The Society shall be called “The Evangelical Protestant Society”.

The Society is a charity recognised by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland – NIC102062.

The purpose of the Society is to unite evangelical Protestants whose faith is firmly established on the Bible and who hold to the tenets of the Reformed and Protestant faith.

The Society desires to promote and defend Biblical Protestantism by reaching out to all with the Gospel message of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone; by proclaiming the Word of God and the tenets of Biblical Protestantism; by the dissemination of Protestant literature; by engaging in debate and discussion; and by encouraging evangelical Protestants to better understand and live out their faith.

The work and witness of the Society shall be administered and directed by an Executive Council consisting of not less than four or more than twelve members. Members shall be appointed after being considered and approved by a majority of the Council. The Council shall appoint a President, Chairman, Secretary and Honorary Treasurer. The Council shall meet on at least four occasions each year, normally in February, April, September and November.  All meetings of the Executive Council shall be opened with a Bible reading and prayer and closed with prayer.  The Authorised Version of the Bible only will be read at Council meetings.

The Executive Council may appoint a paid official, either full time or part time, to fulfil the role of General Secretary. The General Secretary will be self-employed and will be remunerated on the basis of a Consultancy Agreement which will be reviewed and renewed annually.  The Executive Council may appoint other paid officials as necessary.

All income and property of the Executive Council, from wherever derived, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the above mentioned purposes and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise by way of profit, to the members of the Executive Council provided that nothing herein shall prevent the payment in good faith of reasonable and proper remuneration to any servant or member of the Executive Council in return for any service rendered to the Executive Council where the following conditions are complied with:

(a) the amount or maximum amount of the remuneration is agreed in writing between the charity or its charity Executive Council (as the case may be), and the relevant servant or member,

(b) the amount of the remuneration does not exceed what is reasonable in the circumstances for the provision by that servant or member of the services in question,

(c) before entering into any agreement regarding remuneration, the Executive Council decided that it was satisfied that it would be in the best interests of the Society for the services to be provided by the relevant person to or on behalf of the Society for the amount or maximum amount of remuneration set out in the consultancy agreement,

(d) the Executive Council of the Society does not contain any express provision that prohibits the relevant person from receiving the remuneration, and

(e) if immediately after the agreement is entered into there is, in the case of the Society, more than one person who is a member of the Executive Council and is—a person in respect of whom an agreement within this clause is in force, or a person who is entitled to receive remuneration out of the funds of the charity otherwise than by virtue of such an agreement, or a person connected with a person falling within paragraph (i) or (ii), the total number of such persons constitute a minority of the persons for the time being holding office as members of the Executive Council of the Society.

The accounts of the Society shall be audited annually by the Society’s accountants. The financial year will be 1 June-31 May. The Executive Council will examine the annual audited accounts for the year ending 31 May at its November meeting.

The Executive Council may appoint a Council of Reference to act in an advisory capacity. The Council of Reference shall not consist of more than ten members.

Branches of the Society may be formed, but these will be under the control of the Executive Council.

The Society shall hold an Annual Thanksgiving Appeal each April for the purposes of raising funds for its work and witness.

The Society shall publish a magazine entitled “The Ulster Bulwark”.

This Constitution, which replaces and negates any previous versions, was agreed and adopted by the Executive Council at its meeting on Monday 6 June 2016.