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Bylaws Mnemonic


Guest Dr. Matt Hogendobler

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Guest Dr. Matt Hogendobler

Our church is revising its current Bylaws document in toto. We already have a Constitution. Isn't there a mnemonic (acronym?)for the ordering of articles and, if so, what does each of the letters stand for? Maybe I am confusing this with the one for creating a Constitution? Thanks. Dr. Matt

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Our church is revising its current Bylaws document in toto. We already have a Constitution. Isn't there a mnemonic (acronym?)for the ordering of articles and, if so, what does each of the letters stand for? Maybe I am confusing this with the one for creating a Constitution? Thanks. Dr. Matt

I don't know of any mnemonic or acronym for that (but stay tuned because there are folks here who have ages more experience than me :D). However, see RONR pp. 553-564 for RONR's recommendation of the order of articles and pp. 564-570 for sample bylaws.

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My favorite is "No, mom, ec pad" which isn't too meaningful, but it seems to work.

Name

Object

Members

Officers (and election)

Meetings

Executive Board (AKA Board of Directors & Executive Committee, if desired)

Committees

Parliamentary Authority

Amendments

Dissolution (maybe only needed for legal - tax - purposes)

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Guest Dr. Matt Hogendobler

My favorite is "No, mom, ec pad" which isn't too meaningful, but it seems to work.

Name

Object

Members

Officers (and election)

Meetings

Executive Board (AKA Board of Directors & Executive Committee, if desired)

Committees

Parliamentary Authority

Amendments

Dissolution (maybe only needed for legal - tax - purposes)

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Guest Dr. Matt Hogendobler

Were it that easy! I've been waiting 3 years for our Bylaws Committee to get the thing done, so I am doing it myself. I can't conceive of a way to get them to agree to combining our age-old Constitution into one, although I can recommend it (with much trepidation). I thought Constitutions were supposed to be impossible to amend and Bylaws, which is why they're a separate document, a little easier, requiring fewer votes to pass. Hmmmm.

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Were it that easy! I've been waiting 3 years for our Bylaws Committee to get the thing done, so I am doing it myself. I can't conceive of a way to get them to agree to combining our age-old Constitution into one, although I can recommend it (with much trepidation). I thought Constitutions were supposed to be impossible to amend and Bylaws, which is why they're a separate document, a little easier, requiring fewer votes to pass. Hmmmm.

If an organization does choose to have a separate constitution and bylaws, then yes, the constitution should be harder to amend (though probably not impossible). For example, I belong to one international organization in which all clubs have the same boiler-plate constitution which can be amended only by the international convention (except that clubs can amend their name and city). Of course, in that organizatioin, the bylaws are almost as hard to amend. They are about 90% boiler plate mandated by the parent organization, with only a few provisions subject to amendment by the club.

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