Covenant News

Amendments Slated for Vote at Annual Meeting

CHICAGO, IL (March 29, 2005) - There are a number of proposed bylaws amendments to be presented for a vote of delegates attending the 120th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church June 21-24 in Keystone, Colorado.

Following is a list of the amendments to come for consideration.

Executive Board Meetings

• Section 8.2.e.iii - The proposed amend­ment adds the words "unless by mu­tual agreement no meeting is deemed necessary," so that the sentence would read: The Executive Board shall meet at least once with the Council of Super­intendents in each calendar year un­less by mutual agreement no meeting is deemed necessary.
• Rationale - The Executive Board, which pro­posed this amendment, provides the following rationale for the amendment: "This meeting can be helpful if there are items of mutual concern. However, given the time constraints upon both parties to have a meeting out of simple obligation is a poor use of time and re­sources. This allows all of us to main­tain the intent of the authors and not be in open violation of the constitution if a meeting does not happen, as in this calendar year."

Board of Directors of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence

• Section 7.10.g.iii - The proposed amend­ment inserts the words "or four" and changes "five" to "six," so that Section 7.10.g.iii would read: three or four members of the Board of Directors of Covenant Ministries of Benevolence shall be elected each year for a term of six years.
• Section 12.2.b - The proposed amend­ment replaces "fifteen" with "twenty-one to twenty-six members, including the" so that paragraph b would read: The Board of Directors of Cov­enant Ministries of Benevolence, also known as the Board of Benevolence, shall consist of twenty-one to twenty­-six members, including the elected members and the ex-officio members identified in these Bylaws. Each member of the Board of Benevolence shall be a member of an ECC congregation. Each member of the Board of Benevolence serves all ECC congregations.
• Section 12.2.b.i (2) - The pro­posed amendment adds the words "or four" and changes "five" to "six" so that Section 12.2.b.i (2) would read: Except in the case of a vacancy, three or four members of the Board of Benevolence shall be elected each year for a term of six years.
• Section 12.2.b.i (5) - The proposed amendment replaces the words "six" with "eight" so that Section 12.2.b.i (5) would read: At least eight of the elected mem­bers of the Board of Benevolence shall be female. At least eight of the elected members of the Board of Benevolence shall be male.

Covenant Women Ministries

• Section 10.2. (and elsewhere) - The pro­posed amendment would change all references to "Covenant Women Min­istries" to read "Women Ministries." As a result, the paragraph "Women Min­istries" would be renumbered Section 10.5, and the other sections would be renumbered accordingly so that ev­erything is addressed in alphabetical order.
• Rationale - Covenant Women Ministries voted on a new constitution and name change last August. This amendment reflects the change in that department.

Paul Carlson Medical Program, Inc.

• Section 12.1 - The proposed amendment adds "Paul Carlson Medical Program, Inc., an Illinois not-for-profit corpo­ration" to the list of corporations es­tablished by the Evangelical Covenant Church.
• Section 12.8 - The proposed amend­ment adds the following paragraph to Article XII, to become Section 12.8: Paul Carlson Medical Program, Inc., doing business as Paul Carlson Partner­ship, develops projects, programs, and facilities for medical services, public health services, child welfare services, community development activities, education, and research; raises funds to be used to accomplish the purposes to which Paul Carlson dedicated his life; and assures the ongoing witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ that characterized the life and death of Paul Carlson. The Evangelical Covenant Church is the corporate member of Paul Carlson Medical Program, Inc. The voting members of the Executive Board of the ECC elect the directors of Paul Carlson Medical Program, Inc.

Publication of Proposed Amend­ments

• Section 16.2 -  The proposed amend­ment changes the words "ninety days" to "sixty days" in the first line of Section 16.2., so the sentence would read: At least sixty days before the An­nual Meeting when final action is to be taken on a proposed amendment to these Bylaws, the corporate secretary of the ECC shall send a copy of each proposed amendment to each ECC congregation and shall cause the text of each proposed amendment to be published in the official print publica­tion of the ECC and in the electronic media that the ECC regularly uses for communication with ECC congrega­tions and members of ECC congrega­tions.
• Rationale - The Bylaws allow for the Executive Board to propose an amendment to the Bylaws ninety days before an Annual Meeting. This change gives the print publication time to prepare such copy and distribute it.

 

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