The session has called a congregational meeting for June 7 for approval of by-laws advanced by the session.
The by-law commission was Jennifer Weinel, active elder class of 2025, Jerry Ueckermann, elder, and Annette Hinkle, elder. The commission began its work in October and provided the recommended new by-laws to the Session on December 5 for comment. Comments from session members were incorporated and a new draft was provided to the session on December 10 for review. The by-laws as presented on December 10 were unanimously approved by the session on December 15. By-law changes require the approval of the congregation.
The new by-laws use a streamlined format and relies on the basic required data. The new format provides flexibility by allowing for the addition of supplemental practices as Administrative Procedures that can be approved by he Session as needed, instead of requiring approval each time by the entire congregation. This format was selected from multiple templates provided by the Baltimore Presbytery which included language to align the by-laws with the most current Book of Order. The by-laws were last updated on January 31, 2021.
Following are some highlighted changes impacting the business of the church:
- Updated Book of Order references updated
- Specific timing of a congregational meeting to elect elders and deacons has been changed from September to the Forth Quarter to proved flexibility.
- Language was added to provide for meetings held virtually and vote electronically
- The new by-laws state that the session will conduct an annual review of the compensation of all employees; consistent with current by-laws, the pastor’s terms of call come before the congregation; other employee compensation does not come before the congregation.
- The new by-laws include Indemnification language that is not included in the current by-laws (standard operating procedure for organizations to indemnify board members for actions while in their official capacity)