Is "NEW BUSINESS" required to be on the agenda?

[Guest Decently & in Order]

Our church by-laws require that our business meetings be conducted with Robert's Rules of Order.  However, the pastor has deleted "NEW BUSINESS" from the agenda.  All new business items must be submitted to the pastor or to the board of deacons for consideration so that they can decide privately whether a motion should be brought to the floor during a regular church business meeting.   Is this procedure proper under Robert's Rules of Order, or is it mandatory that if Robert's Rules of Order are to be followed, "NEW BUSINESS" must be part of the business meeting agenda?

[Atul Kapur]

RONR says that most organizations don't need an agenda and use the Standard Order of Business as stated in the book. That Standard Order includes New Business and any member can introduce any proper item under New Business.

If you use an agenda to control the items that will be raised at the meeting, that's up to you. However, the meeting itself has to approve the agenda, so the meeting can decide to add items when the agenda is up for approval. What authority are the Pastor and Deacons using (or say they are using) to control the agenda? It's definitely not RONR.

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, Guest Decently & in Order said:

However, the pastor has deleted "NEW BUSINESS" from the agenda. All new business items must be submitted to the pastor or to the board of deacons for consideration so that they can decide privately whether a motion should be brought to the floor during a regular church business meeting.

The pastor (or the board) have no authority to make these decisions. The assembly could adopt such rules if it wishes. These would be special rules of order, and would therefore require a 2/3 vote with previous notice or a vote of a majority of the entire membership.

Only the assembly has the authority to adopt an agenda (or to make changes to the agenda). This is easier, and requires only a majority vote, but unless this is coupled with special rules of order, this alone won't accomplish a whole lot.

1 hour ago, Guest Decently & in Order said:

Is this procedure proper under Robert's Rules of Order, or is it mandatory that if Robert's Rules of Order are to be followed, "NEW BUSINESS" must be part of the business meeting agenda?

There's a lot going on in this question. As noted above, the procedure followed was not proper. Only the assembly may make any of these decisions, and some of them require higher votes than others.

As for the second part of the question, it is not "mandatory that if Robert's Rules of Order are to be followed, "NEW BUSINESS" must be part of the business meeting agenda," but this answer requires a bit of explanation.

• First, it must be understood that RONR does not require an assembly to adopt an agenda at all, and (contrary to popular belief) does not even recommend doing so for all assemblies. For an assembly which meets at least quarterly and which generally completes its full order of business each meeting, RONR suggests that the assembly simply follow the standard order of business (or a special order of business adopted by the assembly, which would require a special rule of order). The standard order of business does include a heading for New Business.
• If an assembly were to choose to adopt an agenda, the assembly is free to include (or not include) such headings as it sees fit. So the assembly could adopt an agenda which does not include a heading for New Business.
• Contrary to popular belief, however, there is no requirement in RONR that an item must be listed on the agenda in order to be considered. So unless the organization has such a rule, even if an agenda is adopted which does not include "New Business," members still remain free to introduce items of New Business after all business on the agenda has been completed. The purpose of an agenda in RONR is not to limit what business may be considered, but to ensure that the most important items are considered first. (An assembly potentially could limit business by voting to adjourn immediately after completing all business on the agenda, but again, this is up to the assembly itself, not the pastor or the board.

4 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

RONR says that most organizations don't need an agenda and use the Standard Order of Business as stated in the book. That Standard Order includes New Business and any member can introduce any proper item under New Business.

If you use an agenda to control the items that will be raised at the meeting, that's up to you. However, the meeting itself has to approve the agenda, so the meeting can decide to add items when the agenda is up for approval. What authority are the Pastor and Deacons using (or say they are using) to control the agenda? It's definitely not RONR.

Adopting an agenda, in and of itself, does not "control the items that will be raised at the meeting." It will have this effect only if (1) the assembly has special rules of order on this matter (such as prohibiting the introduction of items not listed on the agenda, or requiring previous notice of motions, or the like) or (2) the assembly immediately adjourns the meeting after completing the agenda. If neither of these steps are taken, members may introduce items of New Business after all items on the agenda have been completed.

Edited April 20, 2020 at 04:42 PM by Josh Martin

[Atul Kapur]

2 hours ago, Atul Kapur said:

If you use an agenda to control the items that will be raised at the meeting, that's up to you.

 

2 hours ago, Josh Martin said:

Adopting an agenda, in and of itself, does not "control the items that will be raised at the meeting." It will have this effect only if (1) the assembly has special rules of order on this matter (such as prohibiting the introduction of items not listed on the agenda, or requiring previous notice of motions, or the like) or (2) the assembly immediately adjourns the meeting after completing the agenda.

Thank you for expanding on my answer and explaining how they could do it if they wish to.

Edited April 20, 2020 at 07:26 PM by Atul Kapur
It sounds sarcastic when I read it again, but it's not.

[Guest Decently & in Order]

Thank you all very much for your informative reply.  

[Guest Depends on Polity]

Given the terms used, I suspect the congregation is not Presbyterian. For everyone who has answered here, some Presbyterian denominations have a constitutional restriction that does not permit the entry of New Business.   The only matters to be addressed are those in the stated purpose of the meeting, as established by the Board. Also, the issues discussed at a congregation meeting are confined to the list in its denomination's constitution. The body that the church elects to handle the sensitive problems is the Board, and if a legitimate issue is ignored by the Board, a church member has a right to file an action with the next level of the denomination. This level is called a "Presbytery."