Parliamentary Law: Role of the Chair

1. Management & Leadership
in Ministry
Role of the Chairperson

2. The primary role of the
chairperson / pastor at
any business meeting is to :
Provide for civil & orderly discussion
and trustworthy decision-making
concerning ONE main item of business
at a time.

3. The following slides outline the
roles & responsibilities of the
chairperson at a typical
congregational business meeting.
NOTE: Not all forms of church government function
the same way (i.e. the pastor is not always the
chairperson of the annual church business meeting).
Kindly interpret the following slides, in light of the
church government you are most familiar with.

4. Role of the Chairperson
i.e.: Pastor at an annual church business meeting?
1) Ensure the date & purpose of the mtg. is properly, publicly
announced and broadly advertised
(Annual Mtg. = 2 weeks)
2) Ensure the agenda & all motions/recommendations are
properly worded AND all related supporting reports are
available & distributed in advance
(Annual Mtg. = 2 wks. ; Monthly Bd. Mtg. = 2-3 days)
3) Ensure that the meeting room is properly set
up (lighting, sound system, tables, chairs and
temperature are ready).
4) Ensure that all needed supplies (pens, ballots,
collection baskets, tellers, historic documents,
reports, etc.) are readily available.

5. Role of the Chairperson (Pastor at Annual Mtg.)
5) Suggestion: Ask your church board to sit at the front of the
auditorium with you (shared responsibility)
6) At the appointed time, promptly call the meeting to order
even if you do not have a quorum (the business can
begin, but no decisions can be made) ‚Call our meeting to
order‛
7) Offer a word of Welcome, & perhaps a short Scripture
reading/devotional; opening Prayer; instructions/comments
8) Introduce those who have previously agreed to serve as
‘tellers’ & ask if the congregation will approve their
appointment (usually 3 tellers, who have no vested interest
in any of the elections/decisions). Approve by consensus
9) Turn the attention of the congregation to the
previously distributed ‘agenda’ and ask if the
congregation will adopt the agenda as the
‘Orders of the day’. Items of business + time

6. Role of the Chairperson (Pastor at Annual Mtg.)
10) The first item of business is always to approve the
‚Minutes‛ from the last business meeting (if that
responsibility has not been assigned to the church Board.
Disc. 650). The minutes need not be read, if they were
distributed ahead of time with the agenda . Minutes do not
need to be 2nd in order for people to discuss, vote or offer
amendments. Minutes can be received by ‘general consent’.
11) Introduce each item of business to those in attendance, in
the proper order, and at the proper time. Verbally provide
the page numbers, in the agenda.
12) Ensure each motion is properly made & seconded,
and lead an orderly discussion/debate.
13) Before each vote is taken, the chairperson
physically STANDS to call for the question
(‚Are you ready for the question?‛)

7. Role of the Chairperson
14) Either personally read, or have the secretary read
the motion that is about to be voted upon.
15) To read (or have the tellers/secretary read) the
numerical results of the vote, and declare who is elected or
whether the motion is approved or lost.
16) During the reading of the pastor’s annual report it is proper
to ask the vice-chair of the church bd. to temporarily
assume the role of ‘chair person’ of the annual business
meeting. Highlight, don’t read the pastor’s report
(assuming the report was previously distributed).
17) It is the chairperson’s responsibility to respond to every
‘procedural’ question & make a quick, clear & decisive
ruling. (i.e. whether a comment is ‘out of order’; what
motions are debatable; clarify what motions is before the
congregation for debate/vote; etc. ).

8. Role of the Chairperson
18) The chairperson makes the following
declarations:
- calls a meeting to order;
- nominations to cease;
- asks those in attendance to ‘vote’;
- commits the ballots to the tellers for
tabulation;
- pronounces ‘who’ is elected;
- announces the results of votes (motion
carried, or lost);
- directs the ‘destruction of the ballots’ at the
conclusion of a meeting; and
- declares the adjournment of a meeting.

9. The Chairperson DOESN’T DO THIS > > >
- Enter into the discussion. You can only answer questions
of protocol or general information … not share opinions or
preferences.
- Allow name-calling or character/motive assassination
- Allow the discussion to wander away from the specific
motion being considered.
- Do not refer to yourself “I believe or I have decided’
instead refer to yourself as ‚The Chair believes…”
- Allow the discussion to go in circles (restating & restating
the same points/objections over and over). “The chair
believes the assembly has heard
sufficient arguments for and against the
motion. Are you ready for the
question?”

10. The Chairperson DOESN’T DO THIS > > >
- Become emotional or allow their preferences to be
known. If you feel that you must enter into the
discussion, it is a cardinal rule that someone else must
chair that portion of the meeting.
- Limit the opportunities for those who ‘disagree’ with
your personal opinion to speak to the issue/ motion.
Let both sides (pro and con) have equal opportunity to
speak.
- Allow the discussion to wander away from the specific
motion.

11. The Chairperson DOESN’T DO THIS > > >
- Do not allow any negative talk about
any person in the church or in the
community during a public meeting.
Board and annual business mtgs. are
public mtgs. If you must talk negatively about a specific
person, then the proper procedure is to have an ‘in-camera’
mtg. (Latin/legal: in chambers) which are private, totally
confidential discussions). No Minutes are recorded during
an ‘in camera’ mtg., and a stern reminder is announced that
all discussions at this point are to be held in strictest
confidentiality (no discussions with anyone, outside the
meeting). Record this reminder in minutes.
- Do not Record in any Minutes, the particulars of any
negative accusations or actions taken against a person (i.e.
So and so was verbally reprimanded for being alone in a
room with a child).

12. The Chairperson DOESN’T DO THIS > > >
- Do not use physical force to eject
disruptive person from a mtg. 15
minute break & talk person. As a last
resort, call the police if a violent or
angry/ aggressive person will not behave
themselves, nor leave voluntarily.
- Do not allow a person to speak harshly or
judgmentally against another person. Rule the
‘member out of order’ and demand they sit down
& apologize for their tone & words.
- Do not allow a meeting to proceed without
someone officially recording the ‚Minutes‛ of the
meeting.

13. The Chairperson DOESN’T DO THIS
- Do not allow the business mtg. to
devote more time to debate on a
specific issue than is allowed by the
‚Orders of the Day‛. (i.e. ‚The time
allotted by our agenda for considering this question
has now expired and it is time to bring the
motion to a vote”). The Chair needs to keep the
business mtg. moving forward. For each person
who is offended … there are usually an equal or
greater number who are anxious to ‘move on’ to
other items of business. You will be respected, if
you apply this rule EQUALLY to all items of
business.

14. Class Exercise
Fix Time to Adjourn
Adjourn Scenario:
Take a Recess
Location: Christian campgrounds
Question of Privilege
Call for Orders of the Day Situation: Camp Board mtg.
Appeal Motion: “To purchase an $800 water
Division of Assembly
Division of Question
slide for the beach, and to
Inquiry/Pt. of Information change the camp to a 5 day
Pt. of Order schedule (Mon. to Fri.) from
Suspend Rules a 7 day schedule.”
Withdraw a motion
Lay on the Table Note: the rationale for this motion is:
Previous Question
Despite advertising better this
Limit/Extend time Debate
Postpone to Certain Time year, the camp has not been attracting
Refer to Committee enough campers to break even, and is
Amend losing $1,200 each wk. of operations
Postpone Indefinitely (mainly staff wages) .
Main Motion