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Read the Proposed Bylawss Revision online HERE or download a PDF below.

Come to the informational meetings on January 19 or 26 at 11:15 am to learn about the significant bylaw changes that were recommended by Unity Worldwide Ministries. We will vote on the new bylaws at the Annual meeting on January 26.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS) (Download PDF below)

  1. Why did we need to update the bylaws?  Unity Worldwide Ministries, our “mother” organization, wants all Unity ministries to have a standardized version of bylaws that are consistent from one ministry to the next. They don’t have to match exactly, but they need to be fairly close.

  2. Why are we having a whole new set of bylaws (called a revision) instead of individual bylaws amendments?  There were so many changes that to consider each one individually would take several hours of meeting time, with a vote on each one. We would likely lose a quorum before getting them all voted on.

  3. What are the major changes that were made?

    • Formatting - The template of our current bylaws is more than 20 years old. The new template from UWM has some sections and words in different places

    • Conforming content to UWM template – UWM has some requirements that each ministry must follow. There were some items that we had to conform to and some that we were strongly encouraged to conform to. For example, there are safety, ethical, social media, and other policies that leaders must follow, and background checks are now required for youth leaders, anyone handling money, and board members.

    • Break out individual rights from collective membership rights - We put the individual member rights (like the right to attend meetings, make motions, debate, and vote) in the membership section and the collective rights (like approving major expenditures or removing board members) in the meeting section, since collective decisions must be adopted in a meeting.

    • Include a “removal for cause” section - This outlines specific steps to be taken if a member is to be removed from membership. This is in the UWM template and protects the member’s rights.

    • Licensed Unity Teachers (Leaders) are now permitted to serve on the board. - In the past, UWM prohibited them from serving on the board because they reported to the minister and the board determined the minister’s employment contract. Now LUTs and LULs do not report to the minister (as voted by the UWM membership meeting), so they are free to run for the board.

    • Add assistant and/or associate minister - This is something new from UWM. It allows for a minister to hire an assistant or associate minister, who is a licensed or ordained minister, but would have less responsibility than the senior minister.

    • Add board advisor role - This is also new from UWM. It allows the board to appoint an advisor to be a non voting member of the board for one year. This is especially helpful if there is a large turnover on the board or if there isn’t a minister, and the board wants an advisor.

    • Separation of the minister’s spiritual and administrative duties - We tried to distinguish between spiritual ministerial duties and administrative duties, so we have flexibility to allow the minister to delegate administrative duties, if necessary or if desired. 

    • No board nominations from the floor - UWM makes a major point of having board members and other leaders go through a vetting process, including a background check.  If there are nominations from the floor at the annual meeting, there isn’t time to perform the vetting process and background checks, which must be consistent for all candidates. We made sure there is the opportunity to have additional nominations, once the nominating committee announces its candidates. For example, if we have 4 openings on the board but only 2 people announced as nominated by the nominating committee, any member will have time to self-nominate or to nominate additional people from the UCR community. The timing is important, and the vetting process will still be performed.

    • Provision to determine board term length when variable - Right now we allow the nominating committee to determine if a candidate will run for one year, two years, or three years, depending on the candidates’ preferences and the available openings. That works great if everyone agrees, but if they don’t, it gets complicated and may inadvertently prevent a qualified leader from serving (for example, if two people run for a two year term, what happens to the person not selected? Can they run for a 3 year term or 1 year term?). To make it fair, all candidates run for the position, not the term length. The default (with UWM and Robert’s Rules) is to have the person with the most votes (and still a majority) take the longest term, and follow sequentially with the next highest vote-getter. We did allow for the newly elected board members to decide the term length informally among themselves, if there is a preference, and they’re all willing. 

    • Appointment to fill a vacancy on the board - Right now, the board can appoint someone to fill a vacancy for the remainder of the departing person’s term, which could be a few months or a few years. We changed that to have the appointment only until the next election, where the members can vote. The person could run for the position, but their election isn’t guaranteed. 

  4. Why did we make the changes we did?  We gave a lot of thought and many hours to the precise wording and possible “What ifs” that would result if the wording was different.  We kept what we thought were the best interests of UCR in mind, and we tried to allow flexibility as our ministry grows and its needs change. 

  5. What can I do if I have questions?

  6. What can I do if I want to discuss some of these bylaws provisions with the membership?

    • You can come to the informational meetings to share your concerns or questions.

    • You can discuss them during the annual meeting, but you would need to very specific. It will be helpful to know ahead of time, so we will know how to best allocate our time.

  7. What can I do if I have suggested changes to the revision?

    • Please write them out, identifying the line number and what you think the change should be.  All changes must be in writing. 

    • If your changes are grammar or punctuation, let us know that, too. We’ll probably have a single motion to make any of those types of changes (that don’t change the content) offline, so we don’t take up meeting time for every little change.

  8. What can I do if I want to offer an amendment to these new bylaws?

    • Since this is a revision (a whole new document), it will be open to amendments by the membership. If you have an amendment, please PUT IT IN WRITING and email it to meadelaura78@gmail.com or marketing@unitycr.org , so we can display it on the screen for members to see it.  Try to phrase the amendment to: 

      • Add or insert words, OR

      • strike out words, OR 

      • Strike out some words and insert other words

    • If you don’t have email or aren’t sure what to do, ask!  We’ll be glad to help you work through it so it’s clear and concise.

  9. What if I just want to make a change to the existing bylaws? The existing bylaws will not be considered at this meeting. We either amend the revision (the new set of bylaws) to get it the way we want, or we vote the whole thing down and keep the current bylaws, which will make us non-compliant with UWM. We would then have to have a special meeting to address numerous individual changes to the current bylaws.

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