Isaac’s Well

Proposed draft · 24 October 2026 · revised 27 October 2026

Proposed founding charter

This is a draft for the working group to weigh, correct and, if the working group agrees, adopt at founding. It draws on the working group’s meetings of 30 July and 19 October 2026, on later conversations, and on what singles and pastors told us in the survey findings. Nothing in it is adopted yet, and it will be reviewed by a lawyer before it is.

Preamble

God made marriage at the beginning (Genesis 2:18–24), and he calls believers to marry “only in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:39). “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22). Yet many singles in Reformed Baptist churches cannot find a believing spouse of like faith. Their churches are small and scattered, and some are many hours from the nearest like-minded congregation.

Abraham would not take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites, and sent his servant to his own kindred (Genesis 24:3–4). The servant prayed at a well, and in God’s providence Rebekah came. With her family’s blessing and her own consent, “I will go,” she became Isaac’s wife (Genesis 24:50–51, 58). Isaac’s Well takes its name from that account. It aims to be a place where unmarried members of faithful churches can meet, each one known and affirmed by their own church. It is a means, not a promise. God alone gives a husband or a wife, and we pray that he will be pleased to use it to build godly marriages and homes.

This charter sets out what Isaac’s Well is, what it confesses, whom it serves, how it is governed and funded, and how it will be shaped.

1. Name and nature

  1. The organization is called Isaac’s Well. Its legal name will be settled with counsel. It is to be incorporated in Tennessee, unless counsel advises otherwise.
  2. It is a nonprofit corporation, organized for religious and charitable purposes. It has no owners or shareholders. None of its income will benefit any private person, beyond reasonable pay for work actually done (section 8).
  3. Tax status. Counsel has advised that the IRS has twice refused 501(c)(3) status to faith-based introductions services, one of which charged no fee (denial letters 202420031 and 202307007; compare 202403014, under 501(c)(7)). So Isaac’s Well applies for exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code only if counsel advises that it has a sound case, and never by the short Form 1023-EZ. Otherwise it runs as a nonprofit that is not tax-exempt. On that path it files a federal corporate income tax return each year and may owe Tennessee franchise and excise tax (counsel to confirm). Or, if counsel advises, it runs under section 501(c)(4), giving the IRS notice on Form 8976 within 60 days. Coming under another charity as a fiscal sponsor does not cure this. Gifts are not tax-deductible unless and until exemption under section 501(c)(3) is recognized, and givers are told so. While it is not exempt, gifts may be taxable income to it, and its directors lack the immunity from suit Tennessee gives the directors of exempt nonprofits (Tennessee Code § 48-58-601), so directors’ and officers’ insurance is essential before it opens (section 7.12). Whatever its tax status, it remains a nonprofit and keeps every principle in this charter.
  4. Its articles of incorporation carry the purpose, no-private-benefit and dissolution clauses counsel advises, and this charter serves as its bylaws. Where they differ, the articles govern.
  5. Those who join are called members in these papers, but they are members of the site only. Isaac’s Well has no members in the corporate sense, and they hold no vote in it.
  6. It is not a church and does not act as one. It holds no church office, administers no ordinances and exercises no church discipline. It serves the local churches and never takes their place.
  7. It is independent. It is not a ministry of the Reformed Baptist Network (RBNet) or of the Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals (FIRE), and neither nor a ministry of any local church, and none of them governs it. This follows the counsel The idea began among pastors of RBNet, and Isaac’s Well honors them for it. Its independence follows their counsel, and that of the pastors who wrote in the survey that it should be supported by RBNet rather than be an RBNet ministry (section 11).

2. Purpose

  1. To help unmarried adult members of the churches of the Reformed Baptist Network and of FIRE find a believing spouse of like faith, for the glory of God, the good of his people and the strengthening of his churches.
  2. To do this through an online meeting place in which every member is affirmed by their own elders, and through gatherings in person.
  3. To help pastors care for the singles in their churches, without making pastors matchmakers or adding to their load.
  4. To point members to their own churches’ teaching on marriage and singleness. Isaac’s Well is not a teaching ministry never takes the place of that teaching. It publishes only practical guidance on using it wisely and safely, and such sound resources as . It may also offer, inside the site, courses and resources on marriage and singleness that the board approves as sound under the Confession (section 3), and that point members back to their own churches’ teaching. No one need take them to join, and they never affect who is shown to whom. A paid course by anyone who serves Isaac’s Well is offered only as sections 7.11 and 8.3 allow, with members told plainly.

3. Confession

  1. The doctrinal standard of Isaac’s Well is the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.
  2. The chairman holds to it. The other directors, and everyone who serves in the work, paid or unpaid, affirm it as the standard under which the work is done and will not teach against it.
  3. On marriage, Isaac’s Well holds to chapter 25 of the Confession, paragraphs 1 to 3 of which read:
    1. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time.
    2. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and for preventing of uncleanness.
    3. It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry, who are able with judgment to give their consent; yet it is the duty of Christians to marry in the Lord; and therefore such as profess the true religion should not marry with infidels, or idolaters; neither should such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresy.
  4. Isaac’s Well serves only those who seek such a marriage: between one man and one woman, as God created them male and female (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4–6), in which the husband loves and leads his wife as Christ loves the church, and the wife submits to her own husband as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22–33).
  5. Members are not asked to subscribe to the Confession themselves. Many faithful churches receive members who have not yet studied every article, or who differ on some point while agreeing not to be divisive. Membership in good standing is the elders’ judgment, and Isaac’s Well does not examine members a second time.
  6. Where this charter is silent, the board is guided by Scripture as summarized in the Confession, and by the counsel of the pastors of participating churches (Proverbs 11:14).

4. Participating churches

  1. Isaac’s Well is open to members of churches of the Reformed Baptist Network and of FIRE.
  2. The board may also admit other churches that confess the 1689, on application by their elders.
  3. FIRE is a broader fellowship than the 1689 alone. So every profile shows the confession of the member’s church and whether it belongs to RBNet or FIRE, and any member may choose to see only members of churches that confess the 1689.
  4. Opening Isaac’s Well beyond RBNet, FIRE and other 1689 churches, for example to Presbyterian churches, is a foundational change. It can be made only as section 12.2 provides.
  5. A participating church agrees, through its elders:
    • to affirm only members it knows to be at least 18, legally unmarried (any divorce final), in good standing and free to marry;
    • to tell Isaac’s Well promptly when a member it affirmed is no longer in good standing;
    • to renew each affirmation once a year, when Isaac’s Well emails a reminder (section 5.5);
    • to have another elder affirm any member who is an elder’s own relative, except where the church has only one elder (section 4.6);
    • to name one elder, or the elders together, to do this; and
    • that each elder who does it accepts a short confidentiality undertaking before he is given any access. It includes this promise: “If we tell you of a finding about your member, do not try to identify or contact the person who reported, or their church.”
  6. A church takes part only after Isaac’s Well has confirmed its affirming elder by hand: by checking the church’s public listing with RBNet, FIRE or its own website, and by calling the church at a number it publishes. A change of that elder’s email address is confirmed the same way. Where a church has only one elder, he may affirm his relative, and the chairman, or another director if the chairman is related, confirms the affirmation with him by telephone. Applicants choose their church from the list of confirmed churches, and never supply an elder’s contact details.
  7. Taking part does not mean a church endorses every decision of Isaac’s Well, and Isaac’s Well passes no judgment on any church. An affirmation is given in good faith as pastoral care. Elders, their churches, RBNet and FIRE are not parties to the terms of use, and guarantee nothing.

5. Members

  1. A member must be:
    • at least 18 years old, giving their date of birth when joining, with their elders confirming that they are at least 18;
    • legally unmarried and, in the judgment of their elders, free to marry;
    • a member in good standing of a participating church;
    • affirmed as such by that church’s elders before their profile can be seen by anyone; and
    • committed to the code of conduct.
  2. Affirmation means only that the elders know the person as a member in good standing who is free to marry. It is not a guarantee of character, safety or suitability, and Isaac’s Well runs no criminal background checks. Every profile leads with the words “Affirmed by their elders as a member in good standing, free to marry,” followed by a short notice that this is no guarantee and that no background check was made. The full notice is given when a member joins. Members are still to use wisdom, take time and seek counsel (Proverbs 15:22).
  3. The Confession does not address divorce and remarriage, and faithful elders differ on it. Whether someone previously married is free to marry is therefore their own elders’ judgment, which Isaac’s Well does not revisit. Every applicant states whether they have never married, are widowed or are divorced, and whether they have children. This is always told before an introduction. Whether it also shows on the profile is the member’s choice. After being told, either member may decline the introduction, with no reason owed.
  4. Membership ends when a member marries, leaves their church, asks to leave, or is no longer affirmed by their elders. Members are asked to tell us if they marry or leave their church. Elders tell us if a member is no longer in good standing, by withdrawing their affirmation. They may withdraw it at any time, and need not give Isaac’s Well their reasons.
  5. Lapsed affirmation. If the elders do not renew an affirmation, the profile is hidden and the member is emailed at once. If it stays hidden for [12] months, Isaac’s Well writes again, and the membership ends [30] days later. A delay in renewal is never counted against the member.
  6. Profiles. A profile shows the member’s first name, age, state or region, and their church’s confession and association (RBNet or FIRE). Where a state has fewer than [3] participating churches, it shows a wider region instead. It never shows a last name, last initial or town. It shows the elders’ short commendation only if the member chooses (section 6.2). The church’s name is shared at introduction, or earlier if the member chooses. Location data is stripped from every photograph when it is uploaded. A member may hide their profile from members of their own church or of any other church they list, and from a named person, matched by name and date of birth if that person ever joins.

6. Elders, pastors and parents

  1. On the site, the elders’ part is at the door. They affirm their own member, and Isaac’s Well shows them nothing further. A pastor sees only the applications of his own church’s members. He is not told whom a member is interested in, or who is interested in them, unless the member chooses to tell him. He is told more only as sections 9.7 to 9.9 say. The elders’ oversight of their member is not lessened. It simply does not run through Isaac’s Well (Hebrews 13:17).
  2. Affirming a member takes one click. The elders may add a short paragraph commending the member, by first name only and naming no church or town. The member sees it first, and it shows on their profile only if the member chooses. A member may also ask their pastor for a written commendation, or for help with an introduction. That is the member’s choice, never a requirement.
  3. Nothing in Isaac’s Well takes the place of the counsel of elders or of parents (Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 23:22). A member may name a father, guardian or other counselor when joining, and the member’s elders confirm the counselor’s name and relationship as part of the affirmation. The counselor accepts a short confidentiality undertaking, is told of each mutual interest and is copied on each introduction. They learn only the other member’s first name, church and profile summary, never their messages. By showing interest in a member who has named a counselor, a member agrees to that. A woman may ask that any man write first to her father or the counselor she names, through the site.

7. Governance

  1. Directors. Isaac’s Well has exactly three directors, who together are the board. Between them they run all of its work and operations. Each holds one of three seats, and each seat is a fixed role: the senior pastor an elder as chairman, the woman director and the project lead. The working group seats the first directors at founding. Each director serves a term of [three] years, and the board may re-elect them for further terms without limit. A director leaves office earlier if they resign or are removed, or their commendation lapses. A director whose term has ended serves until re-elected or replaced.

  2. Who may serve. Every director is a member in good standing of a participating church of RBNet or FIRE. The chairman holds to the 1689 Confession. The other two affirm it as the standard of the work and will not teach against it (section 3.2).

  3. Commended by their own elders. No one serves as a director, and no one who works for Isaac’s Well, paid or volunteer, including any adviser asked to help with a report, is given access to members’ information, until their own elders have commended them in writing and they have signed a confidentiality undertaking. The commendation is renewed each year and lapses if withdrawn. A director whose commendation lapses leaves office.

  4. Chairman. The chairman is a senior pastor: an ordained, serving elder of a participating church, with pastoral experience. He is the chairman and spiritual adviser to the work, and spiritual leadership of the work rests with him. He has one vote, as the others do. He leads by counsel, may ask that a matter wait one meeting for prayer and counsel, and section 3 cannot be changed without him (section 12.2). Action on a report under section 9 is never postponed for prayer and counsel. His time on the work is kept modest: about [time to be agreed with him], so that it never draws him from prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).

  5. The woman director. The woman director is a woman of mature Christian character mature Christian woman in good standing in her church (Titus 2:3–5). She need not be married. Because Isaac’s Well is not a church and its board holds no church office (section 1.6), a woman may serve as a director. The oversight Scripture gives to the elders of a church remains with the churches. Isaac’s Well serves women as much as men, and she brings their wisdom to every decision. She reads first any report made by a woman, or about a woman if the reporter asks (section 9.6). Before Isaac’s Well opens, the board names at least one other woman, usually from the advisory board, who can stand in for her. Both receive basic training in responding to abuse and fraud.

  6. Project lead. The project lead leads the building and day-to-day running of the site, its operations and the budget, and reports to the board. He is a full, voting director. He may be the representative of a firm that does the work, and work with colleagues there. The seat is his own, not the firm’s, and the firm names no one to it. He is himself a member in good standing of a participating church of RBNet or FIRE (section 7.2). Colleagues given access to members’ information first meet section 7.3, any pay to the firm is approved under section 7.11, and what the firm makes for Isaac’s Well belongs to it (section 8.10).

  7. Officers. The three directors hold the offices Tennessee requires, as counsel confirms, including treasurer and secretary. The chairman is president. The treasurer is the woman director or the chairman, never the project lead, so that no one approves money to himself. The secretary, who keeps the minutes, is not the president.

  8. Advisory board. Volunteers who want to help, mostly pastors of participating churches, and others the directors invite, form an advisory board. Someone becomes an adviser by asking, and the directors welcome them. The advisory board keeps standing seats for at least [two] pastors of RBNet churches and for one person RBNet itself names. An empty seat never holds up the work: the directors invite a pastor of an RBNet church to a pastor’s seat, or ask RBNet to name its person, and the work goes on meanwhile. FIRE is welcome as a supporter, and if it asks, one person FIRE names may sit on the advisory board too. Advisers meet with the directors from time to time, for example once or twice a year or when a major decision is coming. They receive the minutes, are consulted by survey, and may leave at any time. All advisers, including those in these seats, give counsel on governance, conduct, theology and the platform’s features. They are informal: they have no vote, no power to appoint or remove a director, no fixed term and no duties beyond giving counsel. These papers do not otherwise regulate the advisory board, except that advisers follow the conflict-of-interest policy, and an adviser asked to help with a report first meets section 7.3.

  9. Meetings. The board meets as often as the work needs, and at least once a quarter. Two directors are a quorum. The board may decide any matter by email if all three directors agree in writing, except a matter under section 7.11, which is decided at a meeting. Minutes are kept and shared with the advisory board. Matters about individual members are handled in closed session and left out of shared minutes.

  10. Decisions. The board decides by a majority of the directors present, except where this charter says otherwise. When one director must stand aside, the other two decide together.

  11. Conflicts of interest. Anyone who serves Isaac’s Well, whether as a director, officer or adviser, says so when they, their family or their business has a financial interest in a matter, and takes no part in deciding it. If one director has such an interest, the other two decide, and both must agree. If two have one, the matter is declined, or waits for a route counsel advises. If pay to a director, including the project lead or his firm, or to anyone else who serves, ever arises:

    • the interested director leaves the discussion and the vote;
    • the other two directors decide in advance, at a meeting, after seeing what the same work costs elsewhere, such as other quotes or published rates, and never above that;
    • the agreement is a written contract that Isaac’s Well may end on thirty days’ notice;
    • it is recorded in the minutes by the next meeting, with the comparison relied on and the vote; and
    • no one approves a payment to himself, his family or his business.

    Pay for work done before founding is possible only if, before founding, the person recorded in writing that they expected to be paid at a stated rate. Otherwise that work is a gift. Each director’s pay is decided separately, and what each director is paid is reported each year to the participating churches. The board adopts a written conflict-of-interest policy at founding.

  12. Protection. Isaac’s Well indemnifies its directors, officers and volunteers for what they do in good faith on its behalf, as far as the law allows. It carries directors’ and officers’ and general liability insurance before it opens.

  13. Removal and vacancies. The other two directors together may remove a director, as Tennessee law allows (Tennessee Code § 48-58-108). They will do so only for cause, such as departure from the Confession, conduct unbecoming a Christian, loss of good standing or missing three meetings in a row without good reason, after telling the director why and hearing their answer. The remaining directors fill a vacant seat with someone who meets that seat’s role, after hearing the advisory board.

8. Money

  1. “We aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man” (2 Corinthians 8:21). Isaac’s Well is funded by members’ modest fees and by freewill gifts. It never runs for profit.
  2. Fees. The board sets fees, and they stay modest. To begin with, the survey points to a one-time joining fee of $10 or less. A pastor’s word waives it, and gifts cover the waivers, so that no one is kept out by money. If a member’s elders do not affirm them, the fee is refunded. Before any change in fees, the board asks members and pastors first. At that level, fees will cover little beyond running costs. Building and promotion will depend chiefly on gifts until there are many more members.
  3. What Isaac’s Well will never do with money or data. It carries no advertising. It does not sell or promote anyone’s paid products or courses to members, including those of people who serve it, unless approved under section 7.11 and members are told plainly. It never sells or rents member data. No member can pay to be shown more often, to rank higher, or to see who is interested in them.
  4. What the money pays for. Safety and the reserve come before growth. Fees and gifts pay for:
    • running the site: hosting, software, security and payment processing;
    • safety: member support, handling reports, legal review and insurance;
    • the directors’ working time, as income allows (section 8.5);
    • building and upkeep: paid developers’ time;
    • gatherings in person: part of what comes in goes to singles’ gatherings at the General Assembly and in regions;
    • outreach: modest, honest promotion among participating churches;
    • administration: incorporation, accounting and annual filings; and
    • a reserve of six months’ running costs.
  5. A path to paid time. Isaac’s Well means to pay its directors for the work they do in leading, building and running it, so that they can give it dedicated time and the work can last. Pay is for work actually done, never for holding a seat, at a reasonable rate approved under section 7.11. It begins once running costs, safety and the reserve are met, and the board sets each year’s step in the budget, rising toward what the same work costs elsewhere as income grows. Isaac’s Well may also pay others for work that would otherwise go undone, such as development, operations and promotion, on the same terms.
  6. Stewardship. The board approves a budget each year. Two people approve any payment above a limit the board sets, and no one approves a payment to himself, his family or his business. At least two officers, one of them the treasurer, hold the bank account. The treasurer reports to the board each quarter. Each year a summary of income and spending goes to the participating churches. Once yearly income passes an amount the board sets, the accounts are independently reviewed.
  7. No debt, and no loans. Isaac’s Well takes on no debt, and commits to paid work only from money it already has. It never lends money to, or guarantees a debt of, any director or officer (Tennessee Code § 48-58-303).
  8. Gifts. A gift given for a stated purpose, such as covering waivers, is used only for that purpose.
  9. Surplus. Money not needed is kept in reserve or used for the purpose of Isaac’s Well. If the reserve grows beyond a year’s running costs, fees are lowered or waived more widely, or more is given to gatherings in person.
  10. Ownership. Isaac’s Well owns what is made for it: its software, content, records and name. Every contract for work assigns that ownership in writing. A firm keeps the general tools it already had or uses for others, and gives Isaac’s Well a free, permanent license to use them. Isaac’s Well holds its domain, hosting, code, payment and email accounts in its own name, with at least two officers able to reach each.

9. Privacy and safety

  1. Isaac’s Well collects only what it needs. It shares personal information only as its privacy notice describes, including with: the member’s own elders, for affirmation; their named counselor; other members; the directors, and any stand-in or adviser asked to help, handling a report; the companies that run the site for it, under contracts of confidentiality; and the authorities, as sections 9.8 and 9.9 say. Card details are held by the payment processor, never by Isaac’s Well.

  2. Interest is private until it is mutual. Contact details are never shown on a profile, and introductions are private. Those who run the site or handle reports read members’ messages only to deal with a report or fix a fault. Opening a member’s messages through Isaac’s Well’s tools is recorded, and the chairman, or another director if he must stand aside under section 9.6, reviews that record. Direct access to the database is limited to [named roles], used only to repair faults, and logged by the hosting provider. The board may let software check messages for signs of fraud, such as payment apps, gift cards, cryptocurrency or a phone number early on. It shows a warning only to the person receiving the message. No person reads it, and nothing is decided by it.

  3. Any member can report a concern, through the site or by writing. Reports are acknowledged automatically and read within [two] days. Isaac’s Well is run by a few volunteers and is not an emergency service: anyone in danger should call 911. Any member may also block another at any time, without a report or a reason. The blocked member is not told, and neither sees the other. A report automatically blocks contact between the two. Blocking or reporting never deletes or hides the conversation from the member who blocks or reports. They can still read it, download it and report it. Before a report is sent, the form says: “They will stop seeing you at once, and if you report threats their messaging is paused at once. They may guess why. If you fear what they may do, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) first, and we will help you plan.” Steps that only keep two members apart are not findings. They need no hearing, and are never reported to elders.

  4. Pausing an account. At least two people the board names, one of them a woman, can each pause an account at once while a report is looked into, and tell the chairman, or another director if he must stand aside under section 9.6, within two days. A report involving money, a minor or threats pauses the reported member’s messaging at once, pending review. Asking any member for money is grounds for an immediate pause. A pause while a report is looked into is not a finding, and is never reported to elders.

  5. Hearing both sides. The member reported is told what was reported and may answer before anything is decided (Proverbs 18:17). The person who reported is not named to them. If what was reported would show who made it, the reporter chooses whether it is put to the member. If the reporter declines, Isaac’s Well may still act on what it can see for itself, or on a pattern of reports. Whatever Isaac’s Well acts on is put to the member, without showing who reported, and they may answer before any finding. Reporters are told plainly: “We will not name you, but in many cases the member you report will be able to tell who you are. We will talk with you before anything is put to them.” Where a possible serious crime is reported, the member is not told until section 9.8 has been followed.

  6. Who decides. The directors decide what follows. Before anyone reads a report, the churches of both members are checked against each reader’s church. The woman director, or her stand-in, reads first any report made by a woman, or about a woman if the reporter asks. The report form names them both, with their churches, so that the reporter can choose. If neither woman can read a report within [two] days, the reporter is asked whether to wait or let another director read it. Anyone who is an elder of, a fellow member of, related to or a close friend of a member involved, or who cannot judge impartially, takes no part, and the person who reported may ask that a named person stand aside. On a board of three, this works plainly: if one director stands aside, the other two decide, and if two stand aside, the third decides. Whenever directors stand aside, the remaining director or directors may ask an adviser of suitable standing to help look into the report, but the directors still decide. If all three directors must stand aside, two advisers of suitable standing, one of them a woman where a woman is involved, look into the report and give counsel. The two members stay apart. That is not a finding. No finding is made, and no elder is told, except as section 9.8 says. Any adviser asked to help with a report first meets section 7.3, and is not tied to either member. A report about a director goes to the other two, and the director concerned takes no part. The reporter is told whether action was taken, and may ask the directors to review a decision to take none. A member whose account is closed may ask once for the directors to review it. A report continues even if either person leaves, or if the reporter’s affirmation is withdrawn.

  7. Not church discipline. Isaac’s Well may warn a member, or pause or close their account, under its terms of use. This is not church discipline. Compare Confession 26.15, which holds that even churches meeting by their messengers are “not entrusted with any church-power… to exercise any censures either over any churches or persons”. Much less is Isaac’s Well. It passes no judgment on anyone’s standing in Christ’s church. When, after hearing both sides, Isaac’s Well pauses or closes an account for misconduct, the person who reported is told first. Then the member’s elders are told the kind of conduct found and what was done, so that they can care for their member as they judge best. They are never told the name, church, messages or identifying details of anyone who reported, without that person’s written agreement. When elders are told, here or under section 9.8, they are asked not to seek out, or contact, the person who reported or that person’s church about the matter. Anything they need goes through Isaac’s Well. If both members belong to the same church, its elders are told only as this section says, and Isaac’s Well talks with the person who reported before they are.

  8. Possible serious crime. This means assault, abuse, stalking, threats, fraud, or anything involving a child. Rude or unwelcome conduct is not a crime in this sense. Isaac’s Well reports to the civil authorities whenever the law requires it, always when a child may be at risk, and when someone is in danger of death or serious injury. It urges and helps anyone harmed to go to the police. No one at Isaac’s Well will discourage or delay a report, or deal with a crime in place of the authorities (Romans 13:1–4). Where it is reported, the accused member’s elders are told only after that, as an accusation and not a finding, and after the person harmed has been told when this will happen. They are never told while the authorities ask us to wait, or while telling them could put anyone at risk. Isaac’s Well never arranges, or asks anyone to take part in, a meeting between the person harmed and the person reported. If the law does not require a report to the authorities and the person harmed chooses not to make one, Isaac’s Well first talks with that person, then handles the matter under sections 9.5 to 9.7.

  9. Who else is told. A reporter’s own elders are told only if the reporter chooses. When a court or agency demands a member’s information, Isaac’s Well tells the member first, unless the law forbids it, the authorities ask it to wait, or telling them could put anyone at risk or hinder an investigation of harm.

  10. When a membership ends. The member’s profile and photographs are deleted within a period the board sets, proposed at [30] days. Messages a member sent stay in the recipients’ conversations, as letters do, until the recipients leave or delete them, and any member may download a copy of any conversation they are part of. Isaac’s Well keeps only what the law or safety requires:

    • payment records, for [7] years;
    • anything bearing on an open report or a matter given to the authorities, until it is closed;
    • a brief record of anyone whose account was closed for misconduct, for [10] years, so that they cannot simply rejoin;
    • reports the member made, kept while the member reported remains a member;
    • reports not borne out, for up to [12] months; and
    • the record of the member’s acceptance of the terms and of their consents.

    Backups are overwritten within a further [60] days. The email confirming deletion states exactly what was kept, why and for how long, and the date by which backups are overwritten. A report the reporter chose not to have put to the member is not counted as not borne out. It is kept like other closed reports, so that a pattern can be seen.

  11. Rejoining. A member who leaves while a report about them is open, or within [12] months of a warning, or of a pause after hearing both sides, is recorded as if their account had been closed. Rejoining is checked by name and date of birth, not email alone, and the directors decide before any profile is shown.

  12. If a minor gets in. The account is closed. Isaac’s Well keeps what the law requires to protect the child and to report it, the directors review the messages exchanged with adults, and it reports as section 9.8 says.

  13. Before Isaac’s Well opens, a lawyer reviews the terms of use and privacy notice, including state laws on online dating services, and confirms the religious exemptions it relies on.

10. Built by listening

  1. Isaac’s Well is shaped first by Scripture, then by listening carefully to singles and pastors. The survey findings of 2026 inform its first plan.
  2. Singles and pastors are surveyed at least once a year. Answers are anonymous by default and seen only by the few people the board appoints for the purpose, never by anyone who is an elder in the respondent’s church. Individual answers given in 2026 stay with the working group, as was promised.
  3. Before any major change, such as who can join, the pastors’ part, how first contact works, or fees, the board asks by survey. It then publishes what it heard, what it decided and why.
  4. Surveys are counsel, not a vote. They inform the board’s judgment, and never overrule Scripture or this charter.
  5. Isaac’s Well starts small, by hand where it can. It builds more only when real use shows the need.

11. RBNet and FIRE

  1. Isaac’s Well will ask RBNet and FIRE to commend it to their churches.
  2. It uses their names and marks only with their permission.
  3. It reports to each once a year, and asks nothing more of their time or their assemblies, beyond giving totals only, never names. It holds a singles’ gathering at their assemblies only where they welcome it.
  4. An adviser RBNet or FIRE names is never asked to help with a report under section 9.6, so that no member’s information reaches either.

12. Changing this charter, and ending

  1. This charter may be changed by two of the three directors, at a meeting, after each director has been given notice stating the amendment and its text.
  2. Section 3 (Confession), the rule that every member is affirmed by their own elders (sections 5.1 and 6.1), the scope of RBNet and FIRE (sections 4.1 and 4.4), the seats RBNet holds on the advisory board (section 7.8), and this clause itself may be changed only by all three directors, after the pastors of participating churches have been consulted. To consult them, Isaac’s Well gives written notice of the proposed change to each participating church’s affirming elder, allows 30 days for replies, and notes the replies in the minutes.
  3. Members’ personal information is never sold. If Isaac’s Well is dissolved, it is deleted, except records the law requires to be kept, which an officer the board names holds until they may be destroyed, and anything a court or the authorities lawfully require. If the work is transferred to an organization of like faith, a member’s information passes only with that member’s consent. Any remaining assets go to one or more organizations of like faith that are exempt under section 501(c)(3), chosen by the board, or otherwise as the articles provide. “Of like faith” means holding to the Confession named in section 3.1.

Adopted by the founding board on ________________.

Notes for counsel

  • Directors’ terms (7.1). Tennessee Code § 48-58-105 requires the charter or bylaws to set directors’ terms, of no more than five years, or else a term is one year. Directors may be re-elected, and a director whose term ends serves until a successor qualifies. The draft proposes [three] years. Please confirm. https://codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-48-corporations-and-associations/tn-code-sect-48-58-105/
  • Removal (7.13). In a corporation without members, § 48-58-108(h) lets the board remove a director it elected, without cause, by two thirds of the directors in office, which on a board of three is the other two. Subsection (i) allows removal by a majority for missing a number of meetings set in the charter or bylaws at the start of the term. The draft binds the board to act only for cause and after a hearing, which the statute does not require. Please confirm that the founding directors, seated by the working group, count as directors “elected” by the board for this purpose, and whether the cause and hearing promise should be framed as a limit on the power or as the board’s practice. https://codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-48-corporations-and-associations/tn-code-sect-48-58-108/
  • If no director remains (7.13). If one church’s elders commend all three directors and withdraw those commendations together (7.3), every seat falls empty at once and no director remains to fill them. Please advise on a fallback, for example through the incorporator or the statute, that gives neither RBNet nor the advisers any power to appoint directors, so that Isaac’s Well still has no members (articles 1.5).