Paulist Center Community By-laws

Paulist Center Community By-Laws
Updated Spring 2006

I. Membership
The Paulist Center Community consists of all persons who share our mission as set forth in the Mission Statement, our tradition and our worship by their presence at liturgical and community activities and who enroll as members pursuant to procedures established by the Pastoral Council.

II. Pastoral Council

A. Authority and Responsibility. The Pastoral Council is authorized to take action on behalf of and in the name of the Community. It shall exercise leadership in the Community in advancing the goals professed in the Mission Statement of the Community by:

1. Establishing and reviewing the policies and direction of the Community.
2. Appointing permanent committees created by these by-laws and such ad hoc committees as the Pastoral Council deems proper for the conduct of the business of the Community, and acknowledging affiliations between groups and the Paulist Center Community.
3. Reviewing and approving a budget for the Center and the Community.
4. Supervising the operation of the Center in collaboration with the Paulists.
5. Collaborating with the Paulists in the appointment of staff for the Center and the Community.
6. Communicating with the Community about Pastoral Council actions and other matters of concern to the Community.

B. Composition of Pastoral Council. The Pastoral Council consists of 10 persons: one delegate of the ministerial staff selected by the ministerial staff; eight delegates-at-large elected by and from the community membership, and the Director of the Center. The Chairperson of the Pastoral Council shall be nominated and elected from the Pastoral Council at the first meeting of the Pastoral Council in the Center’s fiscal year.

C. Meetings of Pastoral Council . The Pastoral Council meets at the Center regularly once per month and on such other occasions as the Pastoral Council or its Chairperson shall determine. All Pastoral Council meetings are open to the Community, except that meetings to interview or discuss employees may be held in executive session.

D. Election of Delegates-at-Large and Terms of Office . Delegates-at-large to the Pastoral Council shall be elected from and by the membership in the spring of each year to assume office on September 1. The term of office for each member of the Pastoral Council shall be two years. Terms of office for delegates-at-large shall be staggered so that one-half of the delegates-at-large will be elected each year. No delegate shall serve more than two consecutive terms (excluding partial terms served pursuant to appointment to complete the unexpired term of a delegate-at-large whose position becomes vacant), or run for re-election for a period of one year after expiration of the second term. If the position of a delegate-at-large becomes vacant, the Pastoral Council may appoint a successor from among the unsuccessful candidates to serve the unexpired portion of such delegate’s term.

E. Election Procedure for Delegates-at-Large

1. Nomination s. Any community member who presents a petition signed by 25 community members sponsoring his/her candidacy may have his/her name placed on the elective ballot. Those who wish to be included on the ballot must submit their petitions to the Election Committee by the date set by the Committee.
2. Election Committee. The Election Committee shall be appointed by the Pastoral Council. The Election Committee shall strive to present a slate of candidates to the voters that reflects the diversity of the Community. The Election Committee shall strive to present the Community at least twice as many candidates as there are seats to be filled.
3. Elections . The Election Committee must submit the complete ballot to the Community. The Election Committee shall take steps to make information concerning the candidates available to the Community and shall make ballots available for two consecutive weekends in the spring. All ballots must be received at the Center no later than one hour after the final liturgy at the end of the second weekend.
F. Ministerial Liaison Responsibilities. While every member of the Pastoral Council is responsible to the entire community, for every group recognized by the Pastoral Council under Section IV.B, the Pastoral Council shall designate one of its members to serve as liaison. The Pastoral Council member designated as a liaison to a group shall take affirmative steps to contact the group, to learn the concerns of the group, and to ensure that those concerns are brought to the Pastoral Council.

III. Ministerial Staff

The ministerial staff consists of ordained priests, professed religious persons and professional lay ministers. The ordained priests are normally Paulists who are appointed by collegial collaboration between the Paulist Presidential Board and the Personnel Committee. One of the Paulists is designated as Director of the Center. Priests who are not Paulists, professed religious persons and professional lay ministers are selected according to the policies determined by the Personnel Committee and approved by the Pastoral Council. The ministerial staff has responsibility for the day-to-day pastoral care of the community, its ministries and its programs.

IV. Committees and Groups

A. Permanent Committees . The Permanent Committees are the Worship Committee, the Finance Committee and the Personnel Committee. Permanent Committees are appointed by and report to the Pastoral Council. The Pastoral Council may also appoint ad hoc committees to perform such tasks as the Pastoral Council may determine.

B. Groups. It is part of the life of the Paulist Center Community that groups of members organize to pursue ministerial, social or other activities. The Pastoral Council is authorized to acknowledge the formal affiliation of such groups with the Paulist Center Community and at least annually shall publish a list of groups that have such an affiliation. Only those groups as to which the Pastoral Council makes such an acknowledgment are authorized to hold themselves out as affiliated with the Paulist Center. Any Member of the Community can request that the Pastoral Council acknowledge an affiliation with the Paulist Center Community on behalf of any group.

V. Community Meetings

The Community shall hold a Community Meeting each year organized by the Pastoral Council. At this Community Meeting, the Pastoral Council and staff shall review the prior year, describe the plans for the new year, and shall provide an opportunity to the members of the Community attending the meeting to express their views.

Additional community meetings may be called by a simple majority vote of the Pastoral Council or by petition of 25 Members to the Pastoral Council.

VI. Amendments to the Mission Statement and By-Laws

A. Amendments to the Mission Statement

Proposed amendments to the Mission Statement will be presented to or formulated by the Pastoral Council or a general community meeting. If accepted for consideration by either body, the proposed amendments will be published in the bulletin at weekend liturgies for two consecutive weekends. The Pastoral Council shall convene a special community meeting at which proposed amendments will be discussed by the community. The Pastoral Council shall make such revisions as it deems advisable in consideration of the comments made by the Members and shall make the revised amendments available to Members together with a ballot. Balloting shall take place at all weekend liturgies on two consecutive weekends. An amendment to the Mission Statement requires the approval of two-thirds of the ballots cast.

B. Amendments to the By-Laws

1. Amendments to these by-laws may be proposed by any Member and submitted to the Pastoral Council in writing.
2. At the Pastoral Council meeting following the submission of the proposed amendment, the Council will consider whether to accept the proposal for consideration.
3. If the proposal is accepted for consideration, it will be published in two weekly bulletins with solicitation of community response.
4. At the Pastoral Council meeting following the publication in the bulletin, the Council will consider whether to adopt the proposal in light of the Community’s response. A two-thirds vote of the Pastoral Council is required for approval of any amendment to the bylaws.