In June 15, 2006, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States sent a letter to us informing us the status of our tax exemption application status. We were informed that we must amend several sections of our church constitution in order to comply with the section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

In June 24, 2006, the Deacon Board of the Bloomington Chinese Christian Church held a meeting to discuss the amendments and consequently approved the amendments. According to the church constitution Article XII, No.2, "After the Deacon Board approves the amendments, the President of the Deacon Board shall announce and post them two weeks prior to the General Assembly to consider such amendments." Therefore, as the President of the Deacon Board I shall announce and post the amendments for the General Assembly and an extraordinary church meeting shall be held on the 9th day of the July, 2006 A.D.

If you have any questions or objections to the amendments, please contact a member of the BCCC Deacon Board.

In Christ,

Pu-Shih Daniel Chen
President
BCCC Deacon Board

Below are the amendments to the church constitution: 

The full version of the amended church constitution can be downloaded from "File Cabinet." 

THE CONSTITUTION (BYLAWS) OF BLOOMINGTON CHINESE CHRISTIAN CHURCH INC

Note: The amendment to articles II and VII was approved by the deacon board on June 24, 2006 in accordance with Article XII of the BCCC Bylaws to comply with the legal requirements under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

ARTICLE II: PURPOSE

under no circumstances shall this article be changed.

1.    With Christ as its Head, this church shall be established on the following Biblical principles:

1.1.    To bring people to Jesus Christ and membership in His family;
1.2.    To bring people to Christ-like maturity - becoming disciples;
1.3.     To equip them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the world;
1.4.     To magnify God's name.

2.    This church is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

1.    This church shall be dissolved at the decision of 95% (or rounded to the nearest equivalent whole number of 95%) of its active members.

2.    Upon the dissolution of this church, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose. Any such assets not disposed of shall be disposed of by the Court of Common Pleas of the county in which the principal office of the organization is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said Court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes.

ARTICLE VIII: GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The General Assembly of this church may approve or overrule the decisions made by the Deacon Board under the following condition: Seventy percent (70%) of the church active members present shall constitute a quorum and, unless stated otherwise, any deciding vote will require at least eighty per cent (80%) of those present in the meeting.  If the required quorum is not met, the meeting will be moved to a new date, set by the Deacon Board.  The General Assembly may be convened in the following formats:

ARTICLE XII: AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

1.    Any amendment or revision to this Constitution can be initiated by the Deacon Board, or requested by at least 30% of the active members in writing to the Deacon Board.

2.    After the Deacon Board approves the amendments, the President of the Deacon Board shall announce and post them two weeks prior to the General Assembly meeting. Such amendments shall be approved by the General Assembly according to the decision rules of Article VIII.