Standing Rules

Arkansas Handbook

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STANDING RULES

Name: The official name of the presbytery shall be Arkansas Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Inc.
Fiscal Year: The Fiscal Year for Arkansas Presbytery shall be the calendar year.
Meetings: The presbytery shall meet once a year in two sessions, on the second Friday and Saturday in March and on the second Friday and Saturday in September. Starting time for the Friday sessions is 7:00 p.m. The March session shall consist of any essential business and shall include a worship service and Holy Communion on the first day. The second day shall include a reading of the Memorial Roll for the previous calendar year and a worship time from 11:30 A.M. until 12:00 Noon. The September session shall be devoted to any business at hand and shall include a worship service led by the CPYF of A on the first day. The second day shall include a worship time from 11:30
Program Committee: The moderator, stated clerk, and pastor host shall be the program committee. A member of the Board of Christian Education shall assist in the planning of the Presbyterial Programs. A.M. until 12:00 Noon.
Meeting Places: Selection of Meeting places shall be made from invitations from churches
Membership: The membership of the presbytery consists of the ministers and an elder delegate from each of the particular churches on its roll. Members in good standing in other presbyteries may be seated as Advisory Members, and have the privilege of the floor but not of voting. Ministers in good standing of other ecclesiastical bodies may be officially recognized as Visiting.
Quorum: Four members shall constitute a quorum of presbytery provided that at least one minister and at least one elder are present.
Attendance, Ministers: All ministers who are members, all probationers who are under the care of the presbytery, and all stated supplies who are serving churches in the presbytery shall attend each regular session of the presbytery or advise the presbytery in writing of the reason for non-attendance and request to be excused. Exceptions are to be made with respect to ministers who are permanently excused (E-P), or missionaries serving outside the continental United States (E-M), or chaplains who are on active duty (E-C). These shall be excused without the necessity of a written excuse. The Committee on the Ministry shall be responsible for recommending to the presbytery the persons for whom Exceptions are to be made. The initiative for any requests for ministers who are retired and/or disabled to be permanently excused shall rest with the minister; through communication with the Committee on the Ministry. (See Handbook Appendix B for Permanent Excuse Form)
Attendance, Elders: All congregations in the presbytery shall be represented at each session of presbytery by duly elected elder delegates or advice the presbytery in writing why the congregation will not be represented and request that the congregation be excused. Elder delegates shall be certified at least 20 days prior to the meeting of presbytery on a form provided by the stated clerk. Elders must be current members of the church session in order to be eligible to serve as delegates. An elder not elected by the session may be seated by presbytery. There may be exceptional instances that would make it proper for the presbytery to accept evidence other than election by the church session as the right of a ruling elder to represent his/her church session. (C. P. Digest 5.4)
Excuses: All excuses for non-attendance shall be examined by members present of The Committee on Judicial Concerns 30 minutes prior to starting time of each session of presbytery, and then presented to the presbytery. Only presbytery may act on reasons for non-attendance, or approve ones leaving prior to final adjournment. The General Assembly has ruled that presbytery excuses Ministers and Church Sessions, not Elder Delegates. It is the responsibility of the church session to consider requests to be excused by specific Elder Delegates.
Roll Call: Roll call at the Friday evening session and the Saturday Morning session shall be by ministers and elder delegates turning in a form provided by the stated clerk. The final roll will be called by the stated clerk and will be the last order of business on Saturday.
Special/Called Meetings: The moderator shall call a special meeting at the request of two ministers, and two elders from different churches. The call shall give notice, specifying the Particular business of the intended meeting, to every minister and session of every church on its roll, at least ten days prior to the proposed time of the meeting. Nothing shall be transacted at such special meeting other than the particular business for which the presbytery was convened. (See Handbook Appendix A for the proper form for initiating a call for a special/called meeting)
Officers: The officers of the presbytery shall be the moderator, vice-moderator, stated clerk/treasurer, assistant stated clerk/treasurer, and trustees The Moderator shall be elected in the March session to serve for a period of one year. The duties of the moderator are set forth in the Presbytery Handbook at 4.1. The Vice Moderator shall be elected in the March session to serve for a period of one year. The duties of the vice moderator are set forth in the Presbytery Handbook, at 4.2. Arkansas Presbytery has established a tradition of electing the vice moderator to succeed the moderator. The Stated Clerk/Treasurer shall be elected at the September session for a three-year term beginning January 1. (Exceptions may be made in case of a vacancy in the office). An appropriate honorarium shall be paid and shall be reviewed annually in the preparation of the budget. The budget shall also include amounts for travel expense and office expense. The duties of the stated clerk/treasurer is set forth in the Presbytery Handbook at 4.3 and 4.6. The stated clerk treasurer may or may not be a member of presbytery. The Assistant Stated Clerk/Treasurer shall be elected at the September session for a three-years term beginning January 1. (Exceptions may be made in case of a vacancy in the office.) The duties of the assistant stated clerk/treasurer are set forth in the Presbytery Handbook at 4.4. The assistant stated clerk/treasurer may or may not be a member of the presbytery and shall serve without compensation. A Recording Clerk may be appointed by the stated clerk at any session to record the minutes of the session and perform other tasks assigned by the stated clerk. The recording clerk may or may not be a member of the presbytery and shall serve without compensation. See Presbytery Handbook, at 4.5. The Trustees of the presbytery shall be the members of the Board of Finance, the Moderator, and the Stated Clerk, and shall act in that capacity when so directed by the presbytery. The officers of the Trustees shall be the same as the officers of the Board of Finance. Deeds, Oil and Gas Leases, and other legal documents shall be signed by at least three trustees; usually the Moderator, the Stated Clerk, and the Chairperson of the Board of Finance and Trustees. (The above information is also printed under Trustees, @4.701, page 19)
The Executive Committee shall consist of the moderator, vice moderator, stated clerk/treasurer, presbyterial boards and standing assistant stated clerk/treasurer, and the chairpersons of the committees. The duties of the executive committee are set forth in the Presbytery Handbook at 7.1. Pages 44 and 45
Preliminary Minutes: All program reports and financial reports of presbytery boards, committees, and task forces shall be sent to the stated clerk within 5 days of the February and August board meetings. The stated clerk shall assemble and staple these reports into preliminary minutes, which shall be mailed to each minister, elder delegate, and the chairperson of each board, committee, and task force, at least 15 days prior to each session of the presbytery. See Presbytery Handbook, 4.304.
Minutes: It shall be the duty of the stated clerk to record all minutes in permanent form. Each item of business shall be in a separate paragraph and headings given to as many items as is practical. When a report by a board or other agency of presbytery is edited by board or committee during presentation, or amended by presbytery, the stated clerk shall retype the report, renumbering recommendations if necessary, so that the report as printed in the minutes will be what was approved by presbytery. The minutes of the March session of presbytery shall be printed and distributed by June and the minutes of the September session by December. The stated clerk shall sign the original minutes of each session. See Presbytery Handbook, 4.305, page 12. 17
Eligibility to Serve on Presbytery Boards and Standing Committees: Any minister who is a member of Arkansas Presbytery and anyone who is a member of a Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Arkansas Presbytery shall be eligible to serve on any presbytery board or committee, with one exception. The exception is, no minister who serves a church, which receives benefits from the presbytery, and no member of a church, which receives benefits from the presbytery, should be a member of the board, which oversees, or makes recommendations, with regard to those benefits. See Presbytery Handbook, 6.811 Page 41, and C. P. Digest 5.60
All Presbyterial Boards and Standing Committees: All information regarding number of members, terms of office, duties, responsibilities, etc., of each board and Committee is included under the Section for that particular board or committee. (See the Handbook, Contents, 6.0, page 3 for page numbers and applicable appendices.)
Commissions: The presbytery may elect commissions, which are authorized to deliberate upon and conclude the business submitted to them, subject to the review of presbytery. Stipulations concerning commissions are set forth in the Presbytery Handbook at 7.3 Pages 45 and 46.
Other Committees: The presbytery shall raise such other committees, as it deems appropriate. See Presbytery Handbook, 7.2 Page 45.
Minister Commissioners to General Assembly: Two Primary Minister Commissioners to General Assembly and two Alternates shall be elected at the fall session of presbytery. The Nominations Committee shall select ministers to be nominated in alphabetical order. See Presbytery Handbook 4.901 Page 18.
Elder Commissioners to General Assembly: Two primary elder Commissioners to General Assembly and two alternates shall be elected at the fall session of presbytery. The Nominations Committee shall select elders to be nominated based upon an alphabetical listing of the churches. See Presbytery. Handbook, 4.902 Page 18
Youth Advisory Delegates to General Assembly: Two Primary Youth Advisory Delegates and two alternates shall be elected by the fall session of presbytery. The Nominations Committee shall select youths to be nominated from names submitted by the churches of the presbytery. See Presbytery Handbook, 4.903 Page 18.
Minister Delegates to The Synod of Great Rivers: Three Primary Minister Delegates and three alternates shall be elected at the fall session of the presbytery, prior to each even numbered year. The Nominations Committee shall use the same system used for selection of minister commissioners to the General Assembly. See Presbytery Handbook 4.906 Page 18.
Elder Delegates to The Synod of Great Rivers: Three Primary Elder Delegates and three alternates shall be elected at the fall session of presbytery, prior to each even numbered year. The Nominations Committee shall use the same system used for elder delegates to the General Assembly. See Presbytery Handbook 4.907 Page 19
Travel Expense: Travel expense for board and committee members and others, on official presbyterial business, shall be reimbursed at the rate of 35 cents per mile (unless the board member elects not to receive reimbursement), plus other actual expenses. It is the responsibility of the board or committee chair to turn in a list of travel expenses to the stated clerk/treasurer. Travel expense for delegates to the Synod of Great Rivers shall be included in the presbyterial budget. For travel expense of Commissioners to the General Assembly see the Presbytery Handbook at Board of Finance 6.406a, Page 32.
The Stated Clerk shall update the Standing Rules and the Arkansas Presbytery Handbook of Operation following each session of presbytery.
The Stated Clerk shall keep a list, including the name and address of each person who receives a copy of the Handbook in order that they may be mailed pages, which have been changed, following each update. (See Handbook under Stated Clerk at 4.310.
The following persons shall be provided a copy of the Handbook: Each minister who is a member of the presbytery; each licentiate; each candidate for the ministry; each church session clerk; and the chairperson, secretary, and treasurer of each presbyterial board and standing committee. Others who want a copy of the Handbook should send a written request to the stated clerk.
Amendments to The Standing Rules and the Arkansas Presbytery Handbook of Operation: The Standing Rules and the Arkansas Presbytery Handbook of Operation may be amended by a two-thirds vote of members present and voting at any meeting of the presbytery.