C. Local Church Witness and Membership

C. Witness and Membership

1. Church Secretary

830. The local church conference, at its annual session, shall elect by ballot, from among its members who meet the leadership qualifications (260-268; 558), a church secretary (820-823), to serve for one year or until a successor is elected. The church secretary shall be an ex officio member of the local board of administration (775). General regulations covering this office are given in 815. The duties and powers of the local church secretary shall be to:

(1) Record correctly and to preserve faithfully the minutes of all sessions of the local church conference and the local board of administration.

(2) Maintain the local church’s record of membership, record of baptisms, marriages, and pastoral terms, and other information essential to a permanent written record of the life and ministry of the church (610).

(3) Issue, in conjunction with the pastor, all letters of transfer, recommendation, and withdrawal (575; 590-592; 6000-6040); and to sign, in conjunction with the pastor (725:26), licenses for lay ministers granted by the local church conference (655:7; 782:18).

(4) Send to the district secretary a certified list of lay delegates to the district conference duly elected by the local church conference, immediately upon their election, and subsequently to certify an alternate delegate (965; 1100-1109).

(5) Have custody of all records, and take whatever steps are necessary to preserve them and other historical records and materials, as directed by the pastor and the local board of administration.

2. Lay Leader

833. The local church conference, at its annual session, may elect by ballot, from among its members who meet the leadership qualifications (260-268; 558) a lay leader (cf. 820–823), who shall serve for one year or until a successor is elected, and whose function shall be to assist the pastor in such manner as the pastor shall recommend and the local church conference shall approve. General regulations concerning this office are given in 815. The duties of the lay leader may include any or all of the following: member ex officio of the local board of administration (752), leader under the pastor’s direction of church prayer meetings or of small groups, classes or neighborhood prayer cells for the deepening of spiritual life and home evangelism.

3. Committee on Witness and Membership

835. The local board of administration may establish a committee on witness and membership, composed of the pastor, the vice-chair of the local board of administration, the local church secretary, the lay leader (if any), and such other members as the local board of administration shall elect. The local board of administration shall name a board member as chair of the committee, and the committee shall choose its own vice-chair and secretary. General regulations governing membership on this committee are given in 825.

837. The local board of administration shall assign such duties to the committee on witness and membership as it deems best, including any or all of the following:

(1) To conduct the examination of candidates for membership; to counsel with members concerning any failure to observe the Membership Commitments (265); to have initial responsibility in the annual revision of the membership roll; to assist the pastor in any attempts to restore members who have ceased to attend or support the church; and to make recommendations concerning all these matters to the local board of administration in accordance with the principles of Christian discipline (268; 782:8-13).

(2) To make recommendations to the local board of administration concerning revivals and other evangelistic efforts.

(3) To alert the local church to its responsibilities in the area of community social and political reform, recommending courses of action it deems necessary to the local board of administration (cf. 410).

(4) To nominate, for election by the local board of administration, such standing or special subcommittees as the local board of administration shall approve, with a member of the committee as chair of each.