BYLAWS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COMMITTEE FOR A PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS
ARTICLE I – NAME and NON-PROFIT PURPOSE
Section 1: The name of the organization shall be Southern California Committee for a Parliament of the World's Religions.
Section 2: SCCPWR is an organization open to individual members, founded upon a common commitment to promote dialogue about the varieties of sacred experience in order to foster understanding, mutual respect, and cooperation. The specific purposes of this organization are to educate, promote awareness, perform religious duties when appropriate and sponsor programs to promote global awareness of the purpose and nature of interfaith organizations and their religious affiliations.
Section 3: This corporation is organized exclusively for one or more of the purposes
as specified in Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, including such purposes as educational and religious, and the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under Section (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This corporation is a nonprofit public benefit organization and is not organized for the private
gain of any individual.
ARTICLE II - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Membership shall consist of the voting members of the board of directors currently called the steering committee. Membership will represent the varieties of sacred experience with the goal of representing a consistent gender balance and participation of members from non-Abrahamic faiths.
Section 2. A nonvoting associate membership called Friends will be established.
Friends shall be designated by the Steering Committee and voted upon by the SC.
Section 3: An advisory board will consist of persons voted upon by the Steering
Committee and will have no voting power and will is not considered to be part of
membership.
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES
Section 1a: Board Role, Size, Compensation. The Board is responsible for overall policy and direction of the SCCPWR, and delegates responsibility for day-to-day operations to the membership and committees. The Board shall have up to 20 and not fewer than 16 members. The board receives no compensation other than reasonable expenses.
Section 1b: Associate Members Role, Size, Compensation Associate Members should be committed to promoting the mission and purpose of SCCPWR in all of its aspects. The Affiliate Membership shall have an unlimited number of members. The Associate Members receive no compensation other than reasonable expenses.
Section 2: Annual dues as designated by majority board vote will be paid by July 1.
Section 3: Attendance requirement. Voting Board members are required to attend
monthly steering committee meetings and to participate in one or more steering committee designated committees. Board members are encouraged, but not required,
to participate in conference calls as need. More than 3 consecutive missed meetings and or more than 5 miss meetings per year will result in removal from steering committee unless excused by Chair.
Section 4: Nominations and terms of Service. Steering committee membership will represent the varieties of sacred experience and have the goal of gender balance and
inclusion of non-Abrahamic faiths.
a) No term limits will be enacted. The board will be nominated and voted upon annually.
b) Nominating committee. A nominating committee will be formed of no less
than 3 members who will present the nominations to the Steering Committee
at the September meeting to be voted upon at the first meeting in October.
c) A term of service shall consist of one year.
d) Members of the executive committee shall serve no longer than three consecutive
years and shall rotate off the board for a period of two years.
ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS AND DUTIES
There shall be seven officers of the Board consisting of a Chair, 1st Vice Chair, Secretary, Chaplain and Treasurer with other vice chairs to be designated by vote of the board. These officers will constitute an executive committee.
Their duties are as follows:
The Chair shall convene regularly scheduled Board meetings, shall preside or arrange for other members of the executive committee to preside at each meeting in the following order: Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The chair sets the agenda for each meeting
in consultation with the executive committee. The chair is the legal designate for the
organization.
The Vice-Chair will chair committees on special subjects as designated by the board.
The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping records of Board actions, including overseeing the taking of minutes at all board meetings, sending out meeting announcements, distributing copies of minutes and the agenda to each Board member, and assuring that corporate records are maintained. Other duties include: conducting
Correspondence for the Board and executive committee and providing notice of meetings
in a timeline designated by the Board of Directors.
The Treasurer shall make a report at each Board meeting. Treasurer shall chair the finance committee, assist in the preparation of the budget, help develop fundraising plans, and make financial information available to Board members and the public. The treasurer
will present a yearly budget at annual meeting.
The Chaplain duties will be prescribed by the Board of Directors and is subject to adaptation and prescription on a continual basis.
The executive committee meets as required by the chair or committee no less than once
a month by phone, email or in person.
Vacancies. When a vacancy on the Board exists, nominations for new members may be received from present Board members by the Secretary two weeks in advance of a Board meeting. These nominations shall be sent out to Board members with the regular Board meeting announcement, to be voted upon at the next Board meeting. These vacancies will be filled only to the end of the particular Board member's term.
Resignation, Termination and Absences. Resignation from the Board must be in writing and received by the Secretary. A Board member shall be dropped for excess absences from the Board if s/he has three unexcused absences from Board meetings in a year. A Board member may be removed for other reasons by a three-fourths vote of the remaining directors.
ARTICLE V – COMMITTEES
Section 1: The officers serve as the members of the Executive Committee. Except for the power to amend the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, the Executive Committee shall have all of the powers and authority of the Board of Directors in the intervals between meetings of the Board of Directors, subject to the direction and control of the Board of Directors.
Section 2:Standing committees are as follows:
Membership and nominating
Governance and bylaw
Fundraising
Communications
Youth
Data
Event Committees
Ad hoc task force
Section 3: The Board may create additional committees as needed. The Board Chair appoints all ad hoc committee chairs with the voting approval of the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors may nominate committee chairs. Committee chairs shall come
from the Board of Directors, Friends or community at large.
Section 4: The Steering Committee may designate a committee or task force by majority
vote.
ARTICLE VI - MEETINGS
Section 1: Annual Meeting. The date of the regular annual meeting is during the month
of October.
Section 2: Special Meetings. Special meetings may be called by the Chair or the Executive Committee.
Section 3: Notice. Notice of each meeting shall be given to each voting member, by mail, not less than 14 days before the meeting.
Section 4: Meetings will be held monthly and will alternate between Saturday/Sunday in
order to accommodate the faith practices of the membership. Time of the meeting shall
be designated by the executive committee. Meetings shall last no longer than three hours. This time shall be extended only by majority vote of the Steering Committee.
Section 5: Phone conferences will be designated by executive committee or at the request
of either the executive committee or chair and are voluntary. No minutes are required of
phone conferences. No votes may be taken at phone conferences without consent of the
2/3 majority of the Steering Committee.
Section 6: Email correspondences may also be allowed to conduct business, but no votes
can be conducted via email without consent of the 2/3 majority of the Steering Committee.
ARTICLE VII. GOVERNANCE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Section 1.(a) A 2/3 majority or not less than 14 members of board members constitutes a
quorum.
(b) In absence of a quorum, no formal action shall be taken except to adjourn the
meeting to a subsequent date.
Section 2.Passage of a motion requires a simple majority (i.e., one more than half the members present).
Section 3. A voting member may vote by designating a proxy or via email within three days of
the initiation of a motion.
Section 4. Voting is to be conducted according to Roberts Rules of Order.
Section 5. Voting procedures and Policies
a) a voting member may vote by designating a proxy or via email within
3 days of the initiation of a motion
b)email votes may be called by the executive committee by way of
the chair or the vice chair #1 in place of the chair
email voting takes place with the following procedure
- vote sent out by chair or secretary only
- vote requires 3 day response
- after 3 days non-responsive members are to be
contacted by phone by secretary or secretary designate
c) a phone conference or emergency meeting may be called by any
3 members with a two week notice in the case of special issues
however, no votes shall be taken without the participation of the chair
secretary and treasurer
d)NO votes will be taken at conference calls
Conference calls are designated as discussion opportunities and any
Motion made will be tabled until the following monthly meeting
Section 6 . Secretary Minutes.
a)minutes are to be published within 5 days of monthly meeting
b) minutes consist of:
A list of members in attendance
A record of all motions – who initiated and seconded
A summation of consensus actions/ statements
c) the minutes do not include – opinions, lengthy discussions, comments
Notes upon motions, etc if necessary are to be kept separate from minutes
d)minutes are to amended according to the agenda
e)agendas for each meeting and minutes are to be sent via email no later
Than 5 days before each monthly meeting
f)a notebook of minutes shall be kept by the secretary
Section 7. An email governance policy will be established by the Steering Committee ad hoc task force and revised as needed.
ARTICLE VIII. SPEAKING ORDER
This organization represents the commitment to the expression of all varieties of faith including those of minority views and therefore adheres to a speaking order which
acknowledges and enacts this intent by the following:
a) Roberts Rules of Order will be suspended by the chair or by simple vote
of the majority to let minority opinions be expressed.
b) Steering Committee members will speak as designated by the chair or
appointed parliamentarian. The parliamentarian may be appointed by
the chair or simple majority vote of the committee.
c) Steering committee members may not speak over other members, interrupt
current speaker or speak out of the designated order and may be suspended
from participation in the discussions at the chair or parliamentarian’s
designation for a period of time at each meeting.
d) Steering committee members are requested to raise a hand and call
“point of order” when other committee members violate the above.
ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS
Section 1: These Bylaws may be amended when necessary by a two-thirds majority of the Board of Directors. Proposed amendments must be submitted to the Secretary to be sent out with regular Board announcements.
These Bylaws were approved at a meeting of the Board of Directors of _____________ on
_______________________, 2009.