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Proposed RHCC ConstitutionAL Changes
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Dear Members and Friends,

 

When we overhauled our church Constitution in 2018, we noted that we expect to make tweaks as we learn to “live into” our revised and simplified structure of Core Ministries and Ministry Teams, rather than Boards. We made some minor revisions in 2019 and are now distributing an additional set of revisions for congregational review.  We hope to have the congregation vote on these revisions at our Annual Meeting which will be held sometime in June.  [Date to be announced].  

 

Two versions of the Constitution are available for review by all members and friends:

 

  1. The first shows a comparison between the already-existing (2019) Constitution with the new revisions clearly marked. Click here to see.

  2. The other is a copy of the Constitution with the new revisions incorporated. Click here to see.

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While there are lots of minor “tweaks” (clarifications, updates, word changes, typos, punctuation, etc.) throughout, there are also several key changes which are summarized below:

1..  In this revised version of the constitution, we have added a category of “Friends” of RHCC, in addition to “Members” and “Associate Members”.   Trends indicate that people are now less likely to join a church, but still willing to fully participate in the life of the church if the church is doing work that they feel is relevant.  This version states that Friends can be elected to Core Ministries or appointed by Council to Committees.  Those friends who are participating in the life of the church by being  or may also serve on Council and vote at Congregational meetings.  (But other Friends not elected or appointed to a key position would  be able to serve on Council or vote).

  1. Filling open positions on Core Ministries.  We have added that Council may appoint people to fill open positions on Core Ministries or Officers when there are openings between our annual Budget and Elections meetings. This had been in the previous Constitution and was somehow omitted in 2018 or 2019.  Those appointments to open positions by Council would then be ratified by the congregation at the next congregational meeting.

  2. We added a Pastoral Relations Committee to the Constitution.  Pastoral Relations Committee is a function that already exists and has existed for years, but somehow never made it into the Constitution.

  3. Evolution of leadership.  We included a new provision encouraging “new leadership blood” from time to time, by encouraging Core Ministry chairs to serve no more than five consecutive years.  This is a suggestion, not a mandate, as new leadership sometimes takes time to develop.  But we do want leaders to encourage others into leadership over time to ensure succession of church leadership.

  4. Restructuring of TTT Ministry.  The Time Talent and Treasure Core Ministry did not exist prior to the new Constitution of 2018/19.  When it was created, we put the previously existing Stewardship Committee and Nominating Committee under TTT as separately elected committees as they had been previously.  For a variety of reasons, we have modified this TTT structure to fold both the Nominating Committee and the Pledge Committee right into TTT, rather than keeping them as elected Committees.

6..  We have changed language to make the formation of Ministry Teams a bit more informal and less bureaucratic, while still trying to keep track of our Ministry Teams.  

7..   We have specifically added the idea of both virtual and hybrid congregational meetings, whereas previously only in-person meetings had been provided for.

8..  Currently, our Constitution calls for 90 days of review for Constitutional changes.  We have decreased that to 60 days, as 60 days seems a reasonable amount of time.

We hope that many of you will take the time to review these revisions.  If you have questions, please contact me or any member of Council.  If there are specific questions, comments, or concerns, we may also schedule an after-church information session to discuss the revisions.  We felt these revisions to be necessary and desirable as we continue to strive to be a church of the present and future.

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Ruth Fitzgerald, Moderator

For the Council

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