General Policies and Procedures for Committees

By /

YATES BAPTIST CHURCH

GENERAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR COMMITTEES

Adopted October 18, 2006

1. NOMINATION AND COMPOSITION

(1) The Nominating Committee shall nominate members of committees. Each committee member shall be a member of Yates Baptist Church.

(a) When feasible, each committee should be balanced with members from various age groups and with approximately the same number of men and women. (b) No one should serve on more than two administrative committees or more than three total committees concurrently. (c) No two family members shall serve concurrently on the same administrative committee. (d) The term of service of committee members should not be more than three years in succession. (e) About one third of the members of each committee shall be nominated each year. (f) An ex officio member is one who is a member of a committee because of an office held. (g) A nonrotating member has expertise necessary for the operation of the committee. (h) Ex officio and nonrotating members are not voting members of the committee.

2. ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEES

The members of administrative committees shall rotate every three years (with the exception of a member filling a one-year unexpired term). Administrative committees study, advise, and make recommendations regarding church governance. The following are considered administrative committees:

  • Finance
  • House and Grounds
  • Nominating
  • Personnel
  • Weekday Early Education

3. VACANCIES

The Nominating Committee shall fill vacancies on committees. A person filling an unexpired term of one year shall be eligible for a full term as soon as the unexpired term ends.

4. ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS

The staff liaison or past chairperson should call a meeting of each committee at the beginning of the year to elect officers, organize the committee, and consider meeting schedules. At the first meeting, a committee list of names, telephone numbers, and email addresses should be compiled for distribution. The chairperson should review the agenda with the staff liaison before each meeting. No one should serve as chairperson of a committee for more than two years in succession. The secretary should distribute a summary of each meeting and notify members of future meetings.

5. QUORUM AND VOTING

Unless stated otherwise, half of the whole committee shall constitute a quorum. The majority vote of the members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present is required to conduct business or make recommendations to the church.

6. BUDGET REQUESTS

Each committee shall keep a record of expenses and submit to the Finance Committee in September a request for expenditures for the following year’s budget.

7. YEAR-END REPORTS

At the end of the year, each committee should complete a final report of the year’s activities and expenses. This report should include suggestions for the following year. The committee chairperson or staff liaison shall keep the committee notebook of final reports.

8. AMENDMENTS TO GENERAL POLICIES

The general policies and procedures and administrative committee pages in the Committee Handbook may be adopted, amended, altered, or replaced by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular business meeting of the church, provided that the proposed change has been submitted to the Clerk in writing and presented to the church at least 30 days prior to the vote.

9. AMENDMENTS TO NON-ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE POLICIES

The policies and procedures of any nonadministrative committee in the Committee Handbook may be changed by a two-thirds vote of the Nominating Committee and presentation at a business meeting of the church. Any church member may request a vote on the changes at that business meeting.

POLICIES FOR COMMITTEE EXPENDITURES

  1. Expenditures by committees of budgeted items do not require church action.
  2. Expenditures by committees of nonbudgeted items must be approved by the Finance Committee when the amount exceeds $500.
  3. The Treasurer shall be contacted prior to the expenditure of any large items of budgeted funds to ensure that adequate funds are available.
  4. Legitimate emergency expenditures, such as breakdowns of heating or cooling units, may be made after consultation with the chairperson or vice chairperson of the Finance Committee, the Treasurer, and other necessary persons.

Effort should be made to contact other members of the Finance Committee by phone or email.

  1. Unspent budget amounts do not carry over from one year to the next.
Scroll to Top