Constitution

Preamble

We, the undersigned, moved by conscience and bound to one another by a shared faith, do hereby associate ourselves as a church and religious society, to gather regularly for worship, contemplation, teaching, and service, and we adopt this Constitution as the foundational law of that society.

Article I — Name and Nature

Section 1. Name. The name of this society is Spiritual Results (the "Church").

Section 2. Nature. The Church is a church and religious society organized and existing as an unincorporated religious association under the common law and the laws of the State of [Arizona]. It is not a corporation, partnership, business trust, or commercial enterprise. It is an association of persons who share the faith set out in the Statement of Faith and who assemble regularly to practice it.

Section 3. Independence. The Church is self-governing. It is not affiliated with, controlled by, or accountable to any denomination, convention, or other ecclesiastical body. Its ministers may hold ordination from other bodies, but such ordination confers no authority of those bodies over the Church.

Section 4. Duration. The Church shall exist perpetually unless dissolved under Article XI.

Article II — Purposes

Section 1. Religious purposes. The Church is organized and shall be operated exclusively for religious purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (or the corresponding provision of any future federal tax law), including:

1. To gather regularly as a congregation for worship, prayer, contemplation, and the celebration of sacred rites;
2. To teach the faith set out in the Statement of Faith and to study the wisdom traditions of humanity in its light;
3. To ordain, license, and commission ministers, and to prescribe the course of study and formation required of them;
4. To solemnize marriages, conduct memorials, dedications, blessings, and other rites;
5. To care for its members and for others through works of mercy and service;
6. To publish literature, teaching, and records of the Church's faith and practice;
7. To acquire, hold, and use property for the foregoing purposes.

Section 2. Limitations. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution:

1. No part of the net earnings of the Church shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to, its members, ministers, elders, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the Church may pay reasonable compensation for services actually rendered and make payments and distributions in furtherance of its religious purposes.
2. No substantial part of the activities of the Church shall consist of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation.
3. The Church shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements), any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
4. The Church shall not carry on any activity not permitted to be carried on by an organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or by an organization contributions to which are deductible under Section 170(c)(2) of that Code.

Section 3. Status as a church. The Church is a church described in Sections 170(b)(1)(A)(i), 508(c)(1)(A), and 6033(a)(3)(A)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code. The elders shall keep the Church's practice consistent with that status.

Article III — Statement of Faith

The Statement of Faith adopted with this Constitution states the beliefs of the Church. It is incorporated in this Constitution by reference. Every member, minister, elder, trustee, and officer affirms it as a condition of membership or office. It may be amended only under Article X.

Article IV — Membership

Section 1. A private religious society. The Church is a private association. Its gatherings, rites, pastoral care, and internal affairs are for its members and for guests they invite. Membership is a privilege, not a right, and is granted by the Council of Elders.

Section 2. Qualifications. Any person who (a) affirms the Statement of Faith, (b) signs the Membership Covenant, (c) is at least eighteen years of age or is the minor child of a member, and (d) is received by the Council of Elders, is a member.

Section 3. Classes. The Bylaws may establish classes of membership (for example, covenant members with voting rights and fellowship members without), and the rights of each.

Section 4. Discipline and removal. Members are subject to the discipline of the Church as set out in the Bylaws. The Council of Elders may suspend or remove any member, for cause or for the peace of the Church, by a two-thirds vote after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Ecclesiastical decisions of the Council are final and are not reviewable by any civil authority.

Section 5. Withdrawal. Any member may withdraw at any time by written notice to the Clerk.

Section 6. No property interest. Membership confers no ownership interest in, and no right to a distribution of, any property of the Church.

Article V — Government

Section 1. Form. The Church is governed by a Council of Elders (the "Council"), which holds all ecclesiastical, governing, and fiduciary authority of the Church, subject to this Constitution and the Bylaws.

Section 2. Number and independence. The Council shall consist of not fewer than three elders. At all times a majority of the elders shall be persons who (a) are not related by blood, marriage, or domestic partnership to any other elder or to the Presiding Minister, and (b) receive no compensation from the Church. No compensated person may vote on his or her own compensation or on any transaction in which he or she has a personal interest.

Section 3. Election and term. Elders are elected by the covenant members from among the members, in the manner and for the terms set out in the Bylaws. The founding elders are named in the organizational minutes.

Section 4. Powers. The Council shall, among other things: guard the faith and doctrine of the Church; receive and discipline members; ordain, license, commission, and remove ministers; call and remove the Presiding Minister; adopt the annual budget; fix compensation under the Bylaws; appoint trustees; and adopt policies for the conduct of the Church's affairs.

Section 5. Officers. The officers of the Church are the Presiding Minister, the Clerk, and the Treasurer, and such other officers as the Bylaws provide. The Presiding Minister presides over worship and the spiritual life of the Church. The Clerk keeps the records. The Treasurer keeps the accounts. No single person may hold the offices of Presiding Minister and Treasurer at the same time.

Article VI — Ministers

Section 1. Orders. The Church recognizes three orders of ministry: licensed (authorized to teach and lead worship under supervision), commissioned (authorized for a specific ministry), and ordained (authorized to perform all rites of the Church, including the solemnization of marriage).

Section 2. Formation. No person shall be ordained by the Church without completing the course of study and formation prescribed by the Council under the Bylaws, and without the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Council.

Section 3. Ministers of the gospel. Ministers ordained, licensed, or commissioned by the Church, who perform sacerdotal functions, conduct worship, or administer the affairs of the Church, are ministers of the gospel of the Church for all purposes.

Article VII — Property

Section 1. Title. Because the Church is unincorporated, title to real and personal property of the Church shall be held by the Trustees of the Church, in trust for the Church and its religious purposes, under the Declaration of Trust adopted with this Constitution. Property may also be held in the name of the Church where the law permits.

Section 2. Trustees. The Council shall appoint not fewer than three Trustees, who may be elders. Trustees hold title only; they have no authority to act except as directed by the Council.

Section 3. No debt. The Church shall own what it holds. It shall not borrow money, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security interest in any property, nor enter any lease or contract that creates a security interest, except by a unanimous vote of the Council recorded in the minutes and then only for a specific, stated religious purpose.

Section 4. No public funds. The Church shall not apply for or accept any grant, loan, or subsidy from any government.

Section 5. Dedication. All property of the Church is irrevocably dedicated to its religious purposes.

Article VIII — Finances

Section 1. Fiscal year. The fiscal year of the Church is the calendar year.

Section 2. Accounts. All funds of the Church shall be kept in accounts in the name of the Church, separate from the funds of any person. No personal expense of any person shall be paid from the funds of the Church. Reimbursements shall be made only under a written accountable plan.

Section 3. Compensation. Compensation of any minister, elder, or employee shall be reasonable, fixed in advance by the disinterested elders on the basis of comparable data, and recorded in the minutes.

Section 4. Contributions. The Church shall acknowledge contributions in writing as the law requires, and shall keep records of all receipts and disbursements.

Section 5. Review. The Council shall review the accounts at least annually and shall report the financial condition of the Church to the members.

Article IX — Relationship to Civil Authority

Section 1. Source of authority. The authority of the Church proceeds from the Divine and from the conscience of its members, not from any state. The rights of its members to life, liberty, and property are inalienable; they precede every government and are secured, not granted, by the Constitution of the United States. The Church accepts no license, charter, or permission from any civil authority as the source of its existence. It has not sought, and does not require, the approval of any government or agency for its existence, its faith, its worship, its membership, or its ministers, because no such approval is required by law and none could confer what the Church already holds.

Section 2. Conduct under law. The Church, its ministers, and its members render to civil authority what is civil authority's. The Church does not claim, and no member may claim in its name, immunity from any law of general application. The Church minimizes its entanglement with the state by owning what it holds, owing no one, taking no public money, and keeping its own house in order.

Section 3. Disputes. Disputes among members, or between a member and the Church, concerning the faith, discipline, or internal affairs of the Church shall be resolved within the Church under the Bylaws, and members covenant not to bring such matters before civil courts.

Article X — Amendments

This Constitution and the Statement of Faith may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Council followed by a two-thirds vote of the covenant members present at a meeting called for that purpose with at least thirty days' written notice; provided that Article II, Section 2, Article VII, Section 5, and Article XI may not be amended in any way that would cause the Church to cease to qualify as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Article XI — Dissolution

Upon the dissolution of the Church, the Council shall, after paying or making provision for all liabilities of the Church, distribute all remaining assets to one or more churches or religious organizations organized and operated exclusively for religious purposes and exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as the Council shall determine. No asset shall be distributed to any member, minister, elder, trustee, officer, or other private person.

Article XII — Adoption

This Constitution was adopted by the founding members at the organizational meeting of the Church held on [DATE], at [PLACE], and takes effect on that date.