To initiate the application process, the district office will provide Foursquare form AR-1c: Application To Become A Covenant Church. This form includes a request for copies of the documents listed below, along with a short questionnaire about past legal and financial activities of your organization.
The documents listed below (and itemized in section 2 of form AR-1c) will be reviewed by the district office and by various departments of the central office as part of the application process.
Articles of incorporation
You will need to supply the articles of incorporation filed by your local church corporation. If there have been any subsequently filed amendments (which is rare), please supply dated copies of those amendments as well. If your church is not incorporated, please let the district office know that right away so they can work with you to determine next steps.
Bylaws
Most churches, whether incorporated or unincorporated, have bylaws that govern the operations of the church. In signing the Covenant agreement, your local church board voluntarily agrees to apply Foursquare bylaws in place of its own bylaws and to operate the church under all Foursquare adopted policies and procedures. As a result, your organization will become a Foursquare church (as defined in the Foursquare bylaws) with respect to all ecclesiastical, polity and relational issues.
For real property transaction purposes, the local church will follow the Covenant church property transaction process as outlined in the Foursquare bylaws. There are two unique provisions in our bylaws regarding the real property transaction process for Covenant churches. A Covenant church does not obtain ICFG board approval for a property transaction, and the transaction will be placed in the name of the local church and not ICFG.
Note: By signing the Covenant agreement, your church board voluntarily agrees that the Foursquare bylaws will supersede your existing bylaws; thus, there should be no need to make any amendments to your bylaws.
Insurance policies—current year only
Every Foursquare (Charter or Covenant) church is required to maintain adequate insurance for church activities. This obligation is the joint responsibility of the pastor and members of the church board or council. Please provide copies of all current insurance policies, including property, liability, workers comp, sexual misconduct and officers/directors insurance. These will be reviewed by the Foursquare Insurance Department for required minimum coverages.
Two years’ financial history
You will be asked to submit the church’s past two years’ financial history to the district office. This will include: the statement of financial position (balance sheet) and the statement of financial activities (income statement).
List of current officers and directors
Please provide a list of the names and positions of the corporate officers, and names of the board of directors of your church corporation with the submission of the Form AR-1c.
IRS 501(c)3’s determination letter—to be updated after board confers
If your church has IRS 501(c)3 tax exempt status, your church will retain its existing 501(c)3 tax exempt status with the IRS for your corporation. Please supply a copy of the IRS determination letter with the submission of form AR-1c.
If your church does not yet have 501(c)3 status, after the Covenant agreement is signed by the officers of ICFG, the corporate secretary’s office will notify the IRS that your church corporation is to be included under ICFG’ s group exemption. The corporate secretary’s office will notify you in writing of this submission and will send you a letter from the IRS indicating that the corporation has been included under the group 501(c)3 exemption status of ICFG. Please keep this letter as part of your permanent records.
Certificate of good standing from state of incorporation
Please provide a current “certificate of good standing” for the church corporation from the state in which the church was incorporated. A certificate of good standing is a document that shows a corporation has met the statutory requirements and is authorized to do business in the state. This document may take some time to procure, so you may want to order it soon.