executive summary of bylaws modifications

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF BYLAWS MODIFICATIONS Our current bylaws have been modified 14 times since 1990. Each modification was intended to add something important to the Bylaws or clarify situations that over time had become unclear or irrelevant. In making these modifications, ironically these changes have also resulted in inconsistencies and ambiguous language that have occurred in the different Articles and Sections. The Board created a Task Force in January to look at Article 5, “Committees” to look especially at Board Committees, and clearly define which committees are Board Committees and what the role of the Board is in approving their chairs and members. In the process of doing this, the Task Force encountered other issues that in their judgment needed to be addressed. The following Bylaws proposal does the following: 1.

Establishes which committees are Board committees and clarifies what the Board’s role is in selecting and approving their Chairs and members;

2.

Clearly defines the important roles of the Board of Directors, the Executive Team, the Program Council and the Leadership Team within our present system of policy-based governance. In doing so, the Executive Team and the Program Council were given separate Articles to reflect their importance to the governance structure. The Board of Directors already had its own Article.

3.

Defines the composition of the Executive Team. While the composition of the Executive Team was not previously mentioned by the Bylaws, the Board believes that it should be defined. The present membership includes the Program Council Chair. The revised Bylaws would change that by removing the Chair of the Program Council, leaving the Senior Minister and the Director of Administration as its sole members. The role of the Executive Team in managing day to day operations of the church was not compatible with the volunteer nature of the Program Council Chair, which makes it difficult for that person to effectively interact with the Executive Team. The Bylaws recognize the importance of congregational representation and input with regard to Executive Team decisions by giving this responsibility to the Leadership Team, which meets monthly and has representation from the Executive Team, the Past and current Presidents of the Congregation and the President-elect, as well as the Treasurer and Program Council Chair and Chair-elect.

4.

Other sections and phrases have been rewritten and in many cases, moved to a more appropriate place in the Bylaws to improve clarity and overall coherence of the text and structure of the Bylaws.

The Board of Directors has reviewed the changes in the Bylaws proposed by the Task Force and recommends that the Congregation approve them.