- Vision
- Core Beliefs
- By Law
- Guidelines
- About us
- Salvation is by the grace of God and through faith in Christ Jesus. Salvation is a gift from Godand not earned by works.
- The Bible is the living Word of God and it has the absolute authority from God.
- The church is the community of brothers, and sisters in Christ who have a common faith in salvation through Jesus Christ and are all baptized by the Holy Spirit.
- Vietnamese Agape Group (VAG) does not own any property or has a permanent house of worship in the USA.
- At least 85% of VAG’s funds will be used directly toward expanding the Kingdom of God such as but not limited to evangelism, member caring, training, sending, collaborating with other churches, charity, etc.
- Internet is the primary channel in spreading the Gospel.
- VAG cooperates closely with like-minded organizations and local churches, with the focus on churches in remote areas of Vietnam to spread the Gospel.
The Vietnamese Agape Church in Los Lunas believes in the following core beliefs:
- The entire “Baptist Faith & Message – 2000"
- The entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is infallible Word of God;
- All have sin and fall short to the glory of God;
- Salvation is by the grace of God and through faith in Christ Jesus. Salvation is a gift from God and not earned by works;
- Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, and rose from the dead, to become the only means of salvation for fallen humanity. He promised to return in glory to establish the Kingdom of God, and ascended to the right hand of God, from where He sent the holy Spirit to all who believe;
- Repentance and personal acceptance of Jesus as Messiah and Lord are necessary for salvation;
- The church is the community of brothers, and sisters in Christ who have a common faith in salvation through Jesus Christ and are all baptized by the Holy Spirit;
- God wonderfully and immutably created each person as distinctly male or female (Gen. 1:26-31; 2:18-25; 5:1, 2). These two distinct and complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. To reject one’s biological gender is a rejection of the image of God within that person and is a sin against God;
- Marriage was created and sanctioned by God in which God joins one man and one woman in a single and exclusive union. (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6);
- God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. Any form of sexual intimacy outside of marriage is sexually immoral and is sin against God. (1 Cor. 6:15-7:6; Eph. 5:3-7) Sexual immorality includes, but is not limited to adultery, fornication, homosexual conduct, and pornography;
- The Church only organizes weddings for couples who meet all of the core beliefs in Section 2 – Message of Faith of this By-law;
- God offers forgiveness, redemption, transformation, and restoration to all who confess and repent from their sin and humbly ask for His forgiveness through Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:11)
Download The entire “Baptist Faith & Message – 2000" right here
1. NAME AND OFFICE
The incorporated name of the Church is Nhom Yeu Thuong, Inc. It shall operate and be published doing business as: Vietnamese Agape Church in Los Lunas. It shall be referred hereinafter as “The Church.” The principle office of the corporation shall be located at 3560 Stetson SW, Los Lunas, NM.
2. THÔNG ĐIỆP ĐỨC TIN (STATEMENT OF FAITH)
The Vietnamese Agape Church in Los Lunas believes in the following core beliefs:
- The entire “Baptist Faith & Message – 2000”;
- The entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is infallible Word of God;
- All have sin and fall short to the glory of God;
- Salvation is by the grace of God and through faith in Christ Jesus. Salvation is a gift from God and not earned by works;
- Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, and rose from the dead, to become the only means of salvation for fallen humanity. He promised to return in glory to establish the Kingdom of God, and ascended to the right hand of God, from where He sent the holy Spirit to all who believe;
- Repentance and personal acceptance of Jesus as Messiah and Lord are necessary for salvation;
- The church is the community of brothers, and sisters in Christ who have a common faith in salvation through Jesus Christ and are all baptized by the Holy Spirit;
- God wonderfully and immutably created each person as distinctly male or female (Gen. 1:26-31; 2:18-25; 5:1, 2). These two distinct and complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. To reject one’s biological gender is a rejection of the image of God within that person and is a sin against God.;
- Marriage was created and sanctioned by God in which God joins one man and one woman in a single and exclusive union. (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6);
- God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. Any form of sexual intimacy outside of marriage is sexually immoral and is sin against God. (1 Cor. 6:15-7:6; Eph. 5:3-7) Sexual immorality includes, but is not limited to adultery, fornication, homosexual conduct, and pornography;
- The Church only organizes weddings for couples who meet all of the core beliefs in Section 2 – Message of Faith of this By-law;
- God offers forgiveness, redemption, transformation, and restoration to all who confess and repent from their sin and humbly ask for His forgiveness through Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:11).
3. MEMBERS OF THE VIETNAMESE AGAPE CHURCH
a. Everyone can become a member of the Church (official church member) when they meet the following conditions:
- Sincerely believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life
- Agree with “The Baptist Faith & Message”
- Pledge to obey the Church’s By Law
- Publicly express faith in Jesus Christ through baptism by immersion in water
- Regulary participate in face-to-face or online with the Church for at least three (3) months.
b. Believers from other churches can become members of the church under the conditions below:
- Openly believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life before the Church and agree to all the conditions stated in part II, Section 1, and Article a.
- Through a letter of introduction or certificate of belief in Jesus Christ and Baptism from a church with the same doctrine. Agree to all the conditions stated in part II, Section 1, and Article a.
c. Church membership conditions will be reviewed in January every year.
d. If there is disagreement regarding an individual’s membership in The Church, the Pastor and the Executive Board will review and make a recommendation within thirty (30) days. The status of the church membership will be defined following the guideline in Section 5 of this By-law.
4. REMOVAL OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
- The Church will consider removing the Church membership of individuals if one of the following conditions occurs based on the provisions in Part 6 of these Rules:
- No longer active with the Church (in person or online) within 6 months and without any notification or explanation to the Pastor and the Executive Board
- Move to another church and notify the Pastor and the Executive Board
- Committing major sins, affecting the faith of God's children, affecting the name of God and the Church. After the Church had applied the approach taught in Matthew 18:15-17, this person still did not repent and turn away from sin.
- Objection and disagreement with the "Baptist Faith and Message 2000" and the Church's Bylaws.
5. STRUCTURE IN THE CHURCH
- The Church has only two positions: Pastor and Deacon. These two titles are ordained according to the rite of laying on of hands in prayer as instructed in the Bible Acts 6:6. The Pastor and the Deacons should make every effort to live according to the teaching found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13.
- Executive Board, Worship Group, Men's Group (if any), Women's Group (if any), Adult Group (if any), Youth Group (if any), Children's Group (if any), Visitation Group (if any), Mission Group (if any), ... are groups operating in the Church to carry out specific purposes and depending on the specific needs of the Church. The establishment of these groups depends entirely on the needs of the Church.
- These Groups work to nurture and care for the faith of God's children in the Church and testify about Jesus to the lost people.
- These Groups have their own organizational structures depending on the specific conditions of the group
- These Groups can report their activities to the Church but are not required to
- These Groups should have a group leader to guide the group but it is not required.
- If there are group leaders in a group, these positions "should" follow the Church's "two-year term" regulations.
- The Church encourages all the Groups to have at least two people serving the same job
6. VOTING IN THE CHURCH
- Only members of the Church have the right to vote on church affairs. Church membership is defined in Section 3 of these bylaws.
- All affairs in the Church are decided by the Church through secret voting, which is anonymous voting
- MSQN and the Executive Board are responsible for carefully preparing and presenting to the Church the issues that need to be voted on. The voting will take place as quickly as one week from the time MSQN and the Board of Directors present it to the Church.
- Voting will take place online in an anonymous form. Results are continuously updated to all members of the Church
- The vote is passed if at least 2/3 members of the Church agree. If an item is not approved after voting, the Pastor and the Executive Board will review, edit, and present it to the Church for re-voting no later than one week from the time the issue was veto
7. PASTOR
The Pastor is anointed by God to shepherd God's flock. MSQN are invited by the Church from another place or elected from within the Church, then ordained according to the prayer-laying-on-hands rite guided in the book of Acts 6:6.
The term of office of the Pastor is entirely determined by the agreement between the Church and the Pastor. However, the Church will reevaluate the Pastor's position every 4 years. If no consensus can be found between the Pastor and the Church, the Church will vote to make the final decision. This entire process is complied with the voting instructions in section 6 of these Rules.
Pastor must strive to live and meet the requirements taught in 1-Timothy 3:1-7.
MSQN is responsible to the Church for the following issues:
- Be honest and responsible before God to teach God's word every Sunday morning before the Church. Pastor must be responsible for answering questions for God's children on all issues related to the Bible.
- Responsible for core doctrine, core beliefs, church worship, and inviting speakers. Pastor is also primarily responsible for the vision of the Church.
- Be responsible to the Church for all activities, members, organization, and finances of the Church. Pastor must also represent the Church before the law
- Perform rituals for God's children in the Church if necessary such as funerals, weddings, …
- Mainly responsible for making disciples and preparing successor classes to take care of the work of the Church.
- Mainly responsible for fellowship with churches in the region and within the same Southern Baptist church.
8. AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS
This by-laws may be altered, amended, or repealed, and new by-laws may be adopted by an unanimous consent of the Church following the guideline in Section 5 of this By-laws
Adopted by the Church
- Spending Guidelines
- Using the Agape Emergency Support Fund
1. GENERAL SPENDING PRINCIPLES
Any expenditure of $300 or more must be approved by the Church by vote. If less than $300, the Pastor and Church Deacon will decide on behalf of the whole church.
2. EVENTS
If a believer (official member of the Church) or the believer's family (father, mother, children, or siblings) has a wedding or funeral, the Church will give an amount of $100 on behalf of God's children for each event.
3. UNEXPECTED SITUATIONS
● In case a believer or a believer's family (father, mother, children, or siblings) has a very sick person and urgently needs money for treatment, the Church will support a maximum of $500 and will call for children of God to participate. The final decision must be approved by the Church's vote.
● In case a believer or a believer's family (father, mother, children, or siblings) is in very difficult circumstances and cannot manage in a short time, the Church will support a maximum of $500 and will call God's children to participate. The final decision must be approved by the Church's vote.
● In case there is any person in difficult circumstances (possibly a newly arrived Vietnamese person, community member, student, destitute person...) and is introduced by a member of the Church and presents their needs. the Church will support a maximum of $500. The final decision must be approved by the Church's vote.
Adopted by the Church
February 14, 2024
Instructions for Using the Agape Emergency Support Fund
1. FUND AND PURPOSE
The "Agape Emergency Support" fund is contributed by God's children for a very specific purpose and is managed by the Church. This fund will have a separate bank savings account under the Church's name and will be completely independent of the Church's spending fund.
The main purpose of the "Emergency Loan" fund is to:
- Express love among brothers and sisters in Christ in a concrete way.
- Help believers in emergencies.
2. INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE FUND
This fund is only used for official believers in the Church to borrow without interest. If not a church member, they must be introduced by an official member.
A person can only apply for approval once a year.
In 2024, the maximum loan amount is $2,000 at a time.
The maximum loan period is 6 months.
There will be a maximum of 1 unsecured loan at any time for non-Church members. An unsecured loan means the introducing member does not commit to repay in case the borrower loses the ability to repay.
A secured loan is defined as a loan to a non-Church member where the introducing official member commits to repay on behalf of the official member in case the borrower loses the ability to repay. This loan is considered similar to a loan to an official member.
3. APPROVAL CONDITIONS
Official Church Members
Write a letter directly to the Pastor or Deacon of the Church. The letter should include the following:
- Details of the difficult situation.
- Purpose of using the borrowed money from the Church.
- Detailed plan to repay this amount to the Church.
Non-Church Members
Normally, the person in need of support will come directly to the Church and present their need.
- Details of the difficult situation.
- Purpose of using the borrowed money from the Church.
- Detailed plan to repay this amount to the Church.
If inconvenient, they need to send a video to the Church presenting their need including the above items. The video will be shown after the Worship meeting to Church members.
4. APPROVAL
The Pastor and Deacon will present the borrower's letter before the Church.
The Church will vote for the final decision according to the voting instructions presented in the Church's bylaws.
5. INSTRUCTIONS IN CASE OF LATE REPAYMENT AND LOSS OF ABILITY TO REPAY
5.1. Official Church Members
In case of late repayment, the member needs to contact the Pastor or the Executive Board to set up a new repayment plan, with a maximum of 6 months for the new plan.
If this member continues to fail to repay the Church on time, they will be considered to have lost the ability to repay. The member needs to write a letter to the Church explaining the inability to repay.
Members who lose the ability to repay will not be considered for loans from this fund until the old loan is repaid.
5.2. Non-Church Members
For unsecured loans: they need to contact the Pastor or Executive Board to set up a new repayment plan, with a maximum of 6 months for the new plan.
If they continue to fail to repay the Church on time, they will be considered to have lost the ability to repay. They need to write a letter to the Church explaining the inability to repay.
Those who lose the ability to repay will not be considered for loans from this fund until they can repay the old borrowed amount.
For secured loans: they need to contact the Pastor or Executive Board and the introducing member to set up a new repayment plan, with a maximum of 6 months for the new plan.
If they continue to fail to repay the Church on time, they will be considered to have lost the ability to repay. They need to write a letter to the Church explaining the inability to repay.
The introducing member needs to carry out the repayment on behalf of the person who lost the ability to repay.
In case the introducing member fails to fulfill the obligation to repay, both the introducing member and the person who lost the ability to repay will not be considered for loans from this fund until the old loan is repaid.
Instructions and conditions will be updated each year.
Adopted by the Church
April 10, 2024