MTNVW By-Laws

The current by-laws are from a previous era of Mountainview's history, last revised around 2013.  There were structures and language that we no longer use.   There was wording that, having not been a part of the previous process, we wanted to clear up, define, and expand on.   

The current by-laws are from a previous era of Mountainview's history, last revised around 2013.  There were structures and language that we no longer use.   There was wording that, having not been a part of the previous process, we wanted to clear up, define, and expand on.   

Church by-laws are the agreed-upon, legally binding, guidelines that define how a church is organized, governed, and operated. They provide clarity on important matters such as leadership roles, decision-making, membership, meetings, finances, and other key church processes. By-laws are important because they create consistency, accountability, and a clear framework for how the church functions, helping protect its mission, leadership, and congregation while promoting unity and good stewardship.

The elders have spent over 18 months working on Mountainview's by-laws.  We began working through our current by-laws, assessing what fit our current operations, what didn't, what was unclear to us, and what needed to be added or clarified.  We spent time studying and analyzing other trusted churches' by-laws, assessing and learning from their structures and languages, and reviewing "best practices" of church by-laws.  We spent time praying and hashing out different ideas as well as our leadership, organizational, and Biblical values.  We spent time in prayer seeking the Lord in His direction for Mountainview.  We compiled, edited, and revised the proposed by-laws with a conviction to seek what is best for Mountainview--not for what Mountainview once was, or where Mountainview currently is--but for Mountainview's best operation, growth, and future.  We then sent it to a lawyer who specializes in non-denominational, evangelical church by-laws, who gave their stamp of approval for its structure and legality.  They made a few small suggestions that we took and edited where we needed and added where we needed.  None of their suggestions changed the structure or the "heart" of the by-laws.  

Based on the current by-laws we had four major goals: 

1) Assess Everything:  Does the language of our current by-laws match our current and future operations?  Is the language clear?  What can/should be changed or added? 

2) Define Membership:  We wanted to update the language of what it means to be a "member" of Mountainview.  We wanted to clarify the difference between membership in the church "organism" vs membership in the church "organization" of Mountainview.  Scripture makes membership into the organism clear--we enter into and become the Church through faith in Jesus.  But what does it mean to be a member of Mountainview?  We distinguish a member of Mountainview as a "voting member" with such privileges and rights to vote on key initiatives within Mountainview.  

3) Clearly Define Roles and Responsibilities: Mountainview is defined as an "Elder Protected/Staff Led" church.  The elders protect Mountainview by overseeing its doctrine, the mission and vision, prayer, and stewardship oversight (budget, building, large capital expenses, accountability, discipline).  The elders entrust the staff and ministry leaders' oversight to the Lead Pastor.  And the elders entrust the day-to-day ministry operations and decisions to the ministry leaders who oversee them.  This has not changed.   We wanted to clearly define those roles, qualifications, responsibilities, and leadership structure of the organization of Mountainview.   This includes the roles of the voting members,  the elders, the lead pastor (as an elder and staff member), and ministry leaders and staff.  The goal for this was to ensure proper and smooth operations, where everyone clearly knows their role within the organization based on best practices within the church. 

4) Create Policies, Procedures, and Covenants:  Part of this process was to assess what details and actions went into the by-laws and what should go into a policies and procedures document.  By-laws are to be a "skeleton" document for an organization, giving the foundational structure that we will legally bind ourselves to follow.  Everything else we deemed operationally important, we placed into an Elder Policies and Procedures document that lays out the full operations and responsibilities of a lay elder and the lead pastor as an elder.   We also created an Elder Covenant, which lays out the way individual elders will commit to operate and abide by.  

Much of the content from the current by-laws is the same and carries over into the new.  But some of the changes we made are: 

1) Defining Membership:   The current by-laws required faith, repentance of sin, and baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.   We defined the Church as simply coming to faith in Jesus.  This is the deifinition is Scripture.  We removed the requirement for baptism and other theological concepts we felt would need to be defined.  We changed "voting rights" to a "voting member" to distinguish between a member of the organism of the Church and a member of Mountainview.  Where previously it was required for someone to sign a Membership Covenant (a practice that has not been followed in years), we moved to three simple, self-policed requirements.  A "voting member" must attend regularly, give financially, and serve in a ministry of Mountainview to enact voting rights on key initiatives such as: affirming the annual fiscal budget, elders, and changes in by-laws, etc.

2) Roles, Responsibilities, and Boundaries of Elders, Lead Pastor, and Ministry Leaders/Staff:  A) Qualifications of an elder were expanded beyond the 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 passages.  Cultural and organizational requirements were added--such as any proposed elder must meet the requirements of a voting member, plus fully align with the doctrinal statement, by-laws, as well as the mission and vision of Mountainview.  The created Elder Policies and Procedures clearly lay out the process for a proposed elder to be trained and vetted before being affirmed before the congregation.  The role and boundaries of the elder board have been added for clarity,  accountability, and knowledge of the congregation.  B) The role of the Lead Pastor was clarified.  Mountainview no longer has a "Pastoral Leadership Team" as designated in the current by-laws.  This was removed for the designation of "Lead Pastor and Executive Pastor (when applicable)".  The structure of responsibility for the hiring, oversight, and dismissal of staff was clarified.  In both the current and proposed by-laws, the responsibility of the hiring and firing of staff was given to the Lead and Executive Pastor (formerly called the Pastoral Leadership Team--which also consisted of other staff elders).   We clarified and changed the language of the Board of Elders needing to "affirm any decision to hire or dismiss any staff" to the Board of Elders being informed of any staffing issues, correction, and coaching long before, as well as any staff dismissals.  The process of dismissal and communication is clarified in the Elder Policies and Procedures.  The elders have direct oversight of the hiring, encouraging, and dismissal of the Lead and Executive Pastors (when applicable).  C) Ministry leadership/staff is defined as meeting the requirements of a deacon in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, as well as aligning with the doctrine, mission, and vision of Mountainview.  

3) Mountainview's Name:  Mountainview's organizational name registered with the State of Colorado is no longer Mountainview Community Christian Church.  It is now registered as Mountainview Christian Church.