“…a wise man’s heart discerneth time and judgment…” Ecclesiastes 8:5

1.1. Name: Rockland Baptist Church

1.2. Address: 5132 Elkhorn Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95842

1.3. Website: http://rocklandchurch.com

2.2. Scripture - the canonical Bible, Doctrinal Statement and Church Statute comprise the foundation for faith and Church activity.

2.3. The Church has its own symbols, seal, stamps, letterhead, savings account and corporate bank account.

3.1. Church goals: worship of the one God in three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, preaching the Gospel, spiritual growth of the church members, acts of mercy and charity.

3.2. Local Church may cooperate and have spiritual communications with other evangelical churches all over the world. It has the right to join any like-minded church association, as well as to withdraw from an association on the resolution of Church Members Meeting. This Church is not involved in the ecumenical movement.

3.3. The Church can carry out the following activities in order to achieve its goals:

а) hold church services, baptize converts, organize conferences, evangelizations and other public events, that comply with church goals and laws of the state of California;

b) establish religious, missionary, educational and charitable organizations and associations;

c) perform works of mercy and acts of charity;

d) publish and distribute spiritual literature;

e) arrange Sunday School classes and Bible Study groups for students of all ages;

f) organize leisure activities for youth, teenagers and children;

g) use the media and establish television and radio studios;

h) conduct spiritual instructive and disciplinary meetings for church members.

3.4. The local Church can have missionaries, evangelists and other ministers who serve within the US and abroad. The Church trains them, assigns for the ministry and supports their activities. The nominees for financial support are chosen and approved by the Church Council. They are subsequently introduced to the Church during Church Members Meeting.

4.1. To become a church member a person must repent, must be revived and baptized according to his/her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, must accept the doctrine and the Church Statute.

4.2. Affiliation is carried out on the basis of an application and decision of the Church Members Meeting. Submission of written testimony from the former church or oral testimony from church members of that local church is preferable. Regardless of the previous ministry, each person who submits the application is accepted on a non-preferential basis.

4.3. Each member of the local Church has the right to withdraw from it and to join another church, having received a written testimony on his/her membership status. Withdrawal from membership is accomplished upon the application.

4.4. The following personas are not allowed to be among members of this church: liars, slanderers, drunkards, drug addicts, gamblers, tobacco users, those engaged in fornication, adultery and licentiousness, homosexuals, lesbians, fortune tellers, diviners, the evildoers who are engaged in spiritualism and similar activities, defined by the Bible as a sin; as well as those who support the above mentioned individuals and propagate their way of life and their symbols.

4.5. Church disciplinary measures: exhortation, correction, reprimand, excommunication. A church member who violates the teachings of Jesus Christ, or who does not attend church services for a long time and does not participate in the Lord's Supper for no good reason, must be subject to exhortation followed by church disciplinary measures.

Reconsideration of church disciplinary measure is performed at the Church Members Meeting provided that the a person in question repents and church members give witness that he/she reformed.

4.6. Family is the main place of Christian upbringing of children. Parents are responsible for the moral, physical and financial state of minor children. The methods of upbringing and discipline must comply with the Bible teachings.

5.1. The Church is separated from the State.

5.2. The general Church Members Meeting is the highest management body of the Church. The meeting is considered to be valid, if at least two thirds of the total number of church members are present. Structural arrangement and reorganization are internal matters of the church.

5.3. Church Members Meetings are called on an as-needed basis, but at least once a year; ecclesiastical meetings are called when needed. Annual meeting held to hear reports and elect new ministers takes place in the beginning of each year and decisions are considered to be valid if 50% + 1 person from church members list are present.

5.4. In order to elect Pastor in charge, or to deal with purchase or sale of church premises, two thirds of affirmative votes out of total number of people present at a Church Members Meeting is required. For the election of the Chairman of the Church Council, and other ministers, for introduction of amendments and additions to the existing Statute, as well as for solving business and economic issues, two thirds of affirmative votes out of total number of people present at a Church Members Meeting is required.

5.5. At the Annual meeting held to hear reports and elect new ministers, the current ministers report on the work done. Church members approve or re-elect a new Church Council by voting. Pastor in charge is elected for five years. The Administrator, Secretary and Provisor are approved or re-elected individually each year, the rest of the Church Council members – general ticket or individually, – by decision of the Church Members Meeting.

5.6. Every member of the Church has the right to elect and be elected to any ministry in accordance with Biblical requirements and the dogma of the Church.

5.7. The Pastor in charge is the spiritual guardian of the Church. He entrusts and distributes the ministries among the servants of the Church. In his absence and, in appropriate cases, the Pastor in charge entrusts holding of services to other elected ordained ministers. He represents the Church in spiritual matters before the State organizations and other organizations.

5.8. The Pastoral Council is responsible for the spiritual condition and for the ministries of the Church. It proposes goals and tasks for discussion and approval at the Church Council Meeting and then at Church Members Meeting. Pastors are obliged to visit members of the local Church in order to assist in solving their spiritual, personal and other needs.

5.9. The Council of the Church is a team of ordained ministers elected at the Annual meeting held to hear reports and elect new ministers. The Council is headed by the Chairman. It can also include non-ordained workers elected to perform the necessary spiritual or administrative work.

5.10. The Church Council is the executive unit of the Church; it has the authority to coordinate and carry out all kinds of ministries and Church activities determined by the Membership Council. The Chairman of the Church Council is an ordained minister. In case of non-compliance and non-fulfillment of the assigned spiritual or financial and economic responsibilities by the designated persons, the Church Council can withdraw them from the performance of these duties by two thirds of the Church Council votes until the decision of the Church Members Meeting.

5.11. The Secretary keeps records of the decisions of all the Church Members Meetings as well as the Meetings of the Church Council; prepares the minutes, keeps records of the members of the Church and is responsible for the Church documentation and mail.

5.12. The accounting of receipts and expenditures of raised funds is performed by the Financial Department, which includes the Provisor, Accountant, Cashier(s) and selected volunteers who follow duty regulations. Provisor is in charge of reporting financial transactions to the Church and State tax organizations. 

5.13. Items of expenditures are offered by the Church Council and are approved at the Church Members Meeting. Current expenses are made on the basis of an abstract of Church Council decision signed by the Secretary, the Chairman of the Council and the Provisor. A written financial report is submitted to the Church at the Annual meeting held to hear reports and elect new ministers. It is subject to verification and signing by an Inspection Committee. 

5.14. The Inspection Committee includes 3 to 5 people and is elected at the Annual Church Members Meeting. It is intended to inspect the financial and economic activities of the Material and Financial Department during the year. The Inspection Committee does not depend on the leadership in its activities and reports to the Church Members Meeting.

5.15. Trustees are elected at the Annual Church Members Meeting for a period of three years. One of the Trustees is reelected annually.

5.16. A Nomination Committee is elected by the Church Council. It includes five members of the Church who are not members of the Church Council. The duties of the Nomination Committee include the following: throughout the year they look for candidates for Church ministries for the next calendar year; they recommend and submit the candidates to the Church Council for consideration two months prior to the Annual Church Members Meeting.

6.1. The funds of the Church are formed from voluntary donations, member's contributions, donations and bequeathing of citizens, charitable contributions from the enterprises and organizations, income from movable and real property of the Church and other donations.

6.2. The Church can have special funds: missionary, charitable, youth, women, pension, funeral, construction and others.

6.3. The Church has the right to have property in land, buildings, transport and other movable and real property. It can buy, sell, lease or rent the movable and real property necessary for the ministry of the Church.

The Church can open bank accounts on the territory of California and beyond.

6.4. No church member or group of former church members have the right to claim a share of the movable or real property of this Church.

7.1.1. This Church Statute may be amended or supplemented, if necessary, at Church Members Meeting with subsequent re-registration in State agencies.

7.1.2. If faced with the dissolution of this Church, its debts will be paid down at the cost of sale of the property. Church property and possessions cannot be divided among the members of the Church or other persons, but it will be delivered into possession to other equal non-profit organizations. This complies with the letter and spirit of the principles of faith professed by this Church and with the requirements of the US Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (Section 501(C) (1).