Kate Ivy

The rule was not stated in our bylaws, but rather our "Policies and Procedures", which read as our standing rules. Frankly, our actual Bylaws are lacking at best, but I suppose that is beside the point. Could two separate motions be made in this instance? One to rescind the 85% (then back to simple majority), and the next to appoint John Doe as pastor?

Thank you for your reply. Do you believe this could be done in the same meeting?

Correct. The way our documents are written, our "Policies and Procedures" are considered as standing rules.

Hi all, First, thank you for your time. This situation is somewhat complicated, so please bear with me. Our church has been searching for a pastor for over a year. Our Pastor Search Committee finally made up their minds and presented a wonderful internal candidate (we will call him John Doe) for the final member vote. A "special meeting" was called after services in order to conduct this business on July 25, 2021. John Doe received 82.5% "yes" votes, but that wasn't enough. You see, 2 weeks prior on July 11, 2021, there was a motion to amend the Policies and Procedures to which a prospective pastor would require 85% "yes" votes (it was originally a simple majority). The motion passed with barely 2/3 majority. Our church is devastated and divided. It still is beyond me how very few saw minority rule being a problem, but I digress. Anyway, a special meeting has been called according to policies and procedures. We are planning on a motion to rescind the 85% amendment. My question is - can rescinding this be retroactive and go back to a simple majority? If so, can we then declare John Doe the new pastor (assuming the motion passes), or would the church have to revote for the pastor position? If not, what is the best way to go about this to stay within RONR? FYI - our bylaws and policies and procedures are lacking at best, so RONR is basically what is governing us at this point. Obviously this needs to be worked on in the future.