Church bylaws on Congregational Meetings

At the request of the group I was asked to post the bylaws related to congregational meetings.  Section B is the applicable section for special meetings which can be called by a petition of 20 members.

ARTICLE XIV– CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS

SECTION A. REGULAR MEETINGS

1.   Fall Budget Congregational Meeting

This Meeting shall be held in the fall on a day determined by the Church Council. The purpose of the Meeting shall be to consider and approve a proposed Church preliminary budget for the next fiscal year. That budget, revised as necessary, will be presented for adoption at the Annual Congregational Meeting. Other business may be brought forward for action, as deemed appropriate by the Church Council and announced on the agenda prior to the meeting.

2.  Annual Congregational Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the Congregation shall be held in January or as soon thereafter as possible on a date specified by Church Council. The purpose of the Meeting shall be to receive the annual reports of the Moderator, Treasurer, and Ministries, to adopt the final budget for the year, vote to fill the Offices of the Church Council, and to transact such other business as may have been announced on the agenda prior to the meeting.

SECTION B. SPECIAL MEETINGS

The Church Clerk, at the direction of the Council, shall provide notice for a Special Meeting of the Congregation whenever necessary.

The Church Council shall call a Special Meeting of the Congregation upon being petitioned in writing by twenty (20) or more members of the Church, who state the reasons for the proposed meeting in the petition. The Church Council may itself call a special Congregational Meeting by a majority vote of its members.

The time, place, and purpose for such a meeting shall be stated in the call to the meeting, and only such matters as are included in the call may be considered at the meeting.

SECTION C. RULES WITH RESPECT TO THE CALL AND TO THE CONDUCT OF CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS

1.        Notice of or call to any meeting of the Church membership shall be given by the Church Clerk using one of the following methods:

a.       In the Church’s Sunday bulletin for two successive Sundays immediately preceding the meeting.

b.      From the pulpit for two successive Sundays immediately preceding the meeting.

c.       By not less than six days prior, written and/or electronic notice to the membership.

2.        The nature of the business to be transacted and an agenda must be stated in the call.

3.        All meetings of the Congregation shall be conducted in accordance with Roberts’ Rules of  Order, latest revision.

4.    A quorum for the conduct of business at any meeting shall be thirty-five percent (35%) of the active membership.

5.    In the absence of a quorum a lesser number of members may adjourn a meeting to a later-specified time and date.

6.    Unless otherwise specified elsewhere in these Bylaws, a majority vote of those present, entitled to vote, and voting, shall be official.

7.    No sale, lease, mortgage, or exchange of real estate owned by the Church shall be made, nor shall any real estate be purchased or otherwise acquired, nor shall any buildings be erected on any real estate owned by the Church, nor shall any alterations exceeding a cost of $10,000 be made in any of the present buildings or to the Church grounds, without:

a.    the affirmative vote, taken at a regular or special meeting, called for the purpose, of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the members of the Church Council, and

b.    the affirmative vote, which shall include approval of the raising of the necessary funds, taken at a regular or special Congregational Meeting,

called for the purpose, of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of those present, entitled to vote and voting at such a meeting.

8.    No action shall be taken changing the denominational affiliation of the Church, or uniting the Church with any other Church or churches without: 

       a.       the affirmative vote, taken at a regular or special Church Council

Meeting, called for the purpose, of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the members of the Church Council, and

b.     the affirmative vote, taken at a regular or special Congregational Meeting, called for the purpose, of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of those present, entitled to vote and voting at such meeting.

9.    The Church Clerk shall have the responsibility of counting votes at all Church Meetings. He or she may appoint tellers to aid in the execution of this duty. It shall also be the Church Clerk’s responsibility, in the event of a secret ballot, to destroy the ballots after a suitable holding period. A secret ballot may be employed upon majority vote of those entitled to vote and voting at any properly called Congregational Meeting.