ARTICLE VI – Policies

(a) The Congregation holds the ultimate authority to establish the policies of Mayflower Church. The Congregation exercises that authority by setting the ends of the church’s policy, that is, the overarching results and standards the church intends, and the ends only. The Congregation does not specify the means and does not adopt or amend individual policies by congregational vote.

(b) The Congregation delegates to the Servants Council the making and operationalizing of specific policies, both their ends and their means, held in the Church Operations Plan. Within the framework of ends set by the Congregation, the Servants Council determines the specific ends and the means of each policy, and may adopt, amend, or rescind them, provided no policy is adopted or amended until it has first been approved by the Board of Elders, so that the doctrinal and biblical soundness of every policy remains under the oversight of the Elders.

(c) All policy of the Church is held in the Church Operations Plan. There is no separate category of Congregational Policy apart from the policies so held. A policy set out in the Church Operations Plan carries the same binding force and legal effect as a policy attached to these By-Laws; placement within the By-Laws is not required for a policy to bind. Where any conflict arises, the Articles of Organization control, then the Constitution and these By-Laws, then the policies held in the Church Operations Plan. No policy may amend, override, or decide any matter reserved to the Membership, including amendment of the Constitution or By-Laws, the calling or termination of the Pastor, the election or removal of officers or board members, the annual budget, the dissolution of the Church, or any sale, mortgage, or transfer of property requiring a vote of the Church, and any policy in conflict with a higher tier or with a reserved matter is void to the extent of the conflict.