keefe Posted March 18, 2016 at 05:33 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 at 05:33 PM At our Church's Annual Meeting (4th Week of January) our elections are held for our Boards and Committees, this year we had no person nominated and/or elected for Secretary so at our meetings we have had a Secretary Pro Tem. We have now have had a person step forward saying that they are willing to become Secretary and were told that they will be at our next Board meeting (Trustee Board and Church Council). Our bylaws state "In case of a vacancy created by resignation in any office or committee (except Elder or Pastor) the church council shall appoint a replacement until the Annual Meeting." My question is that since the vacancy in the Secretary position was not due to resignation would the position be filled by the Church Council or by the members of the congregation who would have elected the Secretary at the Annual Meeting? Thank you for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted March 18, 2016 at 05:40 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 at 05:40 PM Ultimately it is up to your organization to interpret your bylaws. Then the bylaws should be amended to remove the ambiguity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted March 18, 2016 at 05:42 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 at 05:42 PM What you have is an incomplete election, which is different from a vacancy. The procedure now would be for the congregation to meet again to nominate and elect the person willing to serve as secretary. If there are board meetings before that can happen, the board can, and probably should, appoint this person as secretary pro tem for that meeting ( or for each such meeting, if necessary). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Ralph Posted March 18, 2016 at 06:31 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 at 06:31 PM A vacancy owing to nobody being elected is not a vacancy due to a resignation, and as such the board cannot appoint someone under the above provision. Needs to be a membership vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Goldsworthy Posted March 18, 2016 at 07:07 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 at 07:07 PM 1 hour ago, keefe said: Our bylaws state "In case of a vacancy created by resignation in any office or committee (except Elder or Pastor) the church council shall appoint a replacement until the Annual Meeting." Curious. -- "resignation"? "Death" is not an option? "Expulsion" is not an option? "Abandonment" (or "permanent medical incapacity") is not an option? Only vacancies -- created in one certain way -- trigger the vacancy-filling rule? Makes one wonder. What were they thinking who drafted, and adopted, this rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted March 18, 2016 at 10:05 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 at 10:05 PM I fully agree with potzbie, and had the same thoughts on reading that bylaws language. Resignation is only one of many ways that vacancies can occur, and it would seem wise to amend the bylaws to eliminate the single reason and allow the board to fill all vacancies. However even if the bylaws did say "all vacancies", the answer to the current question would remain the same. An incomplete election of an office does not create a vacancy. An office that was never properly filled to begin has not been "vacated". The proper course of action when an incomplete election exists is to complete the election. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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