‘26-’27 Update to Bylaws

Greetings Refuge Hill members,

The Leadership Team would like to share with you all something it has been working on and thinking about for a long time. The team recognizes that it has been operating primarily as an executive team, which is an important aspect of a nonprofit 501c3 (yes, we are a church family, but legally we're also a nonprofit). And it takes a lot of attention to keep things operational here.

But there are other aspects of church life that are important, such as vision, spiritual direction, and doctrine. As we've considered the best way forward, we believe that is to incorporate an elder team. 

 What this means is that the leadership team and the elder team will work in tandem with the leadership team focusing on the operational aspects of the church while the elders will join Chad focusing on vision, spiritual direction, and doctrine with overlaps and accountability for both teams. 

The qualifications of an elder are as set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9:

• being above reproach

• the husband of one wife (faithful, one-woman-man)

• temperate, self-controlled

• respectable, hospitable

• able to teach and defend doctrine

• not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money,

• manages his own household well.

To fully understand what the Leadership Team is proposing for this expanded leadership model, we have laid this out in the proposed bylaws update that all RH members will receive by email. We ask that you prayerfully read through them. Then, we will have open forums for members to meet with the Leadership Team and governance team before we take any action or vote. The updates are in BLUE font.

These open forums will happen after the gathering on Oct 4th and before and after the gathering on Oct 11th. 

We believe this is an important and healthy step for the church, and we covet your prayers in the process.