CONSTITUTION
OF THE
WORLD COUNCIL OF
BIBLICAL CHURCHES

WHEREAS, it is the duty of all true churches of the Lord Jesus Christ to make a clear testimony to their faith in Him, especially in these darkening days of apostasy in many professing churches, by which individual churches have been swept into a paganizing stream of modernism under various names and in varying degrees; and

WHEREAS, there has been a notable growth of autocratic domination on the part especially of modernistic church leaders by whom the rightful powers of true churches are often usurped; and

WHEREAS, the commands of God to His people to be separate from all unbelief and corruption are clear and positive; and also

WHEREAS, we believe the times demand the formation of an agency for fellowship, cooperation and encouragement on the part of Bible-believing churches, for the maintenance of a testimony pure and steadfast to the great fundamental truths of the Word of God as held by the historic Christian Church through the centuries, for the purposes which can better be done in cooperation than separately, and to facilitate the discharge of the obligations which are inherent in the Commission of Christ to His Church,

THEREFORE, the constituent denominations, being Christian Fundamentalists forming this Council, do now establish it as an agency, without compromise or evasion, unreservedly, dedicated as a witness to "the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).

The name of this organization shall be the World Council of Biblical Churches, hereafter referred to as the Council.

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

Among other equally Biblical truths, we believe and maintain the following:

1. The plenary divine inspiration of the Scriptures in the original languages, their consequent inerrancy and infallibility, and--being the Word of God--the supreme and final authority in faith and life;
2. The Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
3. The essential, absolute, eternal deity and the real and proper, but sinless, humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ;
4. The Virgin Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ;
5. His substitutionary, expiatory death, in that He gave His life "a ransom for many";
6. His resurrection from among the dead in the same body in which He was crucified, and His second coming in power and great glory;
7. The total depravity of man through the Fall;
8. Salvation--the effect of regeneration by the Spirit and the Word--not by works nor by virtue of baptism or any other rite or ritual of the Church, but by grace through faith in Christ Jesus;
9. The everlasting bliss of the saved, and the everlasting suffering of the lost in Hell;
10. The real spiritual unity in Christ of all those redeemed by His precious blood;
11. The necessity of maintaining, according to the Word of Cod, the purity of the Church in doctrine and life;
12. The cessation of apostolic/sign gifts with the completion of the canon of Scripture;
13. The duty of a pure and separated church to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" and militantly oppose Romanism, Ecumenism, Materialism, Communism, and every other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.
    
    

MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. Constituent Members

Constituent membership in the Council shall be open to all those denominations and associations of Bible-believing churches the world over which, by official action, approve and accept the preamble and the doctrinal statement of the Constitution. No denomination, association of churches, Bible-believing society, or individual churches affiliated with. or represented in any manner by, the World Council of Churches (WCC) or any of its affiliates the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF or any of its affiliates, the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC) or any of its affiliates, the modern Charismatic Movement, or the Ecumenical Movement shall be considered for membership In the Council.

Applications when received shall be acted upon by the Council itself or by any committee to which the Council may delegate this power. All actions of such a committee are subject to review. When voting upon applications, a two-thirds majority vote shall be necessary for admission.

Section 2. Consultative Members

Individual churches and particular churches or any church belonging to a denomination associated with or represented in any manner by the World Council of Churches (WCC) or any of its affiliates, the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) or any of its affiliates, the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC) or any of its affiliates, the modern Charismatic Movement. or the Ecumenical Movement, which approve and accept the Preamble and Doctrinal Statement of the Council and shall be received by an organized regional association of independent churches of the WCBC shall have the privilege of representation and vote.

Section 3. Members at Large

Council members at large will be seated who are representatives of schools, mission boards, evangelistic associations, publications, and/or any other fundamentalist organizations.

Section 4. Membership Application

Application for membership must be made through the regional council, when such exists, or--in the absence of a regional council--directly to the Council. In the latter case approved applicants will become regional councils.

Section 5. Careful Acceptance of Members

The Council through its Credentials Committee, shall make careful investigation of the doctrinal standards and spiritual condition of every body applying for membership. Every applicant for membership shall furnish its confessional statements and also statistics of the number of its churches, of its clergy, and of its lay membership. Upon recommendation of this Credentials Committee these applicants shall be considered for membership.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Section 1.

The Executive Committee shall include two members from each constituent body. Upon approval of the Executive Committee, members at large will be seated who are representatives of schools, mission boards, evangelistic associations, publications, and any other fundamentalist organizations. Members at large shall be limited to no more than one-third of the number of constituent members on the Executive Committee. No one shall serve on the Executive Committee without first becoming a member of the World Council of Biblical Churches.

A duly elected member representative from each country covered by the regional and not represented by the regional chairman shall be part of the Executive Committee.

Section 2. Executive Offices

The executive offices of the Council shall be: Chairman, Vice Chairman, General Secretary, Recording Secretary and Assistant, Treasurer and Assistant and the president or chairman of each member regional. Elections will be held will held annually, either in executive meetings held in conjunction with a regional congress or in a world-wide congress. Due notice of all meetings where business is conducted shall be sent to all Executive Committee members at least 45 days in advance of the meeting. Full, accurate minutes of the meeting shall be sent within one month of the convening date of the meeting.

The Council Chairman shall not succeed himself in office for more than three one-year terms. He shall again be eligible for office after not holding the office for at least one year.

The Executive Committee shall have the power to conduct ad interim business of the Council, subject to examination and approval by the next called meeting of the Council.

Section 3. Voting

Voting at meetings is extended to constituent and consultative members on a representative basis. Each body shall be entitled to send up to ten delegates. Those churches not part of a representative body shall have no more than one vote. Others may attend as observers. Delegates shall present proper credentials from a responsible officer of the body they represent, which credentials shall be submitted to the Credentials Committee. Both ministers and laymen are encouraged to serve. Alternate delegates may be chosen by participating bodies.

Section 4. Committees and Commissions

Commissions and committees shall be appointed by the Council, or by the Executive Committee, as shall be necessary from time to time. Commissions and committees shall report to congresses, as the Executive Committee may direct. All members of committees shall be members of constituent or consultative bodies belonging to the Council.

A Credentials Committee of no more than twelve (12) made up of an equal number of Executive Committee members and non-Executive Committee members, elected annually, shall examine applications, credentials, and procedural matters properly brought before it. The Credentials Committee shall report to the Executive Committee operating as an independent examining committee in matters properly referred to it, and such reports are to be embodied in reports and recommendations brought before the Council through the Executive Committee.

Section 5. Quorum

A simple majority of the officers and members of the Executive Committee constitutes a quorum.

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section 1. Nominations

The Executive Committee, or a committee chosen by the same, shall present nominations to a Council meeting, following which nominations from the floor shall be in order.

Section 2. Elections

Elections in a Council meeting shall be held near the conclusion of the sessions, officers and committees taking office immediately at the close of the Council meeting. They shall hold office until the conclusion of the following Council meeting.

Functions Of The Council

 

World-wide congresses, regional congresses and executive meetings shall be held and shall be considered to be representative meetings of the Council. The functions of the Council shall be:

1. To promote a world-wide fellowship of Bible-believing churches and people for mutual encouragement and help in the things of the Lord;

2. To encourage all member bodies to foster a loyal and aggressive revival of Bible Christianity over all the world

3. To seek to awaken Christians everywhere to the insidious dangers of modernism and call them to unity of mind and effort against all unbelief and compromise with Modernism, Romanism cults, New Evangelicalism. or the Charismatic Movement, in the hope that-with the blessing of God-this effort may result in a genuine spiritual reformation;

4. To undertake to do for the bodies belonging to the Council the things which they can better do in cooperation than by themselves.

5. To maintain and defend by every proper means the rights of the member bodies and associated bodies against external interference with their liberty to fulfill their God-given calling;

6. To arouse other Christian churches throughout the world to participate in the Council;

7. To acquaint governments and the public at large with the fact that the Council alone represents its member bodies in the matters which have been delegated to it by them and that no other Council has any right to claim to be the voice of these bodies.;

8. To seek by every proper means to facilitate the missionary work of member bodies;

9. To encourage all members of the Council to promote on every continent, as God enables, an educational system for all ages that shall have the Bible as its basis, to the end that education may again become the handmaid of the Church rather than a foe to the whole Christian conception of God and the world;

10. To encourage the members of the Council to promote the use of such Christian literature as shall be found in harmony with the Word of God and the doctrinal statement of the World Council of Biblical Churches.

11. To advance steadfastly the Christian mode of life in society at large in the hope that we may be able to retard the progress of atheistic and pagan ideologies under any name, of loose morality and of godlessness, which have become such alarming threats to the Christian life in our times.

AUTHORITY OF THE COUNCIL

1. The Council shall have no authority to act for any member in any matter that has not been delegated to the Council by that body. It may, however, offer counsel and advice to members and suggest oppportut'ties for  action in matters of common interest. The Council does not seek organic union of its member bodies nor will it trespass in any way upon their autonomy.

2. The Council may act on matters committed to it by any of its member bodies within the scope of its purpose.

3. The Council and its Executive Committee shall have power to call world and regional conferences on any subject or occasion which in the judgment of either is deemed sufficiently important to warrant such a conference.

4. The Council and the Executive Committee shall have the right to dismiss any constituent or consultative body for proved cause. In case any question should arise as to the fitness of any body belonging to the Council, a Council meeting-on its own initiative or by request of any two constituent members~may cite such body to appear before the Council, and if the charges are proved. such member shall be dismissed. A two-thirds majority shall be necessary for such dismissal.

ACCOUNTABILITY

1. Accountability of the Council to perpetuate its Biblical witness as envisioned by its founders and as set forth in this Constitution shall be zealously maintained by its Executive and Credentials Committees.

2. The Credentials Committee shall act as a balance to the Executive Committee to examine credentials, to inspect applications, and to monitor procedural matters properly brought before it. The committee shall make reports to the Executive Committee, and its findings are to be made part of reports and recommendations made to the Council.

FINANCIAL INTEGRITY

There shall be a Finance Committee, which shall function in cooperation with the treasurer and his assistant and other officers of the Council. Full and complete certified audits shall be made of the books of the Council. The committee shall be responsible for full financial disclosure.

The World Council of Biblical Churches shall look to God to supply financial support of its work on a wholly voluntary basis, especially through its cooperating bodies.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

Amendments to this Constitution may be made by any Council meeting or by the Executive Committee. If by the Council in a regular meeting it shall be by no less than a two-thirds vote; if by the Executive Committee, the amendment must be submitted to all constituent and consultative bodies, and if no objection is made by any such body within a year, the amendment shall go into effect.

BY- LAWS

By-laws may be adopted by the World Council of Biblical Churches meeting as a council or by its Executive Committee as occasion may require. The By-laws may be amended by a majority vote of the Council or by a two-thirds vote of Executive Committee members present. In the latter case, the amendment shall go into effect ad interim but must be submitted for approval to the next Council meeting.

The following committees are recommended to be elected: executive, credentials, nominations finance.

The following commissions are recommended to be elected. evangelism education, information and publicity. missions archaeology and research relief, international affairs, youth. radio-video-film and others as they are necessary.