Council Officers

[Guest Cbollin]

can an Assisting Minister hold an office such as President or Vice-president. I can not find anything in our Constitution stating ether way. Our Constitution states a members place on the Council shall be declared vacant if the member is absent from four successive regular meetings of the congregation council without cause. If this person missed 5 to 6 successive council meetings and the annual congregational meetings is having to work a good cause?

[Kim Goldsworthy]

Can an Assisting Minister hold an office such as President or Vice-president?

Yes.

Anyone can hold any office.

Anyone can hold multiple offices.

That's The Book.

If your organization compels a winner of multiple offices to choose one office, then The Book says that the organization does have that power, too.

[Gary Novosielski]

can an Assisting Minister hold an office such as President or Vice-president. I can not find anything in our Constitution stating ether way. Our Constitution states a members place on the Council shall be declared vacant if the member is absent from four successive regular meetings of the congregation council without cause. If this person missed 5 to 6 successive council meetings and the annual congregational meetings is having to work a good cause?

Well, now wait...does it say "without cause" or does it say "without good cause"? And does it really use the passive voice like that?... "shall be declared vacant"? By whom? Was the Assisting Minister's place on the council declared vacant? By whom? Does the Assisting Minister already sit on the council? If not, what relevance do the 5 or 6 absences have? These are things your congregation will have to figure out, by reading and interpreting your bylaws in their entirety.

If your bylaws don't restrict him/her from running for office then he/she can. If people don't like the idea that an Assisting Minister will be president or vice-president, then presumably they will vote for someone else, even if the bylaws don't ban the practice.

[Josh Martin]

can an Assisting Minister hold an office such as President or Vice-president.

Nothing in RONR would prohibit it.

If this person missed 5 to 6 successive council meetings and the annual congregational meetings is having to work a good cause?

I don't know. It's your organization's rule, so your organization will have to interpret it. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 570-573 for some Principles of Interpretation.

[Guest CBollin]

Well, now wait...does it say "without cause" or does it say "without good cause"? And does it really use the passive voice like that?... "shall be declared vacant"? By whom? Was the Assisting Minister's place on the council declared vacant? By whom? Does the Assisting Minister already sit on the council? If not, what relevance do the 5 or 6 absences have? These are things your congregation will have to figure out, by reading and interpreting your bylaws in their entirety.

If your bylaws don't restrict him/her from running for office then he/she can. If people don't like the idea that an Assisting Minister will be president or vice-president, then presumably they will vote for someone else, even if the bylaws don't ban the practice.

the exact wording in the constitution is " members place on the Council shall be declared vacant if the member is absent from four successive regular meetings of the congregation council without cause." The constitution is not clean on what is cause.

Our Constitution does not even state who can declared this seat vacant. every attempt is made for members to attend council meetings along with Congregational meetings. The Council meetings are announced one month in advance at Church on Sunday in the Sunday Bulletins, on the black board at Church and on the Church's web site. we have moved the meetings to weekends and nights so those working can attend the meetings. the seat was not declared vacant this situation was brought up at a Council meeting.

[tctheatc]

Let your ministers minister. let them provide guidance in your governance. As a minister, I certainly prefer it that way. But as noted above, RONR doesn't proscribe what you're contemplating. And from what we've seen of your bylaws, they seem vague enough on the issue that they certainly could be interpreted to allow it, if that's how your church sees it.

[Josh Martin]

the exact wording in the constitution is " members place on the Council shall be declared vacant if the member is absent from four successive regular meetings of the congregation council without cause." The constitution is not clean on what is cause.

Our Constitution does not even state who can declared this seat vacant. every attempt is made for members to attend council meetings along with Congregational meetings. The Council meetings are announced one month in advance at Church on Sunday in the Sunday Bulletins, on the black board at Church and on the Church's web site. we have moved the meetings to weekends and nights so those working can attend the meetings. the seat was not declared vacant this situation was brought up at a Council meeting.

It's your organization's rule, so your organization will have to interpret it. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 570-573 for some Principles of Interpretation.

In the long run, it would also be advisable to amend the Bylaws to clear up these ambiguities.