Marrow Man
Drunk with Powder
I have a parliamentary procedure question about congregational meetings. This is one of those "what-if" questions that one thinks about late at night.
The the ARP, only the session can call for a congregational meeting of the church (although every church must have at least one annual congregational meeting, for such matters as electing officers and adopting the budget). One exception to this is that in special cases, the presbytery can also call for a congregational meeting. In Presbyterianism (at least in most forms), the pastor is a member of his presbytery but not the local church. Plus, you have a distinction (at least in the ARP) between active communicant and non-communicant members, as well as inactive members. So, let's say the congregational meeting was going on and someone called for the meeting to go into executive session. Who then would have to leave the room during the meeting?
If the meeting had been called by the presbytery (where a member of the presbytery is presiding over the meeting), would that mean that all members of the presbytery would have to leave, along with the pastor? What about the members? Could only the active members remain (those are the only ones who could vote -- non-communicant and inactives cannot vote).
This is just one of those "just wondering" questions, but it seems that if such a situation arose, it could be problematic.
The the ARP, only the session can call for a congregational meeting of the church (although every church must have at least one annual congregational meeting, for such matters as electing officers and adopting the budget). One exception to this is that in special cases, the presbytery can also call for a congregational meeting. In Presbyterianism (at least in most forms), the pastor is a member of his presbytery but not the local church. Plus, you have a distinction (at least in the ARP) between active communicant and non-communicant members, as well as inactive members. So, let's say the congregational meeting was going on and someone called for the meeting to go into executive session. Who then would have to leave the room during the meeting?
If the meeting had been called by the presbytery (where a member of the presbytery is presiding over the meeting), would that mean that all members of the presbytery would have to leave, along with the pastor? What about the members? Could only the active members remain (those are the only ones who could vote -- non-communicant and inactives cannot vote).
This is just one of those "just wondering" questions, but it seems that if such a situation arose, it could be problematic.