Covenant process for church plants

To initiate the application process, your district office will provide Foursquare form AR-1c, “Application to Become a Covenant church.” Please complete this form, the Covenant agreement signed by the church board, and the documents below. The covenant agreement is a document detailing the nature and relationship between the local church and The Foursquare Church. The Covenant church agrees to follow the Foursquare bylaws and operate under all Foursquare adopted policies and procedures.

Articles of incorporation
These are documents used to create a corporation legally. It has general information about the corporation, the type of corporation you are forming (a nonprofit), names of your board of directors, etc.

Bylaws
Bylaws govern the operations of the church. In signing the covenant agreement, the local church board voluntarily agrees to apply Foursquare bylaws in place of its own bylaws and operate the church under all Foursquare adopted policies and procedures. As a result, the local church will be recognized as a Foursquare church (as defined in the Foursquare bylaws) concerning all ecclesiastical, polity, and relational issues. The local church will follow the Covenant church property transaction process as outlined in the Foursquare bylaws for real property transaction purposes.

Insurance policies
Every Foursquare church is required to maintain adequate insurance for church activities. This obligation is the joint responsibility of the pastor and church board/council members.

The church may obtain insurance from the Foursquare Insurance department or use an outside company to get insurance.

The insurance policy should include property, liability, worker’s compensation, sexual misconduct, and officer’s/directors insurance and meet Foursquare’s required minimum coverage limits. These minimum coverage limits can be found in the Insurance Service Policy Notebook on the Foursquare Insurance Department Webpage under the section titled, “Information for Securing Insurance with a Carrier other than through Foursquare Insurance Services.”

The following insurance carriers are known to provide coverage that satisfies the listed requirements:
· Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Co.
· Guide One Insurance Co.
· Church Mutual Insurance Co.
· Farmers Insurance Co.

When contacting these companies, church leaders should ask for an agent referral in their area.

List of current officers
Please provide a list of the names and positions of the corporate officers (i.e., president, treasurer, corporate secretary) of your church corporation with the Form AR-1c.

List of directors
Please provide a list of the names of your board of directors (aka church council members) with the submission of the Form AR-1c.