II.

ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS.

8. Organization of Informal Meetings. Special meetings having a single purpose may proceed with very simple organization. Some member of the body calls the gathering to order and nominates a chairman or moderator. If there is no other nomination he puts the question to vote, and if a majority of those present approve, he declares the nominee elected. The person so elected takes the chair, calls for the election of a secretary or scribe, and the organization is completed.

Such an assembly as this would be, for instance, a mass meeting called to consider the wisdom of purchasing an organ for the church. It would not be necessary to give it the formality of a church meeting, or to restrict the voting to members of the church, it being assumed that others than church members would be interested; and the subsequent formal action of the church would depend somewhat on the interest shown in the special meeting. The discussion could proceed with any desired degree of informality, and the record would probably be a mere recommendation to the church that an organ be purchased, together with the assurance that the persons participating in the meeting would lend to the enterprise financial aid and encouragement.

. Informal meetings of this character may frequently be of service; yet it is better for the interests of good order that they should proceed under the auspices of some accredited body, as for instance, in the case above cited, of the Music Committee or the Board of Trustees. Such meetings should not be called for pur

poses other than those which tend to promote harmony and good order within the church, but may be em ployed for the informal consideration of some question of public policy, where it is not yet deemed expedient that the church itself shall take formal action.

9. The Organization of Permanent Bodies. In meetings of the Church the organization continues from meeting to meeting, and the pastor and clerk assume their particular duties by virtue of their offices, except as special provision is made for another presiding officer.

In permanent bodies whose officers hold over the meeting is called to order by the moderator. In bodies where the moderator's term of office expires with the session for which he was elected, but where no other provision is made for a call to order, it is customary, and in the case of the National Council it is provided, that the last elected moderator shall call the assembly to order. In the case of councils the call to order is commonly by one of the older pastors, but may be by an officer or other representative of the inviting church. It is not necessary that the person who calls the meeting to order should be a member of the body. In case a meeting is called by a committee, the chairman of the committee may with propriety call the body to order. If the meeting convenes in response to a call or petition, one of the signers of the call may perform this service. As soon as the organization is effected and the body is in order and ready to proceed, prayer should be offered, generally by the moderator. All religious meetings for the transaction of business should be opened with prayer.

Unless the secretary is one of the standing officers, he should be elected at the beginning; and as soon as the meeting is in order the other officers who have

immediate duties should be chosen by the body. If the order of business has been prepared by a committee, the report of the committee, with its proposed order of business, should be presented and adopted, together with any special rules necessary for the governing of the body.

10. Temporary and Permanent Organization. In representative assemblies where credentials are to be presented and a roll of voting members made up, a temporary organization is a convenience. The first National Council held at Oberlin in 1871 proceeded for several days under its temporary organization, pending the making up of the roll and the preparation of a constitution. In meetings of the Council as now conducted and in our Congregational bodies generally, the temporary organization is very brief, and is designed merely to determine the list of members, to ascertain if a quorum be present, and to insure the prompt completion of a permanent organization.

The temporary organization may be effected on the simple lines indicated in Section 7. A member calls the meeting to order and in the absence of any other rule or custom may himself nominate a temporary chairman. Other nominations are in order, and opportunity for them must be given before the first nomination is put to vote. If such additional nominations are made, however, they are not in the nature of amendments, and are not entitled to a vote prior to that upon the first nomination. The names are put to vote in the order in which the nominations were made. A ballot may be called for by any member and should never be refused if demanded in the election of permanent officers.

11. Quorum. Mass meetings have no stated quorum. Church constitutions generally provide a definite num

ber necessary to the transaction of business. In councils a majority of invited churches is necessary to a quorum.

12. Business That May Be Done After Quorum Is Lacking. If a quorum has been present, it is judged to be present to the end of the session unless the question is raised. At a council, the business having been completed and the records approved, a public service having been arranged may proceed and complete the work assigned to its various members by the council, even if the question of quorum be raised, and a quorum found to be lacking; but such a body must confine itself strictly to the business which the council approved before the quorum was found to be lacking.

13. Doing Business Before Quorum Is Complete. A council, having practically a quorum, and being assured that a sufficient number of additional delegates are on their way to complete it, may, at the advertised hour, proceed to organize, and if the members arriving later complete the quorum and approve the work begun, the business transacted may be recorded as if a quorum had been present throughout.

An association, assembling at an advertised hour, and having routine business to transact, and lacking one or two members of a quorum, may organize, if the question of quorum is not raised; but if it attempt any business not approved by the entire membership present, any member may raise the question of quorum; and the body itself when a quorum is present may refuse to record the acts performed as the acts of the body.

But in all such instances it is necessary that the work performed prior to the arrival of the quorum have the unanimous consent of those present, and the approval of the fully organized body when a quorum is present.

14. Temporary Organization Without Quorum. A

meeting having less than a quorum may effect a temporary organization and adjourn; but can transact no business that is binding on the body.

15. Checks Upon Business Without Quorum. Whatever is done without a quorum has these three checks: First, it must meet the unanimous will of those present, else one member will call for a count, and show that no quorum is present; secondly, as soon as a quorum arrives the formal organization may refuse to concur in any previous action; and thirdly, when the minutes are presented for adoption at the next session, the body may refuse to approve the minutes.

With these ample checks it would be folly to insist that a quorum must be visibly present at every

moment when routine business is under consideration. No legislative body requires it. In some of the State legislatures the journal shows a large day's business to have been done when in reality only one member is actually present, dictating to a stenographer the advancement of bills previously agreed upon, the body reserving the right to save its record from abuse of this arrangement when the journal comes up for approval. No final action can be taken in this way; but it is a device much in vogue in some States for the gaining of a legislative day, and the pushing forward of routine business for which a separate day is required, but which if actually spent at the Capitol would prevent members from spending the week-end at home. The custom is not commended for Congregational usage; but may serve as a sufficient precedent to justify a body barely lacking a quorum in proceeding with routine business, when the hour of meeting has arrived, assured that if the assembly does not approve what they have done, it can easily reverse it without affecting the records. It goes without saying that no business should be introduced in such a meeting that is