Postpone Indefinitely. (§71.) Cannot be amended, but is debatable, and opens main question to discussion, Previous Question. (§77-78.) Undebatable; cannot be amended; requires several seconds and two-thirds vote. Not in order in National Council. Priority of Business, Questions Touching. ($86.) Undebatable, but remarks may be tacitly allowed. Reading Papers, Request For. ($88.) Undebatable; cannot be amended. Reconsider. ($79.) Cannot be amended or reconsidered. Is not debatable if original question was not debatable, but if original question was debatable, the motion to be reconsidered may be debated, and the main question is also opened for discussion. Can be made and entered upon record, but not discussed while another has the floor. Must be made on day, or session following, the vote to be reconsidered. Refer to a Committee. ($69.) May be amended and is debatable, and opens main question for discussion. Rescind. ($80.) May be amended or discussed; and opens main question for discussion. Not privileged." Special Order. ($83.) To make a question a special order requires a twothirds vote. Substitute. ($63.) May be amended and discussed. Suspend or Amend the Rules. ($84.) Cannot be amended, debated or reconsidered; re quires two-thirds vote. Table, to Lay On or Take From. (§72-74.) Undebatable, and cannot be amended; an affirmative vote cannot be reconsidered. Take Up Question Out of Proper Order. ($85.) Undebatable; cannot be amended; requires twothirds vote. Withdrawal of Motion. ($90.) Cannot be amended or debated; if opposed, after question has been stated, requires consent of the house. CONGREGATIONAL MANUAL PART I. RULES OF ORDER L. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 1. The Government of Assemblies. A body of people convened for the consideration of business of common concern is called a deliberative assembly. Deliberative assemblies are so many, and of such varied character, that in a country like America nearly all people have occasion to inform themselves concerning the principles accepted by common consent and established custom for the government of these bodies. Any gathering where there is to be discussion and an expression of the judgment of the body in terms suitable for publication or record, however informal its proceedings, has need of the general guidance of these principles. Every assembly may be said to meet subject to the implied understanding that it will be so governed; and in the absence of specific rules adopted by the assembly itself, these general principles may always be appealed to with confidence. 2. Special and General Rules. Wherever an assembly has adopted special rules for its own government, these rules take precedence of general rules; but special rules are likely to be few in number and limited in their content; and even in the matters which they are designed to cover they require frequent reference to the general principles which they have undertaken to embody. As for questions arising in every assembly not specifically provided for in its own rules, these are to be determined by the accepted principles and precedents of what is known as Parliamentary Law. 3. Parliamentary Law. The name and general idea of Parliamentary Law have come to us from the Parliament of Great Britain. The antiquity and high standing of that body have given to us a large body of principles and precedents which have been commonly adopted by deliberative bodies. These have been much modified in the British Parliament itself, and still more so in America in Congress and in the various State legislatures; and they are still in process of modification. The modification in America has been in many respects distinct; and it is now no longer accurate to refer to Parliament as furnishing precedents in matters where different customs have been established on this side of the water. 4. The Government of Ecclesiastical Bodies. Ecclesiastical bodies vary in their government according to their differences in denominational custom; yet in America every Church tends somewhat toward democracy in the forms which govern its business meetings. With liturgical forms for the conduct of public worship this volume does not concern itself; but in meetings of churches for the transaction of business, appeal may always be made to parliamentary law. Yet rules derived from Parliament or Congress are not to be forced arbitrarily upon bodies of quite another char acter. It needs to be recognized that religious bodies have been building up for themselves a body of precedents that have come to the status of standing laws for their own government. This is a fact of particular importance to a body like that composing the Congregational Churches of America. 5. Congregational Law. The Congregational Churches are not fond of the word Law as applied to themselves by any authority outside themselves; and this section does not so apply it. Yet there is a Law of Congregational Usage. It has not been derived from Congress, for it was before Congress, and has grown out of its own root. Yet it is rooted in the same soil with the political life of the nation, and is of close kin to it. A Church, Association, Conference or Council is a deliberative assembly; and excepting as its own rules, or the precedents of the denomination, make provision for the transaction of business according to particular methods, it is subject to ordinary parliamentary rules. The purpose of this volume is the interpretation of the general rules that govern discussion and business in all deliberative bodies, with special reference to the needs of self-governing churches and the assemblies in which these churches are represented; as these rules have found expression in the usage of our Churches, Councils, Associations, Conferences, and especially in the National Council. 6. The Purpose of All Rules. In all deliberative assemblies, and particularly in religious gatherings, it is to be borne in mind that the purpose of rules of order is to facilitate the will of the assembly. "The letter killeth, and the spirit maketh alive,' even in the most precise and formal of deliberative assemblies. All members should bear in mind that the real thing to be accomplished is the transaction of necessary business in a manner expeditious and orderly, and without needless technicalities. In the meeting of a church will be found some members quite unaccustomed to parliamentary procedure, whose opinions are entitled to consideration, and who should not be held unreasonably to the mere letter of rules of order. Matters under discussion should be considered in a brotherly manner, and decided in a simple and courteous fashion. The following rules are therefore to be applied in their spirit, always remembering that needless debate over technicalities is to be avoided. 7. General Remarks. Parliamentary law is not a series of arbitrary rules, imposed upon assemblies by the mandate of external authority; but is the mere application of common sense, experience and courtesy to the requirements of deliberative assemblies. Rules change, but these three abide, and by these all rules stand or fall. And the greatest of these is courtesy. |