By-Laws of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
Oxford, Ohio
Article I: Name of Incorporated Parish and Canon Law
Article II: Membership; Voting Members of the Parish
Article III: Eligibility for Officers
Article IV: Nomination Procedure
Section 1. Nominating Committee
Section 2. Committee Duties
Section 3. Nominating Procedures
Section 4. Nomination for Warden
Article V: Election Procedures
Section 1. Order of Elections
Section 2. Terms of Office
Section 3. Election by the Vestry
Article VI: Parish Meetings
Section 1. Stated Parish Meetings
Section 2. Definition of Quorum for Voting
Article VII: Vestry Meetings
Section 1. Vestry Meetings Open to the Parish
Section 2. Notice of Vestry Meetings
Section 3. Meeting Frequency
Section 4. Quorum for Meetings
Section 5. Presiding Officers
Section 6. Executive Committee
Article VIII: Conduct of Meetings
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Name of Incorporated Parish and Canon Law
The name of this incorporated parish is Holy Trinity Episcopal Church located in Oxford, Ohio. As a parish in the Episcopal Church we promise conformity to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church adopted in General Convention and of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.
Membership
Members of the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States of America (a.k.a. the church) are defined in Title I, Canon 17, Sec. 1 (a) of the General Convention. This Canon states that any baptized person, whether in this Church or in another Christian church, whose baptism has been duly recorded in the Protestant Episcopal Church, is a member.
Voting Members of the Parish
Voting members of the Parish are members sixteen years of age or older who have contributed, by subscription or otherwise, to the support of the Parish and who shall be entitled to enrollment on the list of members in good standing of the Parish. They are defined in Diocesan Canon XVI Section 2 and the Preliminary Canon.
Eligibility for Officers
All voting members of the Parish are eligible for elective offices in this Parish, except that Wardens must be at least twenty-one years of age, and Delegates and Alternates to Diocesan Convention must be confirmed or received; and a majority of the members of Vestry must be twenty-one years of age, and Delegates and Alternates to Diocesan Convention must be confirmed or received; and a majority of the members of Vestry must be twenty-one years of age or older (Diocesan Canons III, Section 4, XVI, Section 6, and the Preliminary Canon).
Nomination Procedure
Section I. Nominating Committee for the Elections at the January Parish Meeting: The three retiring members of the Vestry and one other person who is not a member of the Vestry shall be appointed by the Vestry, shall serve as members of the Nominating Committee. The Vestry shall designate the chairperson of this committee and the Rector shall serve as an ex officio member of the committee.
Section II. Committee duties: The committee is to assure the nomination of at least one person for each of the following positions: Senior Warden, Junior Warden, three Vestry members, four Delegates and Alternates to Diocesan Convention. The Nominating Committee shall publish these nominations to the Parish not later than December 1st, including the information found in section 3 below.
Section 3. Nominating Procedures: In October the Nominating Committee shall make a report to the parish including the following information: the retiring members of the Vestry, the remaining members of the Vestry, eligibility requirements for positions for which nominations are to be made, and the members of the Nominating Committee. Nominations are to be opened no later than early in November by means of a copy of this report, including an attached Nomination Form. Any member of the congregation, (including members of the Nominating Committee) may place the name of any eligible member of the congregation in nomination for an office by completing the form and giving it to the chair of the Nominating Committee. Nominations must be seconded and the consent of the person nominated must be obtained. At a pre-announced date the Nominating Committee shall meet to review the nominations received and to ensure a slate of nominees that is complete and representative of the parish as a whole prior to the announcement of the nominations. The Nominating Committee shall check eligibility for office of all persons whose names are submitted. The Nominating Committee shall endeavor to ensure continuity for Diocesan Delegates and for Wardens when possible, by assuring that each year at least one nominee for Warden shall have been a Warden or Vestry member in the year just completed.
Section 4. Should the Nominating Committee exercise its authority to nominate a Warden for a fourth one-year term, Vestry shall be asked to approve that decision before the slate is presented to the parish.
Election Procedures
Section I. In all elections preference voting by those present and voting shall be used. The Senior and Junior Wardens shall be first elected, in succession, on separate ballots. Vestry members shall be elected by a single ballot. Delegates to Diocesan Convention and Alternates to Diocesan Convention shall be elected on single ballots. These election procedures shall be consistent with Canon XVI, Section 3, of the Canons of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.
Section II. Terms of Office: The Senior Warden and Junior Warden, Delegates and Alternates to Diocesan Convention shall be elected each year. A Senior or Junior Warden who has just completed three consecutive one-year terms may not be elected Warden again (either Senior or Junior) until a year has elapsed; however, under unusual circumstances (e.g. change or absence of a rector, financial emergency or the like), the Nominating Committee has the authority to ask a Warden to stand for one additional one-year term. The Vestry shall consist of eleven members: Senior Warden, Junior Warden, and nine Vestry members, with three Vestry members elected each year to serve three-year terms. Vestry members who have just completed serving the entirety of a three-year term may not be re-elected until they have been off the vestry for one year.
Section 3. Election by the Vestry : As directed by Canon XVI, sections 10, 11, of the Canons of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, the Vestry shall elect each year a Treasurer and a Secretary. An assistant to the Treasurer may be appointed. These officers shall be expected to attend all meetings of the Vestry, including executive sessions, along with all Associate or Assistant Ministers of the Parish. These persons are to have voice, but no vote, unless they are elected at the January Parish Meeting as directed in Section 1 of this article of the By-laws. When vacancies occur in any elected office the Vestry may elect qualified persons to fill such vacancies.
Parish Meetings
Section 1. There shall be two stated Parish meetings at which the usual business of the Parish shall be conducted. A Parish meeting shall be held within the first three months of the year; date, place, and time to be determined by the Vestry. Elections called for in these By-laws shall be conducted as well as the submission of financial reports for the past calendar year along with the budget for that year, and a budget for the current year. The Rector shall also submit a report on the over-all state of the Parish, or, in his/her absence, the Senior Warden or Junior Warden shall do the same. A second Parish meeting shall be held at a date, time and place to be determined by the Vestry. The agenda for this meeting will be the review of the programs of the Parish as well as to provide opportunity for future planning. The minutes and reports of the stated Parish meetings shall be published and made available within sixty days of the parish meetings. The order of presiding officers at Parish meetings is prescribed in Diocesan Canon XVI, Section 5.
Section 2. Twenty-five voting members of the Parish shall constitute a quorum for any Parish meeting.
Vestry Meetings
Section 1. All Vestry meetings shall be open to the whole Parish except, when by majority vote of the Vestry, that body decides to go into executive session.
Section 2. Notice of Vestry meetings, the agenda for the meeting and the minutes of the previous meeting shall be publicized to the Parish prior to the date of the Vestry meeting.
Section 3. Normally, the Vestry meets monthly from September through June with each meeting’s date and time set at the preceding meeting. Meetings of the Vestry may be called by the Rector, or, in his/her absence, by the Senior Warden, and in the absence of both, by the Junior Warden and at the request of two members of the Vestry a meeting shall be called, (Canon XVI, Section 9 of Canons of the Diocese of Southern Ohio).
Section 4. A majority of the members of the Vestry shall constitute a quorum for Vestry meetings.
Section 5. The order of presiding officers at the meetings of the Vestry is stated in Title I, Canon 14, Section 3 of the General Convention.
Section 6. The Executive Committee of the Vestry shall consist of the Rector, the Senior Warden, the Junior Warden, and two additional Vestry Members elected by the Vestry. Among its duties are formulating agendas for Vestry meetings, recommending committee chairs to Vestry (except as otherwise specified in these By-laws), and providing leadership in facilitating the work of the Parish.
Conduct of Meetings
Except as otherwise directed by National Canons, Diocesan Canons, or these By-laws, all questions about the conduct of meetings shall be determined by references to Robert’s Rules of Order.
Audit
Diocesan Canon X stipulates that the Parish shall comply with the annual audit reports required by Title I, Canon 7 of the National Canons, under the procedures established by the Diocesan Finance Committee. Diocesan Canon XIV stipulates the Accounting Policies and Procedures to be followed, in conjunction with Canon 7 of the National Canons.
These By-laws may be amended by a majority vote at a stated Parish meeting as long as notice of the suggested amendments is given to the Parish at least one week prior to the meeting.
Last amended: September 2, 2008
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National Canon citations are from “Constitution & Canons 1994”.
Diocesan Canon citations are from “The Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Southern Ohio 1994”
