At the January 31, 2021 congregational meeting the session will present the following motion to the congregation:
The session of CMPC recommends changing the language of the church by laws in two places (both in section 7 of Article V).
The current wording is as follows:
“The Corporation and the Trustees
The Session is also the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees with approval of the Congregation, shall represent the Corporation with the following powers: to receive, hold, encumber, manage and transfer property, real or personal, for the Church; to hold and defend title to such property; to manage any permanent special funds for the furtherance of the purposes of the church, all subject to the authority of the Session and under the provisions of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Active elders, who are at least 18 years old, will be Trustees of the Corporation and will constitute the Board of Trustees.
The officers of the Board of Trustees shall be as follows:
President: The Chairperson of the Finance Committee
Vice President: The Moderator of the Board of Deacons
Secretary: The Clerk of the Session
Treasurer: The Treasurer of the Church
The signatures of at least three trustees are required for documents, after such documents are approved by the Board of Trustees.”
The session proposes making the following changes:
- In the second paragraph the word “Active” would be replaced with “Ordained”
- In the list of officers “The Moderator of the Board of Deacons” would be replaced with “The Chairperson of the Property Committee” (serving as the Vice President)
Reasoning:
- The Clerk of Session is not always an “active elder” but must be an “ordained elder;” likewise, our Treasurer is not always an “active elder.” (This is our current reality as Janene Holzberg is serving as clerk , and Bob Ashman is serving as treasurer, but neither are currently serving terms as active elders).
- The Moderator of the Deacons is not a member of the session and thus is not technically a member of the board of trustees
- Further, in our current structure the Moderator of the Board of Deacons does not regularly attend session (which serves as the board of trustees) meetings
- Further, many of the responsibilities of the board of trustees described in the first paragraph refer to matters concerning property. It follows that the Chairperson of the Property Committee would be in a much better position to fulfill any responsibilities of the Vice President than would the Moderator of the Board of Deacons.