brie88 Posted April 18, 2011 at 08:00 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 at 08:00 PM At my church, the senior minister is currently an ex-offio member of the Board and many other bodies of the church. What we would like to do is change that status in a fashion. We would like to limit his power to his participation is limited to a spiritual one (at this time, he is acting as a non-voting member of the board to a leave that he has all the rights of the board with the ability to vote). Is there a way to do this and if so, what is the legal language that we would have to use to implement this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted April 18, 2011 at 08:03 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 at 08:03 PM At my church, the senior minister is currently an ex-offio member of the Board and many other bodies of the church. What we would like to do is change that status in a fashion. We would like to limit his power to his participation is limited to a spiritual one (at this time, he is acting as a non-voting member of the board to a leave that he has all the rights of the board with the ability to vote). Is there a way to do this and if so, what is the legal language that we would have to use to implement this?You would need to amend the bylaws to change the rights of any member (including ex-officio members). It is beyond this forum's purview to suggest legal language (plus we would be taking food out of the lawyers' kids' mouths ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tctheatc Posted April 18, 2011 at 09:32 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 at 09:32 PM At my church, the senior minister is currently an ex-offio member of the Board and many other bodies of the church. What we would like to do is change that status in a fashion. We would like to limit his power to his participation is limited to a spiritual one (at this time, he is acting as a non-voting member of the board to a leave that he has all the rights of the board with the ability to vote). Is there a way to do this and if so, what is the legal language that we would have to use to implement this?A word of advice: avoid using the word "legal" on this forum. My advice as a minister and someone who's been around churches for decades is don't mess with RONR on this one. You'll end up splitting hairs and redefining terms for the whole church to satisfy a particular case. leave membership on boards and committees alone. Leave ex-officio alone. Put a statement in your bylaws where the description of "senior minister" is that states he is "provides spiritual direction and guidance to all boards/committees, etc" as you see fit, as this is what you've indicated you want him to do. Avoid things like ex-officio with voice but no vote or with no voice or junk like that. I don't know what "board to a leave" means, but it sounds like now he's a MEMBER but stripped of the RIGHTS of membership. Why go there? So much simpler to just make him what you want. If you have boards and committees where he won't be welcome unless he's technically a member, you got bigger fish to fry anyway.keep it simple. leave what it means to be a member intact. JMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted April 18, 2011 at 09:42 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 at 09:42 PM And if you think we are leery of offering "legal" advice, you should hear what we have to say about "spiritual" advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted April 18, 2011 at 11:34 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 at 11:34 PM And if you think we are leery of offering "legal" advice, you should hear what we have to say about "spiritual" advice.Amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tctheatc Posted April 19, 2011 at 07:58 PM Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 at 07:58 PM I hope you guys didn't think that was spiritual!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted April 20, 2011 at 02:32 AM Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 at 02:32 AM At my church, the senior minister is currently an ex-offio member of the Board and many other bodies of the church. What we would like to do is change that status in a fashion. We would like to limit his power to his participation is limited to a spiritual one (at this time, he is acting as a non-voting member of the board to a leave that he has all the rights of the board with the ability to vote). Is there a way to do this and if so, what is the legal language that we would have to use to implement this?Just change it so he's not a member at all. Creating "limited" classes of membership just causes problems, especially for employees of the organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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