statement on church discipline
The threefold purpose of church discipline is to glorify God by maintaining purity in the Church (1 Cor 5:6), to edify believers by deterring sin and promoting purity (1 Tim 5:20), and to promote the spiritual welfare of the offending believer by calling him or her to return to a biblical standard of doctrine and conduct (Gal 6:1).
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Discipline will follow the said biblical pattern, and is an effort to bring the individual to repentance and protect the Church from unrepentant sin. Discipline may involve exclusion from participation in Church, as well as dismissal from the fellowship of the Church.
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The Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted the Church with the authority and responsibility to discipline members for flagrant sin or serious doctrinal error, with the goal of the restoration of the offender. This discipline is entrusted to the Board of Directors and is to follow the
biblical pattern as set forth in Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2:7-8; Galatians 6:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; Titus 3:10-11; and 2 John 7-11. Any member of the Church who practices or affirms a doctrine or conduct that, in the judgment of the Board of Directors, is opposed to the teaching of the Word of God, or is threatening to the testimony of the Church,
or is divisive to the body, shall be subject to church discipline.
An individual may be disciplined by the Board of Directors short of dismissal from the fellowship, as they deem appropriate for the specific circumstance (for example, an individual may remain in certain circumstances a member of the Church but be denied the privilege of serving in a particular Church). The Board of Directors as is required by Scripture, may report to the Church the names of those who have lost membership by reason of Church discipline, and the reason for that discipline, as described in Matthew 18:15-20.