By-laws

Section I: Statement of Faith

  1. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith is, and shall be, the statement of faith for this Conference.

Section II: Meetings Date, Time and Place

  1. The conference will meet as close to as possible the third weekend in January beginning on Thursday evening and continuing through Saturday at noon. The meetings will be held in as central a location as possible for the States of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The meeting place must be in a city where there is adequate hotel accommodations and in a facility large enough to house the meeting. Such time and place will be determined by the current planning committee, except as herein contained.

Section II: Speakers

  1. Each year there will be one Keynote speaker who will speak on Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday morning as his schedule allows.
  2. In addition to the Keynote speaker, at least three speakers will be pastors who regularly attend The Deep South Regional Founders Conference and who currently hold pastorates in Louisiana, Mississippi. or Alabama, respectively, one from each state if possible.

Section III : Themes

  1. The Themes of the Conference will come from at least one of the Articles in the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith successively if possible.
  2. The theme for each conference will be determined by the current planning committee, except as herein contained.

Section IV: Planning Committee Responsibilities and Composition

  1. The planning committee shall be responsible for choosing the theme and speakers for the conferences as outlined in these By-Laws, as well as, planning the annual meeting which includes, but may not be limited to, determining order, times, and moderators of sessions.
  2. The planning committee shall be composed of nine members, three from Alabama. Louisiana, and Mississippi respectively and will be elected to serve a three year term.

Section V. Term of Planning Committee

  1. The initial planning committee will have three of its members from the respective states elected to a one year term, three of its members from the respective states elected to a two year term and three of its members from the respective states elected to a three year term.
  2. The second planning committee will have three members from the respective states elected to a three year term while six of the members continue their initial term.
  3. The third planning committee will have three members from the respective states elected to a three year term.
  4. From year three the planning committee will have three members from the respective states replaced each year.
  5. A year shall be defined as the time from one annual conference until the end of the next annual conference.

Section VI: Nomination of Planning Committee Members

  1. A nomination can be made only by a man who holds the office of pastor, elder, or deacon in his church.
  2. Only a man who holds the office of pastor, elder or deacon can be nominated.
  3. A nomination can only be made for a man who resides in the same state as the one who is making the nomination..
  4. The men nominated will be screened by the current planning committee as to their qualifications and their willingness to serve as herein contained in these bylaws
  5. Each man who is nominated, who is a regular attender of the annual conference, who agrees to the ByLaws of the conference, and who is willing to serve, will be placed by the current planning committee on a ballot.
  6. Those who serve a three year term will not be eligible for nomination until a year has passed from the conference their term ended.

Section VII: Election of Planning Committee Members

  1. A ballot shall be presented by the current planning committee to the attendees of the annual conference at the Saturday morning session.
  2. Those eligible to vote for the planning committee members are men who hold the office of pastor, elder, or deacon in their churches, and who are in attendance at the conference when the ballot is presented.
  3. A vote can only be cast for a man who resides in the same state as the man casting the ballot.
  4. The eligibility of those casting a ballot is based on the integrity of the one voting. If it is determined by the current planning committee that an ineligible person has cast a ballot, that ballot will be discarded.
  5. The three men who receive the highest votes will be elected to a three year term, except as outlined in these by-laws.

Section VIII. Uncompleted Terms

  1. If for some reason a member cannot serve his full term, his seat on the planning committee will remain vacant until filled by the normal rotation process.

Section IX: Decisions of Earlier Planning Committees

  1. Due to the nature of securing speakers who are in demand, one committee’s decisions concerning themes, meeting dates, times, places and speakers which may extend beyond the committee’s terms, shall be respected by subsequent committees.

Section X: Amendments

  1. Proposed changes in these by-laws must be presented by a man eligible to vote for planning committee members.
  2. The proposed change must be presented in writing to the moderator at the Friday morning session of the annual meeting.
  3. After receiving the written proposed change the moderator will read the proposed change to the session as a motion to amend.
  4. If the motion receives a second by a man eligible to vote for the planning committee members, then those eligible to vote will be give an opportunity to entertain the proposed change. If the majority of those voting chooses to entertain the proposed change, a motion to amend will be presented at the Saturday morning session of the next annual conference.
  5. If the motion to amend receives a majority of those voting, the change will take effect at the next annual conference.
  6. A proposed change in the Statement of Faith will take a 75% majority of those voting.