Social Concerns Ministry Charter

CBCGB SCM Committee

Table of Contents

Section                                                                                      

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1.0 What is the Social Concerns Ministry?

1.1 God’s Call

1.2 The Purpose of the CBCGB SCM

2.0 The SCM Committee

3.0 The SCM Fund  

3.1 The Purpose of the SCM Fund

3.2 The SCM Fund Rules and Governance

4.0 Revisions

Appendix 1: The SCM Fund Policy at CBCGB

Legend

CBCGB = Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston

                           SCM = Social Concerns Ministry

                            BOE = Board of Elders

                    SOCCON = Social Concerns Conference

CBCGB Social Concerns Ministry Charter

The purpose of this charter is to:

• Define the purpose of the Social Concerns Ministry
• Define the Social Concerns Ministry Structure
• Describe the Social Concerns Ministry Fund and its funding and usage policies

1.0 What is the Social Concerns Ministry?

1.1 God's Call

God calls his church to two principles: Mercy and Justice, which form the bedrock of the Social Concerns Ministry. This is summed up by His prophet Micah: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6: 8)

To explain further what this charter means by Mercy and Justice, we refer to His scriptures to us.

Mercy - God calls Christians to serve those who are in physical and material need, regardless of cause. We draw on the following New Testament scriptures as justification for our calling:

• Jesus's Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
• Apostle Paul's exhortations (Galatians 2:9-10)
• James' exhortations (James 1:26-27)

We also see this principle in the Old Testament when:

• God lays down his decrees to Israel, his nation, to be generous and to care for the poor (Deuteronomy 15)
• God speaks to his people of the values that are at the core of his heart (Isaiah 58: 6-10)

Justice - God calls Christians to correct social and economic injustices in the societies in which we live. In the Old Testament we see God's concern for social and economic justice highlighted by:

• The laws God lays down for his representative nation Israel (Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 15)
• The punishment proclaimed against Israel for their disobedience in those areas (Amos 5:7-17)
• The exhortation for His people to fight for the cause of those who are oppressed (Isaiah 1:17)

Through these passages we see God's call for Christians to fight injustice and to correct social and economic sins.

Ultimately, our actions are a part of the Christian calling to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:28-34).

1.2 The Purpose of the CBCGB SCM

With this dual calling in mind, the purpose of the CBCGB Social Concerns Ministry is two-fold:

• To educate about the physical and material needs of the world and the social injustices that exist within the world, so that we may be empowered to do God’s work effectively.
• To encourage the congregation to serve the physical and material needs of the world’s needy and to correct injustice, so that we become the manifestation of Christ's hands and feet in the world.

We do this work in conjunction with other ministries within CBCGB, so that we address both the physical and spiritual needs of people, mirroring Christ’s earthly ministry.

2.0 The SCM Committee 

CBCGB formally establishes the SCM Committee, which is responsible for: 

• Determining the vision and goals of the ministry. 
• Providing leadership and fulfilling the purpose of the ministry.
• Managing the SCM Fund responsibly and transparently, including:

• Policy - Prepare/Update the SCM Fund Policy, which governs how funds will be used.
• Budget - Prepare an annual itemized budget for the ministry.
• Fund-raising - Plan and execute fundraising for the SCM Fund.
• Expenditures - Approve spending from the SCM Fund.
• Reporting - Provide a yearly report about SCM Fund usage to the general congregation.

Committee Composition:

The CBCGB Board of Elders will designate a SCM Committee chair. The committee chair will designate 4 other committee members, so that there are at least 2 members from the Chinese Congregation and 2 from the English Congregation, and submit the names for approval by the Board of Elders. This forms a 5 person committee.

Committee Member Requirements:

• Committee members must be active members of CBCGB in good standing.
• Committee members serve 2 year terms, with no limits on the number of consecutive terms.
• Committee chair serves 2 year terms, with a limit of 3 consecutive terms before he or she must step down for at least 2 years before taking chairmanship again. 

Committee Special Cases:

• Special exemptions to committee composition and/or committee member requirements may be made with a unanimous vote from the SCM Committee and approval from the Board of Elders

3.0 The SCM Fund  

3.1 The Purpose of the SCM Fund

CBCGB recognizes that financial resources are needed to fulfill the goals of the ministry, so the Board of Elders authorizes the Social Concerns Ministry to establish a SCM Fund and grants the ministry permission to solicit funds from the general CBCGB congregation.

The fund will be used for the following two purposes, listed in order of priority:

• Activity Support: The fund will be used to fund activities undertaken by CBCGB in the areas of mercy and justice.
• Charitable Giving: The fund will be used to donate to external organizations which further God’s causes of mercy and justice.

3.2 The SCM Fund Rules and Governance

Fundraising and prioritizing of financial needs will be governed by the SCM Committee. The SCM Committee will establish a SCM Fund Policy (See Appendix 1) that gives guidelines and principles for the collection and use of funds. In addition, each year the Committee must establish an annual budget proposal for the next fiscal year that includes a funding target and itemizes specific projected expenditures.

A few basic rules regarding the SCM Fund:

• No material aid of individuals, either within or outside the congregation, unless it is through an established ministry. (Note: material support can be given to individuals who engage in social concerns work.)
• No support for organizations which operate in a manner which is in conflict with CBCGB's statement of faith and values, or our collective Christian conscience. (Note: secular organizations do not necessarily conflict with our statement of faith.)
• All reimbursements and donations must be handled and approved by the SCM Committee.
• Unless otherwise stated, SCM Fund governance decisions require a majority vote by the SCM Committee.

These rules are not meant to be comprehensive. Additional details are laid out in the SCM Fund Policy.

4.0 Revision

Any revision to this charter must be listed below with a summary of the revision. The revised charter must be approved by a majority vote from the SCM Committee, and then submitted to Board of Elders for approval.

Appendix 1: The CGCGB SCM Fund Policy 

1.0 Purpose of SCM Fund

2.0 SCM Fund Priorities

2.1 Activity Support
2.2 Charitable Giving

3.0 Fundraising

3.1 Disaster Relief

4.0 Budget

4.1 Activity Support Budget
4.2 Charitable Giving Budget
4.3 Reserve Funds
4.4 Budget Approval

5.0 Annual Report

6.0 Revisions

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The SCM Fund Policy describes the principles and processes that the Social Concerns Ministry will use to administer the SCM Fund.

1.0 The Purpose of the SCM Fund

CBCGB recognizes that financial resources are needed to fulfill the goals of the ministry, so the BOE authorizes the Social Concerns Ministry to establish a SCM Fund and grants the ministry permission to solicit funds from the general CBCGB congregation.

As the SCM Charter has already explained, the fund will be used for the following two purposes, listed in order of priority:

• Activity Support: The fund will be used to fund activities undertaken by CBCGB in the areas of mercy and justice.
• Charitable Giving: The fund will donate to organizations which further God's causes of mercy and justice.

2.0 SCM Fund Priorities

Within the general goal of furthering God's mercy and justice, there are many specific causes SCM could support. It is extremely difficult to determine a priority among these many causes, since many poverty and justice issues are interconnected in complex ways.

SCM will aim to support a diverse range of issues relating to poverty and injustice. However, this diversity is not a hard requirement. Logistical limitations and limited resources may restrict the number and types of organizations SCM is able to research and support.

Any organization supported by the SCM Fund must:

• Demonstrate some level of effectiveness in working against poverty or injustice
• Not violate CBCGB's statement of faith or the collective Christian conscience (note: the Fund may support secular organizations)
• Not be a faith-based non-Christian organization

2.1 Activity Support

Priority for Activity Support will be given to organizations from which congregation members can better learn about and interact with the people whom they are serving.

2.2.1 Official SCM Projects

For projects or trips organized by CBCGB members with a social concerns focus, a CBCGB member can submit a funding request for that project. The funding request form will also act as the review process for official SCM endorsement as an SCM Project. The SCM Committee can endorse a project with a majority vote. Please note that endorsement and project funding are two separate votes, and a vote to endorse a project does NOT denote funding for that project. Funding for the SCM Project will be determined by a separate SCM Committee vote, subject to the same rules as the Charitable Giving fund requests.

For SCM Projects which are run through an external organization, funds requested for the project will be provided to the external organization only, not to any church members. Individual congregant donations must be made to the external organization, CBCGB and SCM will NOT act as an intermediary for any donations. The external organization will issue tax-deduction receipts.

For SCM Projects which are not run with another organization, the project must be approved by the Board of Deacons as official church projects in order to obtain tax-exempt status. Individual congregant donations to SCM projects will be handled like any other church project, subject to Finance Committee policy. These donations will not go into the SCM Fund. The church will issue tax-deduction receipts

2.2 Charitable Giving

The SCM Committee will use a fund request process for Charitable Giving funds: the committee will accept and evaluate requests from CBCGB members to give money to organizations working in the areas of justice or mercy.

How SCM will evaluate Charitable Giving requests

A request must:

• Give a specific dollar amount, with a cost breakdown or justification
• Be able to describe the specific poverty or injustice related needs the organization is trying to meet, and how its programs meet those needs

A request will be given higher priority if the organization has one or more of these traits:

• Works internationally among the poor, since there is a higher degree of poverty in other nations
• Has an excellent rating from a reputable independent charity rating organization (e.g. Charity Navigator)
• Is able to show that its programs are very effective in meeting a specific need
• Has a reasonable monetary reserve to enable it to weather fluctuations in funding
• Meets a need not being met by any other organization
• Meets a different type of need than other organizations already being supported by Charitable Giving funds
• A CBCGB member is working, or has worked, with the organization

3.0 Fundraising

A faith pledge will be collected once a year. The pledges will be collected during the SCM fundraising period, which will begin during the annual Social Concerns Conference (SOCCON) and end 4 weeks later. There will be a fundraising goal that is based on the proposed Activity Support and Charitable Giving budgets.

Based on the pledges, the SCM Committee will finalize the budget for the coming fiscal year and submit it for approval to the Church Council.

Fundraising for the SCM Fund is subject to the CBCGB fundraising policy.

3.1 Disaster Relief

Disaster relief funds will not be part of the SCM annual budget due to the complexities of managing money for an unforeseeable event.

The SCM Committee will determine by a majority vote if the ministry will take action on any specific disaster. If so, the SCM Committee will:

1. Bring awareness and information about the major disaster.
2. Endorse external organizations for congregants to give to.

Additionally, if it deems necessary, the SCM Committee can:

3. Facilitate donations by having checks written out to endorsed organizations collected during offering collections and mailed out in bulk to the endorsed organization.*
4. Donate excess funds (as defined in 4.3 under "Excess funds") from the SCM Fund with the unanimous vote of the SCM Committee.

* requires the explicit approval of the Board of Elders to solicit funds.

The SCM Committee will NOT accept money written out to CBCGB for the explicit use of funding disaster relief at an endorsed external organization. Any collection efforts must comply with the church’s policy on the solicitation of funds.

4.0 Budget

The Activity Support budget and Charitable Giving budget comprise the final budget that the SCM Committee will create and submit for approval to the BOE.

4.1 Activity Support Budget

The SCM Committee will determine the Activity Support budget every year using the following process:

• Before the beginning of the SCM fundraising period, the SCM Committee will create and publish a draft proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
• The SCM Committee will finalize the proposed budget. The proposed budget total will be used for the Activity Support portion of the fundraising goal.
• After the end of the SCM fundraising period, the SCM Committee will adjust the budget if the pledges are insufficient to cover the proposed Operational Funds budget. Otherwise, the proposed budget will become the final Activity Support budget.

4.2 Charitable Giving Budget

The SCM Committee will determine the Charitable Giving budget every year using the following process:

• Before the beginning of the SCM fundraising period, the SCM Committee will accept and evaluates requests to support external organizations through Charitable Giving. Any member of CBCGB may submit these requests.
• The SCM Committee will create a proposed budget. This budget total will be used for the Charitable Giving portion of the fundraising goal.
• After the end of the SCM fundraising period, the SCM Committee will adjust the budget if the pledges are insufficient to cover the proposed Charitable Giving budget. Otherwise, the proposed budget will become the final Charitable Giving budget.

The SCM Committee will make the final decision on which Charitable Giving requests to approve with a simple majority vote.

4.2.1 Mid-Year Charitable Giving Requests

Mid-year Charitable Giving requests are requests for funds submitted outside of the budgeting process for the current budget cycle. The SCM Committee may approve mid-year Charitable Giving requests immediately with a unanimous vote. The initial payment for mid-year requests will be capped at $1,000. The mid-year request can be revisited at the SCM Committee’s discretion later on to provide additional funding.

4.3 Reserve Funds

There will be reserve funds set aside in case of fluctuations in the amount of giving, as part of both the Activity Support budget and Charitable Giving budget.

The minimum reserve amounts will be the sum of the following:

• 25% of the current fiscal year's Activity Support
• 25% of the current fiscal year's Charitable Giving

At maximum, the reserve funds should not exceed 1 year of budget. The SCM Committee will ensure that the reserve funds are maintained at an appropriate level.

Excess funds

If the amount collected from the congregation exceeds the combined budget for Activity Support and Charitable Giving (including their reserve funds), the SCM Committee must find a way to use the money that satisfies the requirements in this policy. That is, the money should be used to fund or expand an activity through the Activity Support funds, or fund or expand giving to a Charitable Giving organization.

Insufficient funds

If there are fewer funds pledged by the congregation than is in the proposed Activity Support budget, the SCM Committee will decide how to reduce the budget.

If there are sufficient funds for the Activity Support budget, but not enough for the Charitable Giving budget, the SCM Committee will decide how to reduce the Charitable Giving budget.

4.4 Budget Approval

The final budget must be approved by a majority vote from the SCM Committee.

5.0 Annual Report

The SCM Committee will publish an annual report that describes how the SCM Fund was used during the most recent fiscal year. This report will be available to any CBCGB member.

6.0 Revision

Any revision to this policy must be listed below with a summary of the revision. The revision must be approved by a majority vote from the SCM Committee.