moderator, a clerk, a treasurer, and two members at large. The Association webmaster will also be a member of the Executive. Members of the Executive will be elected for one year and will be eligible for re-election twice, after which they be ineligible for election to the Executive for one year, except in the case of the treasurer and webmaster who may not follow this pattern.
D. Working Groups will carry out the activities of Council. Working groups will:
• Be approved by Council • Have the power to add to their number • Be responsible to the Executive between Council meetings • Report briefly to each Council meeting • Only be approved with a specific purpose and time frame • Be assigned a budget by Council if necessary • Be encouraged to do business by electronic means as much as possible to cut down on travel costs.
Article VI: Association Representatives
1. The Council will appoint the following representatives in accordance with the regulations of the particular organization:
A. Convention Examining Council representatives B. Camp Kingswood Committee members C. Region II and V Representatives D. Any others that may become necessary
2. The Council will annually appoint a Licensing committee of three members who may be re-appointed twice but who are then ineligible for one year.
3. Representatives for Ordinations and Inductions. Council will draw up a list of people willing to represent the Association at ordinations, inductions, and other special events.
Article VII: Membership
Membership in the Annapolis-Digby Baptist Association shall consist of Baptist Churches in the counties of Annapolis and Digby in the province of Nova Scotia and/or churches in adjacent areas accepted and already members of the Association, or in future received into this continuing Association.
(a) Any church may be received into membership of this Association after having given written application, and by a two-thirds majority vote of the delegates at a regularly called meeting. Such acceptance shall be followed by a Service of Recognition.
(b) The Association may dissolve its connection with any church, which, after proper examination, shall be judged by the Association to have departed from the Baptist faith and practice.
Article VIII
This Constitution may be altered or amended by a two-thirds majority vote of the Association Churches voting according to Article 5-1-A, provided notice of such intended alteration or amendment has been given to all churches at least 30 days before the scheduled vote.