First Baptist Orlando Bylaws

Bylaws Update – Summary of Changes
First Baptist Church of Orlando, Inc.
May 2019

First Baptist Orlando is administratively led by five lay leadership teams who serve together with our pastoral leadership to provide the overall leadership of the church. The lay leadership teams are: Church Leadership Team (CLT), Trustees, Budget Administration Team (BAT), Personnel, and Deacons.

Four of our leadership teams are administrative in nature and one, our Deacons, is ministry focused. The CLT is comprised of the chair of each of our leadership teams, plus 3 or 4 additional lay persons and three staff pastors, including our Senior Pastor. In keeping with the governance standards of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) our administrative teams are comprised of men and women from our church who are independent of the staff and serve consecutive 3-year terms.

Our bylaws are reviewed and updated regularly to best reflect the organizational practices of our church and the changing landscape of our culture and legal environment. Our last bylaws update was in 2010. Fifteen months ago, our Trustees created a sub-committee to review and revise our bylaws.

Our updated bylaws were unanimously approved by our Trustees and Church Leadership Team in February. They will be voted on at the beginning of our worship services on May 18 & 19, 2019, without discussion. A red-line copy of the bylaws is available by request or online at FirstOrlando.com/Bylaws.

Overview of Updates:

• Several changes are related to staff title changes or responsibility changes from Pastor of Administration to Senior Associate Pastor.
• To protect the church from legal challenges arising from religious liberty and facility use practices, we made changes recommended by the Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF). We have included our Statement of Faith and Membership Agreement and included the full text from the Baptist Faith and Message (2000), expressing the church’s core religious beliefs. Church membership requires consent to the Statement of Faith.
• Language related to our Deacons has been updated to best reflect their current purpose and function which is to assist the pastors in serving the people. We also reduced the minimum number of deacons required and aligned their requirements for service with Biblical wording.
• We’ve added integration of an already functioning Church/School Committee that serves as the church’s representative for the church’s oversight of The First Academy (TFA).

The updates listed below relate to removing some functions from the congregation in favor of placing that authority with one or more of our Leadership Teams. This change is following the advice of our legal counsel and independent auditors, and in keeping with best practices provided by ECFA. Larger churches are better served and protected by placing the most authority in smaller, independent, and well-informed leadership teams. All of our leadership teams are comprised of more lay members than staff members and all are independent, meaning the lay members do not have family or business relationships with executive staff.

• Updated language regarding our Leadership Teams’ selection and termination of a Senior Pastor, giving that authority to the Leadership Teams. Selection of the Senior Pastor still requires church vote, but in the rare and unfortunate situation requiring termination, no full church action is required. This allows for discretion as deemed necessary by the lay leaders of the church.
• Updates to the tenure length and rotation of Leadership Team members, providing for 3 successive 3-year terms. This is extended from 2 successive terms. This change will assist with continuity for our teams.
• Yearly budget approval is formally given by our leadership teams: Church Leadership Team (CLT), Trustees, Budget Administration Team (BAT) and Personnel Team. The church will be informed of the yearly budget but approval by vote will no longer be necessary.

For bylaw questions or to receive a red-line version, please contact Matthew Robinson, Pastor of Administration (MatthewRobinson@FirstOrlando.com, 407-514-4208) or Danny de Armas, Senior Associate Pastor (DannydeArmas@FirstOrlando.com, 407-514-4248).

Bylaws – Full Version – May 2019