These bylaws provide further guidance for governing the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International. The Bylaws can be changed by a majority vote of the General Conference.
Everything in the current Discipline, except for the Confession of Faith and Constitution, can be changed by majority vote. So this is very similar.
Membership
Local churches in a country may become a national conference in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
Qualifications
A national conference must meet and maintain the following:
1. It consists of at least five churches within that country.
This is a counterpart to the current requirement that a conference consist of at least five churches.
2. It is a legally recognized entity within that country.
3. No other United Brethren national conference exists in that country.
National conferences can divide into districts or annual conferences, as they see fit. But General Conference will recognize only one national conference per country--which makes sense, if the word "national" is used.
4. It is organized with a constitution and other governing documents.
The nature of the governing documents will vary from country to country. In some cases, everything may be wrapped up in a single document called the constitution. Others may organize with a constitution, plus by-laws. It doesn't particularly matter what things look like, as long as they have things written down.
5. Its governing documents, teachings, and practices do not conflict with the Confession of Faith, Constitution, Core Values, and Bylaws of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
As we know, sometimes what is WRITTEN and what is TAUGHT or PRACTICED are different. General Conference needs to monitor things, so that all three--not only governing documents, but teachings and practices--align with the international documents.
Procedure
The following procedure will be used for bringing new national conferences into membership.
1. The national conference votes to seek membership in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
2. The national conference sends a letter to the Executive Committee which includes:
a. Its willingness to be bound by the Confession of Faith, Constitution, and Core Values of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
b. An official request to be considered for membership.
3. The governing documents (Constitution, bylaws, etc.) of the national conference are submitted to the Executive Committee.
So, the candidate national conference must prepare its governing documents ahead of time. These can be existing governing documents, or documents which would go into affect upon acceptance into the international body.
4. The Executive Committee appoints a membership committee to examine whether that national conference meets the requirements for membership, and to consider any other relevant information and criteria.
5. The membership committee makes a report to the Executive Committee or General Conference concerning the request for membership.
If it's a General Conference year, the report goes directly to General Conference. Otherwise, it goes to the Executive Committee.
6. The General Conference approves, by a two-thirds vote, the request for membership.
This would be a vote of the delegates. No ratification by national conferences is needed. The delegates should have all the information needed to make the decision.
Rights of Membership
National conference membership shall carry the following rights and duties:
1. Upon approval of the General Conference, a national conference will have full privileges of participation at General Conference.
It would be best if votes on national conference membership occur early--if not first-thing--in the General Conference. Delegates could be available to be seated as soon as a positive vote occurs, so they could then participate in the rest of that General Conference. But they wouldn't be seated until the vote passes.
2. National conferences shall be notified of all meetings of the General Conference and Executive Committee, and shall receive minutes of those meetings.
3. National conferences may withdraw from membership in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International. When this happens, churches within that national conference may maintain their identify as United Brethren churches if they do the following:
Sever their relationship with the departing national conference.
Ask the Executive Committee to determine their status within the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
It's certainly possible that the national body might withdraw, but that a minority of churches would want to maintain their relationship with the international body. If there are at least five such churches, they could form a new national conference, though they would need to go through the membership procedures from scratch. If there are less than five churches--which means, not enough for a national conference--then the Executive Committee would decide their place in the international body. This statement is intentionally kept general to allow flexibility when such situations occur; it would be futile to try to foresee every possible scenario.
Discipline and Termination of Membership
1. The Executive Committee may investigate allegations that a national conference is not complying with the membership qualifications of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
Notice the word "may." It's possible that the Executive Committee will quickly recognize an allegation as frivolous, and choose not to launch an investigation.
2. If the Executive Committee determines that the allegations are true, it may place the national conference under discipline and establish a course of action which:
Protects the integrity of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
Details the conditions needed to bring the national conference back into fellowship.
This statement includes flexibility in the phrase "establish a course of action…." The integrity of the worldwide body is important; we can't tolerate a wreckless, loose-cannon national conference tarnishing the name. But notice the other goal--not to EXPEL the conference, but to bring it back into compliance.
3. The national conference has the right to send representatives to appear before the Executive Committee prior to any disciplinary action being imposed. The national conference must be notified of any potential disciplinary action at least 60 days before the Executive Committee meets.
A national conference deserves these courtesies.
4. If the Executive Committee decides to terminate the national conference’s membership in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International, the membership shall end only after a two-thirds vote of the next General Conference.
Only General Conference can terminate membership. That means delegates from the national conference in question will have the chance to defend their conference before a vote is taken. But upon expulsion, those delegates would no longer have a seat or vote.
General Conference
General Conference is responsible for establishing a formula to determine the number of delegates each national conference may send to the next General Conference. Although national conferences must choose their own representatives, the preference is that half of the delegates be ministers and half be laypersons.
The current discipline REQUIRES that half be ministers, half laypersons. However, while this concept is generally well-accepted in the United States, it is not necessarily a big hit in other countries--particularly in Chinese culture, which shines much more respect on the clergy. So we're stating a preference, but letting the national conferences take it from there.
The formula is based on average attendance at the main worship service during the most recent year possible preceding General Conference.
1. National conferences with an average attendance of 0-5000 are entitled to two delegates.
2. National Conferences with an average attendance of 5001-10,000 are entitled to four delegates.
3. For each additional 5000 in average attendance, a national conference is entitled to two additional delegates.
The formula for General Conference representation has changed many times over the years, and this section of the by-laws will no doubt change as well--particularly as the number of national conferences increases. In some countries, the Sunday night service is the "main worship service," so that would be used for attendance purposes. However it's figured, a national conference needs to determine a total attendance for its churches. The General Conference or executive committee can check to make sure it's being figured fairly.
This formula for determining the number of delegates would produce a General Conference of about 30 elected delegates, compared to about 65 now.
Representation would be based solely on people, not weighted on financial contributions to the budget (as has been the case). There would be more international representation at General Conference. While the United States would still have the largest delegation (by far), the proportion of US delegates would decrease.
Executive Committee
Membership
The members of the Executive Committee are the bishop or equivalent of each national conference. The General Conference shall name the convener.
Each national conference needs a top leader, and they need the freedom to call this person by whatever title they like. General Conference shouldn't tell a national conference what titles to use, because titles can have different implications in different countries. National conferences are free to use the term "bishop," but they can just as easily choose President, General Superintendent, or merely specify the chairman of the superintendents as the top person.
The members of the Executive Committee might change from year to year, as national conferences change leaders (just as the General Board changes each year, as different conference superintendents are elected). There are advantages to having the same persons serve on the Executive Committee throughout the quadrennium, particularly in terms of continuity. However, it wouldn't work to have someone representing a national conference when that national conference has chosen a different leader. There could also be situations in which a national conference leader has been removed for reasons of insubordination or moral failure, or because the leader has taken a job with a different organization (or even in a different country).
The Executive Committee needs a leader, or a chairman. The "convener" is not necessarily that person. The convener is merely in charge of getting the group together for the first meeting after General Conference. The third item under Duties, below, says the Executive Committee will select a chairman and secretary (which may or may not be the person General Conference selects as convener).
If a member is unable to attend, an alternate from that country may attend as a full voting member.
A national conference bishop could send someone else in his place.
Executive Committee members and alternates must live within the national conference in which they are members. Advisory members may be appointed at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
An advisory member might be a representative from a country in which we have churches, but not yet an organized national conference (Mexico, for instance). Any committee has the freedom to name advisory members (who can provide input, but don't have a vote).
Meetings
The Executive Committee will meet annually, except during the year of General Conference. The meeting may occur by remote technology.
This is similar to the General Board, which doesn't meet during the General Conference year.
Traditionally, everyone comes to the United States--more specifically, to Huntington, Indiana--for meetings. This wouldn't be necessary for a truly international body. They could hold their meetings anywhere--in one of the national conference countries (Nicaragua, Hong Kong…), in a country where a national conference is forming (Mexico, India…), or in a totally neutral country where no UB churches exist. Also, there is provision for meetings to occur via videoconferencing or some other means, as technological advances make it possible.
Duties
1. Oversee the ministry of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International, during the period between meetings of the General Conference.
2. Provide for the bookkeeping and other finance-related needs of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
3. Elect from its membership a chairman and secretary.
As mentioned in an earlier note, the chairman and convener (as chosen by General Conference) don't need to be the same person. The convener merely gets everyone together for the first meeting.
4. Investigate and approve requests for national conference membership.
5. Determine the date and location for the next General Conference, and notify national conferences at least a year in advance.
General Conference, as the highest governing body, still has the freedom to set the date and location of the next meeting. But if they choose not to do that (the current General Conferences don't set the date or time for the next meeting), then the Executive Committee makes those decisions.
It has been proposed that the US National Conference and General Conference would meet during the same week, and one would flow into the next. However, the date and location of General Conference are the responsibility of the international body, which could just as easily decide to meet in conjunction with Honduras Annual Conference, or at some other time and place which may or may not be convenient to the United States.
6. Be responsible for the program and other organizational aspects of General Conference.
Likewise, the program aspects of General Conference--special speakers, music, etc.--would be the responsibility of the international body (most likely, the executive committee). If they chose to meet with the US National Conference, the General Conference Steering Committee and the US Conference Steering Committee could coordinate on the program.
7. Promote and facilitate relationships and ministry partnerships among the various national conferences.
This is a very important provision. To expand into other countries, national conferences will often need to partner with each other, as they have been doing. For instance, Honduras and Nicaragua partnered to go into El Salvador, and the US came alongside with funds as a third partner. The US and Hong Kong partnered to go into Macau. Jamaica and Honduras may partner to venture into Cuba. The United States could partner with just about any other national conference to reach immigrant groups in the US (Hispanics, Jamaicans, Chinese…). The United States and Canada, because of their similarities and historic relationship, would continue working together in various ways.
The Executive Committee will deal with the big picture, and can help bring national conferences together to spread the Gospel. Many types of partnerships are possible. In most cases, as least for the time being, the US will probably be invited to be a funding partner (if not more heavily involved in a supervisory capacity).
8. Monitor changes in national conference governing documents, considering how they conform to the governing documents of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
Governing documents will change every year, as national conferences hold their meetings. It's inevitable that sometime in the future, a national conference will go too far. If could be the United State National Conference that crosses the line, or it could be another country.
Finances
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International, is not responsible for the financial operations or liabilities of any national conference.
A national conference is not ENTITLED to financial support from another national conference. Any support they receive comes VOLUNTARILY from another national conference. The General Conference or Executive Committee would need to set the budget for the international structure and determine how to assess the national conferences for the money. Currently, only US conferences and Canada are assessed. The General Conference may want to revisit this setup.
Guiding Principles
1. All groups created as part of the international structure will be truly international in scope and membership.
Up to this point, our "international" ministries (like the Missions department) have been dominated by United States people. But in a truly international structure, that would need to change. For instance, the United States may continue having a Missions department, which has an international scope (partnering with other national conferences to further the Gospel), and any Missions board could consist entirely of US people. But if General Conference ever decided to create a Missions department at the international level (in addition to what exists at the US level), it would need to be truly international--in staff, in board constituency, and in ministry focus. The current Missions department couldn't simply be moved to the international level and declared to be an international body.
The same would be true of any other boards or commissions created at the international level. That, of course, would make such bodies expensive, since board members would be pulled from countries around the world. The travel costs would be very high.
Likewise, any international staff positions which might be added would need to be truly international--meaning, the person could come from any of our countries.
2. National conferences are strongly encouraged to develop partnerships to advance the Great Commission, promote interaction between national conferences, and link resources to pursue common goals. Any ministry partnerships between national conferences need to be worked out between those national conferences.
General Conference can't mandate that two national conferences work together on something. They can encourage it and help make it happen, but the actual partnership will exist between those national conferences. It's possible that the US and Canada will want a joint "North American Mission Board," which is basically the case now. But that would need to be worked out between those two countries. It couldn't be built into the international structure by General Conference.
The relationships go beyond ministry partnerships. We will need to find ways to fellowship with each other and maintain contact, so the national conferences don't drift apart and become loosely-affiliated conferences. We want to maintain the strong ties which we've had to this point.
3. National sovereignty shall be respected. No national conference has the authority to tell another national conference what to do. At the same time, a national conference may decide to discontinue its involvement in a cooperative venture.
This is a legal reality. Whether or not we include this statement in our by-laws, the reality exists that the US National Conference can't tell Canada what to do, and Jamaica can't tell Nicaragua what to do. (Similarly, the conferences within the United States can't order each other around.)
The main point of the international structure is to bring our structure in line with international realities, the largest of which is the sovereignty of nations. Up to now, General Conference has presumed to have the power to make decisions affecting UB churches in other countries, and the Missions department has exercised administrative authority in other countries. None of this is truly proper. Legally, the Mission department, as a North American group, has no decision-making authority in Honduras (or Sierra Leone, or Hong Kong), though it does have the authority to withdraw funding.
If a national conference feels uncomfortable with a cooperative venture for some reason--perhaps feeling that their money isn't being used wisely, or that insufficient oversight is being given to make the effort succeed, or that there is a lack of on-field accountability--they have the freedom to pull out. The US, for instance, will always have the option of withdrawing funding, whether it's an annual appropriation to the conference for ministers' salaries, or a joint venture. All national conferences will be accountable to their own constituents for how money is spent, whether it's within or beyond their own country, so it becomes a matter of good stewardship to monitor how money is spent.
4. National conferences should have an international vision, and should consider ways in which they can serve the international church.
For instance, the current US literature marketing operation can seek ways to serve UBs in other countries. Huntington College--a US ministry--tries hard to serve UB students in other countries. The present UB website, while in reality a US thing, could promote UB work worldwide. A treasurer for a national conference might handle the minimal book-keeping needs of the international structure. Churches in Central America, Hong Kong, Jamaica, or Sierra Leone (for instance) could find ways to further US efforts to reach immigrants from their countries (Chinese in New York City, Hispanics in California).
5. Representation at the international level shall focus on people, not on monetary resources.
Factoring monetary contributions into representation formulas has always given the United States and Canada an extra advantage. We want to get beyond that, and think only in terms of people. Money, we recognize, will always find a voice.
6. Vision needs to be set at the national conference level.
Presently, the bishop is expected to set the vision and direction of the denomination--which, in our present structure, includes UB churches worldwide. This structure expects national conferences to take responsibility for setting their own vision and direction (though it will be shaped by our Core Values, doctrines, and history).
7. We value the connections between United Brethren national conferences, and want to ensure that communication, resource-sharing, and mutual ministry occurs among them.
One fear is that the national conferences will drift apart and become very disconnected. We need to work hard to make sure that doesn't happen. Certain aspects of this new structure should help prevent that--particularly, giving more voice and status to non-US United Brethren through General Conference and Executive Committee representation.
The Executive Committee will be an important "glue" in maintaining our inter-conference relationships.
Decision-Making Foundations
This section is drawn, with some minor revisions, from a section in the current Discipline. It was felt that the information contained here should be retained as guidelines for decision-making in other national conferences, especially in crafting governing documents.
The various national conferences will adopt rules, procedures, and standards to better govern themselves and exemplify Christ. The 1997-2001 Discipline is the natural starting point. It contains over 230 years of the "counsel of the brethren," and cannot be disregarded or departed from lightly. However, the national conferences will adapt it as they develop their own constitutions and bylaws, and will continually revise those documents and add material unique to themselves.
The 1997-2001 Discipline will be the last truly international Discipline. After the 2001 General Conference, the various national conferences will follow their own governing documents, in addition to these international documents. The 1997-2001 Discipline is a good reference point, the launch pad if you will.
The "counsel of the brethren" is an important historical UB concept. It means we should pay attention to what our fellow believers have to say, and should be willing to accept their views or the decisions of the majority. We have not, historically, followed the idea "I'm accountable only to God." We believe we are accountable to each other, to our local churches, and to the larger Church. The sixth Core Values, "We Esteem Each Other," focuses on this.
Historically, the United Brethren church has not avoided taking stands on important moral and social issues, whether relating to personal holiness or society as a whole. The United Brethren church recognizes its responsibility to help members apply biblical commands and principles to contemporary issues. The national conferences may wish to address issues specific to their culture, issues which may or may not have relevance in other United Brethren conferences.
This idea was mentioned at the beginning of the Core Values. There are social issues in Central America which are not issues in other countries, or which need to be dealt with differently than in other countries. Likewise for the Orient, Africa, India, and North America. Hong Kong might want to address the issue of domestic abuse different than the United States does, and they would want to address the issue of ancestor worship (which has never been on the United States' radar).
Nearly all of the statements in the "Standards of the Church" section of the current Discipline arose solely from social issues in the United States. Now, national conferences will develop their own set of standards, speaking specifically to their own culture (while staying true to our Core Values and Confession of Faith).
The Bible is the primary source of correct guidance, and the final authority by which Christians should determine proper conduct regarding social and moral issues. The Bible’s specific prohibitions must always be obeyed. In areas where Scripture does not give explicit directions or absolutes, the following guidelines will help national conferences be thoughtful and use biblical principles in taking stands within their culture.
1. Pray for guidance (James 1:5).
2. Study all biblical passages related to the issue.
3. Review the laws of the land regarding the issue (Romans 13:1-7). The Bible instructs believers to obey the laws of the land in which they live, but not to use those laws to justify disobeying biblical principles (Hebrews 13:17).
4. Seek the counsel of mature Christians (Proverbs 15:22, 27:17). This might include seeking advice from other national conferences which have already dealt with the issue.
5. If relevant, carefully weigh and consider current scientific and medical evidence regarding the issue (Proverbs 18:15).
6. Consider any harmful effect your action may have on others.
7. Consider any harmful effect on the testimony of the members and churches of the national conference (Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 10:32-33).
8. Consider the ways in which other national conferences may have dealt with this issue or with a similar issue.
9. Consider how to deal with the issue while remaining consistent with the denominational Core Values.
10. Give weight to the historical position of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ on this issue or on issues which have parallels.
