2011 Episcopal Address
Job Description for Elected Positions (2011)
First Proposed Amendment to the Canons
Constitution and Canons Committee recommends: Adoption
Proposed Amendment to Title I. Canon 7. Sec. 7.
Text of the Proposed Amendment:
Title I. Canon 7.
Sec. 7. The Diocesan Council shall meet at least six times between meetings of the Annual Convention and at such other times as the Bishop may convene them. Each of the Commissions shall meet at least twice during the same period. A majority of the lay members and a majority of the clerical members of the Diocesan Council, together with the presiding officer as herein before provided, shall constitute a quorum. Any eleven members of the Council at a regularly scheduled or duly announced special meeting shall constitute a quorum, provided that at least three are lay members and at least three are clerical members of the Council. The Bishop, if present, counts as one of the necessary eleven members of Council. The three clerical members, however, must be either priests or deacons elected by Convention or their Mission Area.
Proposer
Diocesan Council
Rationale of the Proposer
Under the current canon, the Diocesan Council has at times been unable to conduct business because there has not been a quorum of both orders (lay and ordained), even though there has been a quorum of the whole.
Votes of Diocesan Council are never conducted by order. Passage of a particular vote requires a simple majority of the Council voting as a whole.
The number of clergy and laity varies depending upon the number of clergy and laity representing the Mission Areas.
Diocesan Council has 21 members: 6 lay and 6 clergy council members elected by the Diocesan Convention; 8 members (lay or ordained) who are elected by the Mission Area Councils, and the Bishop.
The proposed amendment would continue to ensure that the business of Council could only be conducted when there is quorum of the whole body. It would also ensure that there is representation from each order in discussions and votes without necessitating there be a quorum in both orders.
