Question on approving a call for a special meeting

[Guest John]

Our church bylaws state this

“Special Membership Meeting: With at least two-week’s notice, a special membership meeting may be called by the Chairman, by at least one quarter of the Church Council, or by members numbering at least 15% of the quorum of the last membership meeting. The Secretary shall post notice and the Chairman shall convene the meeting.”

We have members who called a special membership meeting on a specific date and time. They sent the signatures to church council 2.5 weeks ahead of the date for the meeting in order for secretary to post notice.

However, there are some church council members who contend that the entire church council must approve the call. There are some other church council members who contend that these members have the right to call the meeting, but they cannot demand a date or time. The church council sets the date and time.

Are either positions right according to Robert’s Rules?

 

 

 

[Richard Brown]

On 4/25/2024 at 9:29 AM, Guest John said:

Our church bylaws state this

“Special Membership Meeting: With at least two-week’s notice, a special membership meeting may be called by the Chairman, by at least one quarter of the Church Council, or by members numbering at least 15% of the quorum of the last membership meeting. The Secretary shall post notice and the Chairman shall convene the meeting.”

We have members who called a special membership meeting on a specific date and time. They sent the signatures to church council 2.5 weeks ahead of the date for the meeting in order for secretary to post notice.

However, there are some church council members who contend that the entire church council must approve the call. There are some other church council members who contend that these members have the right to call the meeting, but they cannot demand a date or time. The church council sets the date and time.

Are either positions right according to Robert’s Rules?

 

 

 

The way I read the quoted provision from your church bylaws is that when the required number of church members call for a special meeting, those members set the date time and location for the meeting and the secretary must post the appropriate notices and the chairman must call the meeting to order at the specified date, time, and place.

It is up to your members to interpret their own bylaws. We cannot do that for you, but it seems clear to me that whoever “calls“ the meeting has the right to set the date time and location of the meeting. I see nothing to indicate otherwise.. The required number of members clearly have the right to call such a meeting.

Edited to add: pursuant to the rules in RONR, the notice of a special meeting must also include the purpose of the meeting, stating with some specificity the matters to be taken up it said meeting.  Your bylaws do not seem to specifically require that, but I would suggest it is a very good idea to do so anyway.  In the event of a conflict, your bylaws control.

Edited April 25, 2024 at 02:48 PM by Richard Brown
Added last paragraph

[Joshua Katz]

On 4/25/2024 at 7:29 AM, Guest John said:

Are either positions right according to Robert’s Rules?

 

RONR has nothing to say about it, since this is a matter of your own rules. I'll just say that I have no idea where these positions come from. That doesn't mean there isn't a source, just that I don't see it. It may result, for instance, from the interaction of different parts of your bylaws.

[Josh Martin]

On 4/25/2024 at 9:29 AM, Guest John said:

We have members who called a special membership meeting on a specific date and time.

Do these members constitute "at least one quarter of the Church Council, or by members numbering at least 15% of the quorum of the last membership meeting"?

On 4/25/2024 at 9:29 AM, Guest John said:

However, there are some church council members who contend that the entire church council must approve the call.

Well, this is clearly wrong. The rule in question quite clearly states "a special membership meeting may be called by the Chairman, by at least one quarter of the Church Council, or by members numbering at least 15% of the quorum of the last membership meeting" (emphasis added).

On 4/25/2024 at 9:29 AM, Guest John said:

but they cannot demand a date or time. The church council sets the date and time.

Again, this does not appear to be what the rule says. It appears to me that the members can indeed determine the date and time of the meeting.

Now, what they're suggesting is not unusual, and in fact, what they're describing is the more common way things like this work. Often, the bylaws will say something like:

"Special meetings may be called by the President or by the Executive Board and shall be called upon the written request of ten members of the Society."

The rule above does not permit ten members, on their own, to call a meeting. Only the President or the Executive Board may do so. However, it provides that the President or the Executive Board must call a special meeting if they receive a request to do so from ten members. So in that circumstance, it would indeed be the President or Executive Board that would make that determination.

Your rules, however, provide "a special membership meeting may be called by the Chairman, by at least one quarter of the Church Council, or by members numbering at least 15% of the quorum of the last membership meeting". With the way the rule is written, it appears any of these groups may call the meeting itself.

Now, quite frankly, I'm not actually sure it's a good idea to let random members decide the time and date for the meeting. It may well be more prudent for the bylaws to instead provide that the meeting will be called by the Church Council upon request of the members, and for the council to then call the meeting. Nonetheless, the organization is obliged to follow its bylaws as they are currently written, unless and until they are amended.

On 4/25/2024 at 9:29 AM, Guest John said:

Are either positions right according to Robert’s Rules?

Well, Robert's Rules doesn't really enter into it. Neither of these questions are about Robert's Rules - they're about the meaning of your bylaws.

But in my opinion, no, neither of these positions are correct. Ultimately, however, it is up to your organization to interpret its own bylaws.

On 4/25/2024 at 9:43 AM, Richard Brown said:

Edited to add: pursuant to the rules in RONR, the notice of a special meeting must also include the purpose of the meeting, stating with some specificity the matters to be taken up it said meeting.  Your bylaws do not seem to specifically require that, but I would suggest it is a very good idea to do so anyway.  In the event of a conflict, your bylaws control.

In an organization that has adopted RONR as its parliamentary authority, it is my view that the call of a special meeting must include the matters to be considered at that meeting, unless the bylaws specifically provide that this is not the case. If the bylaws are simply silent on this matter, I believe the rule in RONR is still applicable. While it is certainly correct that "In the event of a conflict, your bylaws control," I do not view this as a conflict.

Edited April 25, 2024 at 07:58 PM by Josh Martin