What You May Not Know About Voting Membership

By Raul Rivera

A couple of weeks ago at one of our Ultimate Church Structure Conferences, I had the opportunity to speak with a pastor from a small town in the great state of Ohio. As this man began to share his heart with me, I could see in his eyes the fire and passion that he had both for God and the 80-member church that God had called him to pastor, which had been around for the past 60 years. He informed me that during the conference that day, I had been able to put into words what he had been feeling in his heart since he became pastor of the church 2 years earlier. He knew that his church had not been doing things the correct way, but when he expressed his concerns, he had been told, “That’s how things have always been done, so there is no need to change anything.” What was this pastor to do? He was convinced that any kind of audit on the church would not stand IRS scrutiny. Although he was ready to move forward and begin operating more compliantly, he told me there was one challenge; the members of his church had voted down his proposal.

When I asked him to explain what he meant, he began by telling me that he knew the church’s bylaws needed updating, and that although he was told that the church had been 501(c)(3) approved, he was not 100% sure it was true, since no one had any idea where the church’s federal determination letter was located. In addition, he felt a stirring in his heart that God was wanting the church to begin a CDC outreach ministry that would provide food to hundreds of needy families and school supplies each year for nearly 500 kids within the community. To me, it sounded like this pastor knew the exact steps that his church needed to take; a little confused, I asked him what seemed to be the challenge. That is when he informed me that he felt his hands were tied since the church’s current bylaws required the members to vote and approve his proposals, of which they were not in favor.

From one pastor to another

Before we go any further, I want to first make clear that this post is NOT intended to advocate one style of membership over the other. The point of this post is to simply inform you about the challenges that may exist for churches that operate with a voting membership rather than a non-voting membership. It is my firm belief that the more informed you are as a pastor, the better equipped you are to serve your church.

Oftentimes, when I speak with pastors at our conferences, they are ready to begin making changes to almost everything regarding how the church operates. Yet, I have to remind many of them that they “cannot change the world in one day.” In other words, I am telling them to simply take this one step at a time. Now, before we examine some of the challenges associated with voting memberships, let us first look at how to make sure that your church’s membership is established legally.

Establishing a membership for your church

The first step in creating a membership for your church is to include the proper language in your articles of incorporation and bylaws. In general, one of the biggest factors that affects membership is how voting privileges are established. Implementing a voting membership should be carefully considered because it can make a difference in the way in which your church operates.

Therefore, the articles of incorporation play an instrumental role in structuring the membership of your church. Since the articles of incorporation are your church’s legal foundation, it is imperative that the membership article matches and protects the vision for your church’s membership. It is also important to note that some states require membership language in the articles of incorporation, while others do not. At StartCHURCH, we recommend to all of our clients that they include a membership article within their articles of incorporation. This article simply reads something like, “This corporation shall have members. The eligibility, right, and obligations of the members will be determined by the organization’s bylaws.”

Once your articles of incorporation include the statement above regarding an official membership, you want to turn your attention to the constitution and bylaws. Within your church’s constitution and bylaws, you will need to include a membership article that states which type of membership you will have (voting or non-voting) and that the board of directors may create a membership program that details the requirements and procedures for dismissal. Next, let us analyze what we mean by voting membership and some of its positive attributes.

Voting memberships

Voting memberships can be established in several ways. One characteristic of a voting membership is that it allows church members to have the power to vote on who may serve as board members, deacons, elders, and pastors. Voting memberships not only grant the members voting privileges in the election of church leadership, but they also give the members the ability and legal authority to remove those who hold elected positions. Two positive attributes of voting memberships are as follows:

1. Voting memberships are often looked upon as a source of accountability to those in leadership positions. Accountability is critically important for anyone in a leadership position. The last thing anyone wants is for there to be some sort of scandal to take place at his or her church. Holding the pastor and anyone in a leadership position accountable is a good place to start to help ensure that a scandal does not happen.
2. Members of churches with voting memberships vote on all aspects of the budget. This includes missionary team funds, salaries, benevolence funds, and much more. In essence, all significant church matters are required to be presented to the members before any final decisions are made. This allows members of a church to be involved in the decision making process at the church that they are proud to call “home”.

The challenges of voting membership

There are three significant challenges to the voting membership model that should be considered: 1) voting memberships are more easily prone to member disputes; 2) voting memberships can also run into problems when church leaders make decisions for the church; and 3) establishing a quorum with a voting membership can be difficult. It is because of these three challenges that I prefer a non-voting membership over a voting membership. Let us briefly look at each of these.

1. Voting memberships are more easily prone to member disputes: Every church has its problems, and unfortunately those problems may cause a separation within the church. Disputes between members, or members and their church leaders, may become common regardless of whether a voting membership was established or not. However, a voting membership may experience more disputes simply because the church’s governing decisions are having to be made by a larger number of people with varying thoughts, ideas, and opinions.
2. Voting memberships can also run into problems when church leaders make decisions for the church: As previously mentioned, a voting membership typically requires that all matters, even trivial ones, come to the attention of the members. Such trivial matters may consist of small details regarding the budget, or the responsibilities of an elder, deacon, or pastor. This generally means that before any decision is made, all of the day-to-day actions of the church are required to be presented to the members. What most people do not realize is that this can potentially make individuals (such as a pastors, elders, and deacons) liable for the decisions that they have made. Therefore, no matter which type of membership you choose, you should be fully aware of your state’s laws and legal restrictions on how to define the aspects of the membership you desire.
3. Establishing a quorum with a voting membership can be difficult: This can prove to be burdensome to a church with a voting membership simply because Internal Revenue Code section 4958 requires a quorum (or majority) of voting members be present in order for any decision to be a legitimate or legally binding decision of the nonprofit corporation. Generally, a quorum will mean that at least 2/3 of voting members will need to be present in order for the meeting to even take place. Depending on the size of your church, this may not be an easy task to accomplish.

Conclusion

I was able to inform the pastor from Ohio that we could still help him and his church by amending their bylaws to include non-voting membership language. At that, a sense of relief came across his face. I spoke to the pastor late last week and he was glad to inform me that although it took several weeks, the church finally decided to approve the amended bylaws with the non-voting membership language that we had drafted for them.

Again, I want to mention that I am not advocating that one form of membership is better than the other. I believe that each church should operate in accordance with how God is leading them. I want to encourage you to join us at one of our Ultimate Church Structure Conferences where we discuss other strategic components to a non-voting membership in more detail.

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