Open Door Baptist Missions - Statement of Faith


	Beliefs

Constitution
Adopted 06/30/99

Article I - Name

The name of this mission shall be Open Door Baptist Missions.

Article II - Purpose

The purpose of this Mission shall be to serve as a medium through which fundamental, Baptist churches can channel personnel and funds in their implementation of our Lord's Great Commission. It is the Mission's desire to promote the work of Christ in regions that have little or no gospel witness by planting local churches, assisting with institutes and seminaries, developing youth ministries, disseminating Bibles and Christian literature, encouraging national pastors and Christian leaders and helping to train those who will be the leaders of the future.

Article III - Statement of Faith

We believe in the Holy Scriptures, accepting fully the writing of the Old and New Testaments as the very Word of God, verbally inspired in all parts in its original autographs, our infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice.

We believe there is one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe in the Deity of Christ; His virgin birth; His shed blood for atonement; His bodily resurrection; His ascension into Heaven there to be our Intercessor; His Lordship over all creation.

We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit. He convicts of sin; He executes the divine plan for our salvation; He indwells the believers, assuring them of Heaven and enabling them to live a Godly life.

We believe that man was created by God in His image. As the result of the fall, he is a sinner by nature and choice, sinful and lost, and has within himself no possible means of salvation without Christ.

We believe in Salvation by grace through faith; that salvation is the free gift of God, not by any virtue or works of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and that all true believers possess the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish.

We believe in the existence of Satan, the deceiver and god of this present world; that he was defeated and judged at the cross, and therefore his final doom is certain.

We believe that a New Testament Church is an organized body of born-again believers baptized by immersion, practicing the scriptural ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and actively engaged in fulfilling the Great Commission.

We believe that the spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven for eternal blessedness; that at His second coming their works will be judged and rewards determined; that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hell until the final day of judgement, at which time their bodies shall be raised from the grave, reunited with their spirits, judged and cast into the literal lake of fire, the place of final and everlasting punishment.

We believe in personal separation and ecclesiastical separation. We take a stand against Neo-Orthodoxy, New Evangelicalism, the ecumenical movement, the charismatic movement and any other movement undermining the fundamentals of the faith.

We believe in the second coming of Christ; the time being unrevealed but always imminent; that when He comes He will first by resurrection of the dead and the translation of the living remove from the earth His waiting Church; then pour out the righteous judgments of God upon the unbelieving world, afterwards descend with His Church and establish His glorious and literal kingdom over all the nations for a thousand years.

Article IV - Organization

SECTION 1.

The Board shall be comprised of the deacons and senior pastor of Morningside Baptist Church located in Greenville, South Carolina. The senior pastor shall be the chairman and preside at all Board meetings.

SECTION 2.

Administrative Staff:
(a) Director - The director shall be appointed by the board and shall oversee the day-to-day operation of the Mission. He shall supervise and coordinate the activities of the Mission and submit regular reports to the Board.
(b) Financial Administrator - The financial administrator shall be appointed by the Board and shall be responsible for the receipt, disbursement and accounting of all funds.
(c) Representatives - Mission representatives shall be appointed by the Board as needed. They shall represent and promote the Mission, its missionaries and ministries. They shall answer to the director.
(d) Other Administrative Staff - Other Administrative Staff positions may be created and staff appointed as the Board deems it necessary.
(e) All Administrative Staff shall be members of Morningside Baptist Church.

Article V - Meetings

SECTION 1.

Regular Meetings - The Board shall meet as needed for business, consultation with missionaries or examination of candidates. These meetings shall be in conjunction with scheduled deacons meetings of Morningside Baptist Church.

SECTION 2.

Special Meetings - In the case of a non-regularly scheduled Board meeting (a meeting not in conjunction with a scheduled Morningside Baptist Church deacons meeting) an attempt must be made to notify each Board member as to the time, date, place and general purpose of the meeting.

SECTION 3.

Quorum - Not less than one-half of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum at any meeting or session of a meeting, and no major item of business shall be transacted with less than that stated quorum.

Article VI-Finances

SECTION 1.

Designated Missionary Fund: All funds received for missionaries, specific fields, specific projects or general missionary work will be administered as follows:

(a) Receipts designated for the ministry and work of individual missionaries, specifically named fields or specific projects shall be the property of the Mission and will be disbursed under the direction and control of the Board for the support of the missionary or ministry indicated.

(b) Receipts designated for general missionary work shall be the property of the Mission and will be used under the direction of the Board with due consideration to any special interest expressed by the donor.

SECTION 2.

Emergency Reserve Fund: All receipts designated to this fund shall, by the direction of the Chairman and Administrative Staff, be used for any type of emergency expenditures where other funds are not available. These shall include emergency passage to and from the field; emergency surgical, medical and hospital expenses; emergency construction following natural catastrophes; and any other needs the Board considers emergency in nature. Whenever such expenditures are made they shall be considered as loans to be repaid as soon as possible. All disbursements so made and repayment are subject to review by the Board.

SECTION 3.

Unrestricted Fund: All receipts designated to Home Office expense and all contributions and receipts not specifically designated to one of the other funds shall be placed in the Unrestricted Fund. Expenses incident to the Home Office, promotion and other items of general expense, according to the budget approved by the Board, shall be paid from this fund.

SECTION 4.

The Treasurer's books shall be reviewed at least once a year by an independent accredited Certified Public Accountant approved by the Board.

SECTION 5.

It shall be the policy of the Mission to cooperate to the fullest extent with its supporting churches in helping them to evaluate the financial needs of the ministries conducted by their missionaries. All missionaries shall be required to cooperate with the Mission and supporting churches in all matters pertaining to finances.

Article VII - Missionaries

SECTION 1.

Each missionary, to be eligible for service under the Mission, must be a member in good standing of a Baptist (Baptistic in doctrine and practice) church.

SECTION 2.

Candidates shall come before the Board for oral examination only after their application papers have been examined and approved by the Administrative Staff and Chairman.

SECTION 3.

Each candidate's church of membership shall commission its missionary to the missionary ministry of that church under the Mission.

SECTION 4.

No missionary shall be permitted to proceed to the field until satisfactory evidence has been presented to the Director that the Lord has supplied sufficient equipment, support and passage.

SECTION 5.

Each missionary shall be responsible to the Board and shall be expected to respect and conform to the policies of the Mission as defined by the Board. A missionary may be dismissed by the Board at its discretion in the event of departure on his part from the doctrinal standard or the policies of the Mission or failure to perform his duties in a satisfactory manner. It is understood that the Board will not act arbitrarily but will first counsel the missionary and consult with the commissioning church.

Article VIII-Field Organizations

SECTION 1.

Career missionaries on their respective fields may organize and elect officers as necessary to meet government requirements and/or to represent ODBM and its missionaries to government entities.

SECTION 2.

Interested career missionaries on their respective fields may form subsidiary organizations to develop, promote and co-ordinate ministry projects (Bible Schools, Camps, Publishing Ministries, etc.). The statement of faith of each organization must not contradict the ODBM statement of faith and each organization must be in agreement with the ODBM policy on personal and ecclesiastical separation.

Article IX-Dissolution of Corporation

The Mission may be dissolved upon a simple majority vote of Morningside Baptist Church, Greenville S.C. Upon the dissolution of the Mission payment or provision for the payment of all liabilities shall be made out of existing funds. The remaining assets shall be the property of Morningside Baptist Church.

Article X-Irrevocable Dedication

The property of the Mission is irrevocably dedicated to charitable purposes, and no part of the net income or assets of the Mission shall inure to the benefit of private persons.

Article XI-Amendments

The Constitution may be altered or amended at any meeting by a majority vote of all of the Board members when at least three months written notice of the proposed amendment has been given. No amendment shall be permitted that will in any way alter the doctrinal position of the Mission as stated in this Constitution.

This page last Updated:
2006-09-04
JohnCLewis@odbm.org