Bylaws

As adopted December 27, 1950, and amended in 1951, 1953, 1977, 1981, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2015, and 2019.

  1. Applications for membership shall be submitted to the membership committee. Upon a two-thirds vote, this committee shall enroll all qualified members.
  2. Dues of $50 for full members and $45 for associate members ($30 for either if retired) are to be paid annually. Membership in the Society will be automatically terminated upon failure to pay the dues and/or to sign the Doctrinal Basis
  3. Associate members shall be those who are in sympathy with the scholarly and theological purposes of the Society and who desire its publications and fellowship. They are to be accepted upon recommendation of a member as a sponsor and with the approval of the chairperson of the membership committee. They shall be nonvoting and subject to the same fees and requirements as full members.
  4. Student members shall be those who are in college or graduate school. They are to be accepted upon recommendation of a sponsoring member and the approval of the chairperson of the Membership Committee. They shall be nonvoting, subject to the same requirements as full members, and pay $30 dues annually. Membership in the Society will be automatically terminated upon failure to pay dues and/or to sign the Doctrinal Basis.
  5. There shall be a nominating committee consisting of the two most recent former presidents and three members, elected at the business session of the annual meeting, which shall present to the Society proposed candidates for election to office at the next annual meeting. This committee shall consider that the officers of the ETS should be members who wholeheartedly support the purposes and Doctrinal Basis of the Society, who have been regularly involved in ETS activities, and who are recognized for their contributions to evangelical scholarship.
  6. The executive director will present a budget for the Society which must be approved by the executive committee. The executive director will then execute the budget.
  7. An auditor shall be appointed by the executive committee annually to audit the Society’s financial records.
  8. Vacancies may be filled in the interim between annual meetings by the executive committee.
  9. Official publicity with reference to the program shall be the responsibility of the executive director.
  10. In the event of dissolution, the residual assets of the Society will be turned over to the International Bible Society for as long as it is tax exempt.
  11. The By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote at any annual meeting or by a majority vote if the amendment has been proposed at the previous annual meeting.
  12. For the purpose of advising members regarding the intent and meaning of the reference to biblical inerrancy in the ETS Doctrinal Basis, the Society refers members to the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978). The case for biblical inerrancy rests on the absolute trustworthiness of God and Scripture’s testimony to itself. A proper understanding of inerrancy takes into account the language, genres, and intent of Scripture. We reject approaches to Scripture that deny that biblical truth claims are grounded in reality.