By-Laws Continued

Section 1. Direction of the Community shall be vested in a Board of Directors.

Section 2. There shall be fifteen (15) elected voting members of the Board of Directors plus at large members without a vote from outlying gathering communities which do not support their own set of Walks. The elected members may be laity or clergy. At no time will there be more than three (3) clergy serving as elected board members with no more than one clergy board member elected to the board per election cycle, thereby ensuring the rotation of clergy board members on and off the board in the event that there are three elected board members serving simultaneously. Elected clergy may not serve as Community Spiritual Director or Assistant Community Spiritual Director while serving as elected board members. The Community Spiritual Director and the Assistant Community Spiritual Director shall serve on the Board of Directors without a vote. The Community Spiritual Director and the Assistant Spiritual Director will serve for one year and may serve for additional one-year terms. At large members may succeed themselves up to three years.

Section 3.

  A. Directors shall be elected in three classes for three-year terms with the exception of at large members who will serve one year. A Nominations/Election Committee consisting of the five (5) off-going board members will be responsible for receiving nominations and handling all aspects of the election according to the following guidelines:

1.  Nominations will be accepted beginning on August 1 with nominations closing September 30.

2.  Each nominee, prior to consideration as a nominee, must sign a Statement of Commitment form verifying his/her willingness to serve as an elected member of the Board of Directors.

3.  In the event that, at the close of nominations on September 30 there is not a minimum of ten (10) nominees with signed Statement of Commitment forms, the Nomination/Election Committee will secure the remainder of nominations prior to November 1.

4.  The ballot, consisting of at least ten (10), who have signed the "Statement of Commitment" form is to be furnished to each Community member with the November newsletter. The ballot may be mailed in or submitted at a regular Community gathering, according to instructions printed on the ballot. The instructions printed on the ballot will designate a ballot return deadline which will be no later than the beginning of the January Community gathering each year.

5.  The Nomination/Election Committee will attempt to establish a Ballot which is representative of the Emmaus of the Midlands Community as a whole.

Section 4.  Officers shall be Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer; and in case of absences will chair the meetings of the Board of Directors in this order. Officers will accept responsibility of a work area in addition to an elected position on the board.

Section 5.  Officers shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the April meeting for a one year term of office effective with the close of the April meeting. Officers may be elected to succeed themselves. Newly elected Board members may be elected as Officers of the Board.

Section 6.  The Board shall meet on a monthly basis in regular meetings unless otherwise ordered by the Chairperson. All board meetings will be conducted according to a recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order, which shall serve as a decision guide for matters not addressed by either the National Emmaus Movement handbook or the Emmaus of the Midlands By-Laws.

Section 7.  Eight (8) voting members of the Board of Directors present at a duly called meeting shall constitute a quorum.

Section 8.  The Spiritual Director and Assistant Spiritual Director of the Community shall be elected by the Board of Directors at the April meeting. The term of office shall begin May 1. The Spiritual Director and the Assistant Spiritual Director of the Community may be elected to succeed himself/herself according to ARTICLE IV, Section 2. Elected Board members are not eligible to serve as Community Spiritual Director or Community Assistant Spiritual Director.

Section 9.  The immediate past Chairperson pf the Board will serve for one year as a non-voting, ex officio member of the Board in the event that he/she serves the last twelve months of his/her elected term as Chairperson of the Board.

Section 10.  Special Board meetings may be called by the Chairperson or when requested in writing by eight (8) members of the Board.

Section 11.  Vacancies on the Board will be filled with the person who received the next highest number of votes in the past election without being elected to the Board. The person filling the vacancy will serve the remainder of the resigning director's term. If the remainder of the term is for twelve months or less that person filling the vacancy shall be eligible for nomination to the next ballot, otherwise that person filling the vacancy shall be ineligible for nomination.