Name Article 1.
1. The name of the organization shall be - The Brotherhood of Anglican Churchmen, which may be shortened to the letters "BAC".
Aims and Objectives Article 2.
2. In the name of Christ, the aims and objectives of the Brotherhood of Anglican Churchmen in the Diocese of Ottawa shall be:
a. to strive to be worthy examples of our Faith;
b. to attend church service regularly, and to participate actively in the life and work of our Church;
c. to aid and encourage youth to play their full part in Church life;
d. to strive for justice and peace among all people; and,
e. to work for a better understanding of and respect for all people.
Membership Article 3.
3. Membership in the BAC shall be open to anyone who subscribes to the aims and objectives of the Brotherhood.
4. A member may be either an individual affiliated through a parish organization, or an individual member-at-large. All members have the same rights, privileges, and duties within the organization.
5. A member may withdraw from membership by notification in writing to the Secretary of the organization.
6. Membership may be withdrawn from a person by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote at an Annual Meeting.
7. The membership fee shall be as decided by the Diocesan Council, and may be collected from parish affiliated groups or directly from members.
Diocesan Council Article 4.
8. The affairs of the BAC within the Diocese of Ottawa shall be managed by a committee called the Ottawa Diocesan Council of the Brotherhood of Anglican Churchmen, or Diocesan Council for short.
9. The Diocesan Council shall be composed of the:
a. President (Brother Gavel);
b. Secretary (Brother Scribe);
c. Treasurer (Brother Purse);
d. Chaplain (Brother Cross); and,
e. Special Council Members as may be desired.
10. The Diocesan Council shall:
a. support the work of the parish organizations affiliated with the BAC;
b. coordinate BAC activities within the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa between Annual Meetings;
c. liaise with other like-minded organizations in Canada, or elsewhere;
d. collect and expend funds for Diocesan BAC programs and projects;
e. fill all vacancies in office occurring between Annual Meetings;
f. convene an Annual Meeting of the BAC; and,
g. convene Special General Meetings of the membership of the BAC, when so required.
Powers and Duties of Diocesan Council Members Article 5.
11. The President shall preside at all Diocesan Council, Annual, and Special General Meetings, and shall perform the duties usual to the office of President. He shall be an ex-officio member of all Diocesan Committees of the Brotherhood. He shall have the power to appoint a Member of Council to act on his behalf in the event of his absence.
12. The Secretary shall:
a. keep the minutes of all meetings and distribute them as considered advisable;
b. maintain the administrative files of the Diocesan Council;
c. be the custodian of the Constitution;
d. keep, or arrange to have kept, a list of contacts of affiliated parish organizations; and,
e. perform such other duties as the nature of his office may be assigned to him by the President or the Diocesan Council.
13. The Treasurer shall:
a. have custody of the funds of the Brotherhood which shall be deposited in a financial institution in the Diocese;
b. report at each Annual Meeting and at each Diocesan Council meeting, upon the financial affairs of the Brotherhood;
c. receive membership fees from parish affiliated organizations or members-at-large; and,
d. perform such other duties as the nature of the office may require or as may be assigned to him by the President, the Diocesan Council, or an Annual Meeting.
14. The Chaplain shall participate in the affairs of the Brotherhood, and provide advice and counsel as required. The Chaplain is normally appointed by the Bishop of the Diocese. The Chaplain shall be a full voting member of the Diocesan Council.
15. The Special Council Members of the Diocesan Council shall be as decided by the Diocesan Council or by the Membership at an Annual Meeting. The Special Council Members shall be full voting members of the Diocesan Council, and they shall perform such duties as assigned to them by the Membership or the Diocesan Council.
Auditor Article 6.
16. The Auditor shall be elected at the Annual Meeting of the Brotherhood. The Auditor shall audit the books and accounts of the Brotherhood and submit a report to the Annual Meeting.
Nominations, Elections, and Installation Article 7.
17. Any Anglican communicant layman of the Diocese of Ottawa shall be eligible for election to any office provided that he is a paid-up member of the Brotherhood.
18. The consent of the nominee shall be obtained before nomination.
19. The Council shall form a Nominating Committee of one or more persons at least three months prior to each Annual Meeting. At the Annual Meeting, the Chair of the Nominating Committee shall take over the Chair of the Meeting and preside over elections. He shall submit the Nominating Committee report and request further nominations from the floor. After elections have been conducted, the Chaplain shall install the new Diocesan Council Members, and the incoming President shall take over the Chair.
Meetings Article 8.
20. The Annual Meeting of the Brotherhood shall normally convene in February at the call of the President, or failing action by the President, by the Diocesan Council, at such time and place as may be designated by the Diocesan Council. It shall receive reports of the Diocesan Council and committees of the Brotherhood and deal with all other general or specific matters relating to the Brotherhood. At least one (1) month prior to the date set for the Annual Meeting, notice shall be given to parish affiliated organizations and members-at-large by the Secretary, or other members. A quorum at an Annual Meeting shall be 10 members representing at least four different parishes.
21. The Diocesan Council shall meet at the call of the President, or any other two of its members acting jointly. At least seven days notification of the meeting shall be given by the calling member or members. A quorum at a Diocesan Council meeting shall be twenty-five (25) percent of its members.
Rules of Order Article 9.
22. The Rules of Order for Volunteer Organizations, as appended to this document, shall be used to govern the conduct of meetings.
Voting Article 10.
23. Only paid-up members present at the Annual Meeting shall be eligible to vote.
24. At all meetings, each person present shall have one vote. There shall be no proxy votes. In case of a tie, the Chairman shall cast a deciding vote.
25. Except as required by Constitution and By-Laws, all matters shall be decided by a majority vote of one-half (1/2) plus 1 person.
Changes in Constitution and By-Laws Article 11.
26. The Constitution and By-laws may be amended, repealed, or added to by a majority vote of two-thirds (2/3) at any general meeting after notice of the proposed amendment has been circulated among the members not later than one (1) month prior to the date of the meeting at which the amendment is to be considered.
Fiscal Year Article 12.
27. The Fiscal Year of the Diocesan Brotherhood shall be from January 1st to December 31st.
Distribution Article 13.
28. A copy of the Constitution shall be given to the Bishop, to all members of the Diocesan Council, and at least one copy to each parish affiliated organization. A copy of the Constitution will be made available to members generally upon request and be available for members at the Annual Meeting.
Wind-up or Dissolution Article 14.
29. In the event of the wind-up or dissolution of the Diocesan Council of the Brotherhood of Anglican Churchmen, the liabilities of the organization shall be paid, and any assets turned over, free of charge, to a like minded organization of the choosing of the last Diocesan Council.
General
1. Rules of Order for any meeting are designed to ensure an orderly meeting in which the minority have the right to be heard, and the majority have the right to make decisions. Because volunteer organizations are not debating societies, they have followed more relaxed meeting rules than are found in rules of order books. Most books on rules of order run into hundreds of pages and cover rules for many obscure situations that do not occur in volunteer organization meetings. In general, as well, there are very few people who know anything about formal rules, but through tradition, courtesy, and common sense, rules of conduct for meetings have grown and are in widespread use. The purpose of this set of rules is to make available common sense meeting rules appropriate to the volunteer organizations.
Chair
2. Every meeting shall have a chairperson who shall act as the impartial moderator of the meeting. If regular officers of the organization are not available, the meeting shall elect a chair. The chair shall not engage in any debate, nor shall the chair move or second motions. In the event that a discussion has not examined all information on a subject, the chair may provide information to ensure a full and complete discussion of the subject at hand.
3. In the event that the chair wishes to enter into debate on a motion, the meeting shall be turned over to another person who shall act as the chair. If the regular chair vacates the chair position to enter a debate, he or she shall not return to the chair position until after the motion has been disposed of.
Secretary
4. Every meeting shall have a secretary to record minutes of the meeting. If regular officers of the organization are not available, the meeting shall elect a secretary. Tape recordings of a meeting shall not be used to replace a secretary, although they may be used to aid in recording the process of the meeting. The Secretary may enter into any discussion, and may vote on all motions, providing he or she is entitled to vote by the by-laws or constitution of the organization.
Agenda
5. For the orderly conduct of business, each meeting shall have an agenda, which gives the purpose of the meeting and the items to be examined. Normally the agenda should be prepared, printed, and circulated ahead of time, although it may be decided verbally by members at the meeting. The Chair should ensure that the minimum meeting agenda item requirements are met. The Chair may also include any items upon which the Chair or other members of a directing board desire disussion and action. The meeting shall adopt an agenda by motion. Any agenda prepared ahead of time may be changed as desired by the meeting.
6. As a minimum, an agenda shall have the following items:
a. Declaration of a quorum by the chair;
b. Adoption of an agenda;
c. Approval of the minutes of the last meeting;
d. Business arising from the minutes;
e. New business; and,
f. Adjournment.
Motions and Discussions
7. The three main purposes of a meeting are to make decisions on the running of the organization, to provide information about the affairs of the organization, and to provide an opportunity for members to raise questions of concern about past or future events in the organization. Every person attending a meeting shall have the right to hear information and to raise matters of concern. Only members have the right to make decisions about an organization.
8. A motion is the decision making tool of a meeting. All motions under these rules require a mover and a seconder. There are four stages of a motion: forming a motion where the desired decision is put into words; stating by the chair of the actual motion; discussion of the motion; and finally, acceptance or rejection of the motion by voting.
9. Because it is essential that members know what they are voting for or against, it is the duty of the chair to make sure the motion is clear. If the motion is unclear, the chair may ask that it be re-worded, or may suggest re-wording to make it clear, bearing in mind the original intent of the motion. Any person attending the meeting may request clarification of a motion.
10. Motions may be formed before or after a discussion or a report. In large meetings it is usual to have a motion on the floor and then the discussion. In small meetings, it is typical to have some discussion with a motion being formed from the results of the discussion. In the event of discussion before a motion is formed, the chair shall monitor the discussion and ask for a motion to be formed. If no motion is formed, the chair may rule that the meeting move on to the next item of business.
11. All remarks should be directed to the chair, although in small meetings this rule may be relaxed somewhat, with the provision that every person present should be able to hear clearly any discussion taking place.
12. With the approval of the mover and seconder, a motion under discussion may be changed, in which case, it shall be re-stated by the chair. A motion may be withdrawn by the mover with the agreement of the seconder at any time. If the seconder does not agree, the motion shall stand for discussion and a vote.
13. Except for a motion of appeal which takes precedence over all matters, only one motion shall be open for discussion at any one time. Only one amendment to the main motion under discussion shall be open at any one time. An amendment must be voted upon or withdrawn before the main motion question is put. Even if the amendment is passed, the main motion must be voted upon or withdrawn.
14. A motion to reconsider a matter already decided upon at a meeting requires approval of two-thirds of the members present.
Voting
15. Except where required by the governing rules of an organization, all motions shall be decided by a majority vote of members or delegates eligible to vote. Although nonmembers or nondelegates may speak at a meeting, they shall not vote.
16. There shall be no proxy voting or alternate delelgates, unless authorized in the constitution or by-laws of an organization.
17. Before any question is voted upon, the chair shall ask the meeting if it is ready for the question. If there is no further discussion, the chair shall ask how many are for the motion, and then how many are against the motion. If necessary, the chair may require an actual count to be made to determine the outcome.
18. Voting shall be by a show of hands, or if the matter warrants by secret ballot. If the voting is by a show of hands, the chair shall vote only in the event of a tie vote, or the equivalent for motions that require more than an majority vote. If the voting is by ballot, the chair, with no exceptions permitted, shall vote at the same time as the other members.
Appeal of Chair Rulings
19. Every ruling by the chair can be appealed. Any member or delegate disagreeing with a ruling of the chair has the right to move immediately a motion of appeal of a ruling. The appeal must be seconded. Debate on the appeal motion is allowed, and if the chair wishes to enter the debate, he or she must vacate the chair as outlined above. A majority vote supports the chair's ruling. If the motion is defeated, the chair position is not supported and therefore the chair must return to the matter under discussion before the ruling was made.
Point of Order
20. At any time during the meeting, a person may raise a point of order stating what rule or order of business is being violated. The chair shall immediately make any corrections required, or shall rule that the procedure in question is acceptable. Any such ruling is appealable.
Minutes
21. The secretary shall prepare and sign a written set of minutes which shall contain a summary of what took place and the decisions made at a meeting. Verbatim minutes shall not be made. The minutes may be posted or circulated as is required or customary in an organization. At the next meeting of the organization, the chair shall request a motion of acceptance of the minutes of the last meeting. After the motion has been moved and seconded, the chair shall then ask if there are any errors or omissions in the minutes. If there are, they shall be recorded by the secretary in the current meeting's minutes. When there are no further corrections, the chair shall put the question. No further business of the current meeting shall be done unless the minutes of the previous meeting are accepted, or accepted with corrections. After the motion of acceptance has been passed, the chair shall sign and date the minutes of the last meeting with the notation of "Accepted", or "Accepted with corrections".
Matters not Covered by Rules
22. The meeting shall decide by majority vote on any matter or procedure not covered by these rules of order, such decision shall be only valid for the meeting making the decision.
Free reproduction without changes is permitted.
© 1992 L.A. Bowerman, 6 Lipstan Ave, Nepean, ON K2E 5Z3 Canada Voice/Fax: (613)225-7904