A by-laws review.

On Thursday night our By-laws committee met for the first time. Our By-laws call for a review of our organizational rules every four years. The last major revision was done in 1994. At that time we did an overhaul on the whole document adding limited terms and getting rid of our Executive Council in favor of Quarterly Congregational Meetings.

Those changes stood for ten years without much modification. Then in 1994 we added a group of Counters and changed the name of our Collector to Financial Secretary. They weren't major changes but they reflected the way we were doing business at church.

In 1995 we adopted the "leap year" changes of 1994 and added provisions for a Church Historian and Trustee and Deacon Emeritus positions. These were basically confirming things that we were already doing.

I like to joke that we look at the by-laws as a "guide" rather than the law akin to Johnny Depp's line from the Pirates of the Caribbean. We use the by-laws to help us remember how to do the business of the church. They are also there in the event we get into some conflict. They give us the parameters of what we can and should do at any given time.

Now I understand that our BY-laws is a legal document. That is why they need to be reviewed regularly and changed so that we don't fall to far from compliance at any given time. This allows us some flexibility. We are also very aware that it is the spirit of the by-laws that is most important. The by-laws protect us from unscrupulous behavior by a Pastor or a member of the church who wants to push a particular agenda.

We always follow the by-laws to a tee when a major decision is going to be made. That way no one can dispute it and question the motives of those promoting the issue. It is always better to err on the side of caution and full disclosure than risk the accusation that things were voted on improperly.

Anyway, the committee met and is looking at what the document says and comparing it to our practice. You will hear more in the coming weeks.

Cal