PROCESS
The Acts 6 Project Process
The Acts 6 Project Organizational Document process is one that we have established over many years of working with churches all over the eastern half of the United States. While the process may vary slightly from church to church, it will usually include the following ten steps. We have found that this process is highly beneficial to our Partner churches. It gives you occasion to think through many issues that arise in the life of the church. Doing so as a part of a peaceful process will prepare your church to successfully navigate challenges that might otherwise bring serious harm. So, we encourage our Partner churches to lean into the process and let it yield its full benefit.
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We offer a free initial consultation for churches that are interested in the Acts 6 Project. Ideally, we like to review your existing organizational documents (Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, Policies) in advance. Usually, we meet via Zoom, but it is sometimes possible to meet in person. Just let us know which you prefer and we will do our best to work it out.
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After the initial consultation, it is time for you to decide whether the Acts 6 Project would benefit your church. If so, we offer two options: a monthly membership (which we call “Acts 6 Project Partnership”) or a fee-for-serve arrangement. Oftentimes, we will blend the two to provide the best value. Becoming a Partner allows you to establish an ongoing relationship with lawyers who understand the unique legal needs of churches as well as access to exclusive content. For more information about becoming an Acts 6 Project Partner, go to the Partner section of the website.
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Once you are engaged as a Partner, we will perform a thorough review of your existing documents and make recommendations for revising your organizational documents. We will present our recommendations through a confidential video that you can share with those who are involved in this process.
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As soon as you decide to move forward with the Acts 6 Project, we recommend that you form what we call a Drafting Team. This Team should be made up of the individuals who will participate in the document drafting process. Usually, it will include the pastor/minister and other leaders in your church. The size of the team should be between five and seven members and it should be fairly representative of the various ministries within your church.
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This is usually our longest and most involved meeting. A representative of the Acts 6 Project will meet with your Drafting Team (either in-person or virtually) to review our recommendations. We will also seek guidance from you about what to include in your documents. This meeting can sometimes last several hours. After this session (or sometime multiple sessions), we will prepare initial draft documents based on the decisions made at the meeting.
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Within a couple of weeks of the last meeting of the Drafting Team, we will share draft documents with you for review by the Team. That will begin a process of going back and forth with revisions (based on our recommendations and your feedback) until we are all satisfied that we have captured your intentions in the documents. We recommend that you refrain from distributing draft documents to anyone outside of the Drafting Team until we get to the presentation step.
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Once we are happy with the documents, we will present them to your church. Sometimes, the first presentation beyond the Drafting Team is to your key leaders and volunteers. At other times, we make this presentation to the entire congregation. Whenever possible, we like to make this presentation in person. This step is so important that we will try hard to arrange the meeting, even if it involves some expense for you and travel time for us. The congregational Q&A allows your members to interact directly with the Acts 6 Project drafting attorney and helps them focus on the Biblical and legal purpose of the engagement.
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After the congregational presentation, we recommend that your distribute copies of the draft documents to your members for closer review. We suggest providing the documents in electronic format, except for members who request hard copies (usually older members). The comment and review period should be at least 2 weeks and will sometime be followed by an additional Q&A.
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After the comment and review period ends, it is time to finalize the documents. Occasionally, there is a need to make additional revisions to the documents after the member Q&A. Once these revisions are made, the documents are ready to be presented for final approval. We recommend that this be done at a special called meeting of the members. Usually, it is unnecessary for us to attend the special meeting. We will guide you through that part of the process, including providing you with a model resolution to include in your records.
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After final approval, we will file the revised Articles of Incorporation with the appropriate state authority. At the same time, we will send you the final version of the bylaws for distribution to your members. We recommend that you treat your bylaws as a public document and that you make it readily available to anyone who asks for it. Some of our Partner churches make their bylaws available on the church website. Regardless of how you distribute the bylaws, we encourage you to use them as a tool to promote the threefold purpose of: 1) protecting sound doctrine; 2) promoting peaceful operation; and 3) preserving congregational unity.