St. Thaddeus By-Laws

BY-LAWS FOR ST. THADDEUS EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Article I: “The corporation” and “the Church corporation” each is hereby defined and shall mean the corporation of St. Thaddeus Church, of Aiken, Aiken County, South Carolina.

Article II: St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, of Aiken, South Carolina, is a corporation
chartered and existing under the laws of South Carolina, under the name of “St. Thaddeus Church, of Aiken, South Carolina.”

Article III: The corporation, St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, of Aiken, South Carolina, located in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, is a parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and accedes to, recognizes and adopts the Constitution and Canons of that Church, the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, and acknowledges the authority thereof.

Article IV: Offices: The principal office of St. Thaddeus Church shall be in the City of Aiken, State of South Carolina.

Article V: Annual Parish Meeting:
Sec. 1. The annual meeting of the Parish shall be held on church property on a Sunday in Advent in each year, or at such other time as may be determined by the Vestry of the Parish, for the purpose of election of members of the Vestry; to hear and receive reports from the Rector, the Wardens and others representing the several organizations of the Parish; and for such other matters as may properly come before such meeting.

Sec. 2 Three weeks notice of the Annual Parish Meeting shall be given by the Rector or Vestry.

Sec. 3 At these meetings the Rector shall preside and a secretary shall be appointed; but if there be no rector, or if the Rector is to be absent, the Senior Warden, or Junior Warden, respectively, if present shall preside, and if both be absent, a member of the Vestry shall preside.

Sec. 4 Any seventy-five (75) adult communicants of the Parish who are in good standing and who may be present at a Parish meeting shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business. As the first order of business at the Annual Parish Meeting, the presiding person shall ensure that a quorum is present and the actual count shall be announced and recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

Sec. 5 Any adult communicant of the Parish who is in good standing is qualified to vote at meetings of the Parish. All members of the Parish who have received Holy Communion in this Church at least three times during the preceding year are considered communicants of St. Thaddeus. Members sixteen years of age and over are considered adult members. All communicants of this Church who for the previous year have been faithful in corporate worship,
unless for good cause prevented, and have been faithful in working, praying, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God, are to be considered communicants in good standing.

Article VI: Vestry:
Sec. 1 The Vestry shall consist of the Rector, fifteen (15) adult resident communicants of the Parish and one Vestry Youth Member elected by the adult communicants at Annual Parish Meetings. Two of the elected members of the Vestry shall be elected to serve as Wardens and one member as Clerk of the Vestry.

Sec. 2. The Parish Wardens and other members of the Vestry thus elected; together with the Rector, if there be one, shall constitute the Vestry, and shall be the official representatives of the Parish. The Rector shall preside at all meetings, and in the case of his absence, one of the Wardens. The meetings of the Vestry shall be held regularly at stated intervals or upon the call of the Rector after due notice has been given all the members;
Provided, that on a notice signed by one Warden and two other members of the Vestry and after due notice to the Rector, the Vestry may meet and transact such business as it may seem proper.
The meetings of the Vestry shall be open to all members of the congregation, except during such times as personnel matters or other sensitive matters may be considered.

Sec. 3. The Vestry shall have responsibility for the temporalities of the Parish, and it shall be their duty to provide for all repairs, salaries and current expenses, and take all necessary steps to raise the funds required, and to keep a proper account of the same. They shall also execute all duties which are now, or may hereafter be, imposed upon them by any General Convention or Convention of the Diocese.

Sec. 4. Any adult communicant of the Parish who is in good standing is qualified to serve, if elected, as a member of the Vestry or as a Warden. The Vestry Youth Member shall be a communicant in good standing who has reached the age of 16 years but has not yet reached the age of 21 years at the time of the parish election.

Sec. 5. A majority of the Vestry shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business.

Sec. 6. It shall be the special duty of the Wardens to provide whatever may be necessary for the due celebration of divine worship (as books, vestments, etc.); also for the decency and comfort of the church buildings and furniture, books for church records, and the elements of the Lord’s Supper, and to put down all disorder during public worship. They shall be ready to collect “the alms and other devotions of the people,” and in case the Parish is without a Rector, shall disburse them; and also provide for public worship by occasional Clerical services, or by lay reading, as circumstances will permit. They shall also during such vacancy, take charge of the Parish plate, records, etc., and shall present to the Bishop at each Annual Convention, a report of the Parish. It shall also be their further duty to aid the Rector and other Minister(s) in all agencies and efforts for the advancement of the Parish – as Sunday Schools, etc. – and they may report to
the Bishop any irregularities in the mode of conducting public worship, and all offenses by their Rector, or by any other officiating for him (her) against Rubrics or Canons, faith or morals.

Sec. 7. The pastoral connections shall not be dissolved except as provided for by the Canons of the General Convention.

Sec. 8. When the Parish is vacant, it shall be the duty of the Vestry to notify the Bishop of the fact, and also to elect and invite a Rector, but not without due regard to the ascertained wishes of the congregation, and the opinion and advice of the Bishop.

Sec. 9. All church buildings and the personal property contained therein shall be insured in a reliable insurance company, for an amount to be determined by the Vestry.

Sec. 10. At the conclusion of the Annual Parish Meeting the continuing, the outgoing, and the newly elected vestry members shall meet for the purpose of electing a Senior Warden, a Junior Warden, a Clerk of the Vestry, a Secretary of the Vestry and a Treasurer for terms of one year. The elections of the Senior Warden, the Junior Warden and Clerk of the Vestry shall be by majority vote. The Senior Warden, Junior Warden and Clerk of the Vestry shall be members of the Vestry. The Secretary of the Vestry and Treasurer need not be members of the Vestry. The terms of the Wardens and newly elected members commence at this meeting.

Sec. 11. The Rector shall, by the second meeting of the Vestry each year, inform the Vestry of such obligations and other unfinished business which are carried over from the preceding year. The Vestry will then take such action as it deems appropriate in discharging those obligations and concluding such unfinished business.

Sec. 12. The Clerk of the Vestry, or designated assistant, shall notify each member of the Vestry of the time and place of the holding of each Vestry meeting, and shall record the minutes thereof in the Minute Book of the Vestry, in which book shall likewise be recorded all minutes of the annual meeting of the congregation; and such minute book shall be carefully preserved. The Secretary of the Vestry shall assist the Clerk in the recording of the minutes.

Sec. 13. The Treasurer shall keep a set of books which shall be subject to inspection at all times by the Vestry. The Treasurer shall make monthly reports of all receipts and disbursements and shall not pay out any monies until a bill thereof shall have been presented and approved by the appropriate committee chairman or either Warden of the Vestry; Provided, that the Treasurer is authorized to pay fixed salaries and current bills for utilities, including heat, electricity, water and telephone, and sums due for rent and Provided Further, that the Treasurer shall not pay bills, except for utilities, in excess of the budgeted amount for a particular activity without express approval of the Vestry, such approval being officially recorded in the Minutes of the Meeting. The Treasurer shall keep a separate and distinct account of the Cemetery funds for the perpetual upkeep of the Cemetery lots.

Sec. 14. All accounts shall be audited annually by a Certified or Independent Public Accountant or by an audit committee appointed by the Senior Warden. A certificate of audit shall
be forwarded to the Bishop or Ecclesiastical Authority not later than September 1 of each year, covering the financial reports of the previous calendar year.

Article VII: Elections:
Sec. 1. At every Annual Parish Meeting elections shall be held for: Five (5) members of the Vestry, each to serve a term of three (3) years, additional members of the Vestry to fill vacancies for unexpired terms of two (2) years or of one (1) year and one (1) Vestry Youth Member for a term of one (1) year.

Sec. 2. Any person having served a term of three (3) years on the Vestry shall be ineligible for re-election to the Vestry until a period of one (1) year shall have elapsed following the end of his (her) term of office. Vestry Youth Members may serve a maximum of two consecutive years.

Sec. 3. Any person having been elected to fill an unexpired term of the Vestry is ineligible for election to a full term until one (1) year has elapsed unless the unexpired term has been for less than one (1) year.

Sec. 4. Whenever a Vestry person shall have been elected to two consecutive terms as either Senior Warden or Junior Warden, he or she shall be ineligible for re-election to the same office, but shall be eligible for re-election to either of said offices which he or she has not previously served for said two-year term.

Sec. 5. In the event that a vacancy or vacancies occur in the office of Warden or other elected members of the Vestry, by reason of death, resignation, removal or incapacity, such vacancy or vacancies may be filled by an election by the Vestry for the period intervening until the next Annual Parish Meeting.

Sec. 6. A Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the Rector and Senior Warden to submit nominations for the Vestry at the Annual Parish Meeting, said list of nominees to be included with the notice of the Annual Parish Meeting. Other nominations may be made by voice from the floor at the Annual Parish Meeting. Separate nominations shall be made by the Nominating Committee for the Vestry Youth Member, and separate nominations may be made from the floor at the Annual Parish Meeting for Vestry Youth Member.

Sec. 7. Elections for the Vestry shall be by written ballot. Nominees receiving the highest majority of votes shall be declared elected to serve full terms, those with lower majority votes to serve any unexpired terms. In the event the nominees do not receive a majority of votes cast, a runoff election will be held, limited to the specific nominees receiving the most votes, the number of nominees in the runoff shall be no more than to be twice the number of vacancies to be filled. In the event of tie votes, such nominees would be eligible for the runoff ballot. Election for the Vestry Youth Member shall be by written ballot. The youth member receiving the highest majority of votes shall be declared the Vestry Youth Member.

Sec. 8. Delegates and alternates to the Diocesan Convention shall be elected by the Vestry.

Article VIII: Designated Offerings:
Sec. 1. The Alms and contributions, not otherwise specifically identified, at each Sunday service, and other offerings for the poor, shall be applied for charitable uses as designated by the clergy and/or the vestry. Contributions by Check, not otherwise specifically designated, shall be assigned to the Saint Thaddeus Operating Funds.

Sec. 2. The alms and contributions, not otherwise specifically identified, on the occasions of the Bishop’s visitations shall be assigned to the Discretionary Fund of the Bishop of the Diocese. Contributions by Check, not otherwise specifically designated, shall be assigned to the Saint Thaddeus Operating Funds.

Article IX: The Church to Own Property
The church shall have the right to acquire and own real estate and personal property provided same be acquired by and with the consent and approval of the Vestry first obtained.

Article X: Contracts, Loans, Checks and Deposits:
Sec. 1. Contracts: When not in conflict with the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, or the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, the Vestry may authorize the Rector and Clerk of the Vestry, or any officer or officers, agent or agents, to enter into any contract or execute and deliver any instrument in the name of and on behalf of the corporation, and such authority shall be confined to specific instances.

Sec. 2. Loans: Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, the Vestry shall have the right by Resolution to authorize loans to be contracted on behalf of the corporation, and such authority shall be confined to specific instances.

Sec. 3. Checks, Drafts, etc.: All checks, drafts or other orders for the payment of money, notes or other evidences of indebtedness, or mortgages given over corporation property to secure payment thereof, issued in the name of the corporation, shall be signed by such officers or officers, agent or agents of the corporation, and in such manner as shall from time to time be determined by Resolution of the Vestry.

Sec. 4. Deposits: All funds of the corporation not otherwise employed shall be deposited from time to time to the credit of the corporation in such banks, trust companies, or other depositories as the Vestry may select, in conformity with the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, and of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina.

Article XI: Mead Hall Parochial School:
The Vestry shall provide for and support a Board of Trustees to govern the business affairs of Mead Hall (Episcopal Parochial School) at Aiken S. C.

Article XII: Fiscal Year
The fiscal year of the corporation shall begin on the 1st day of January, and shall end on the 31st day of December in each year.

Article XIII Corporate Seal:
The Vestry shall provide a corporate seal, which shall be circular in form, and shall have inscribed thereon the name of the corporation, the word “SEAL” and a Cross.

Article XIV: Rules of Order:
In the conduct of the Annual Parish Meeting and of Vestry meeting, Robert Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall apply.

Article XV: Amendments:
Amendments to these By-Laws must be presented in writing, copies of the proposed amendments to be sent to the members. Any adult communicant of the Parish who is in good standing may propose amendments; such proposals must be submitted in writing to the Clerk of the Vestry at least two weeks in advance of the Annual Parish Meeting. A vote of two-thirds of the adult communicants in good standing present at the Annual parish Meeting shall be required to amend the By-Laws.

THESE BY-LAWS WERE ADOPTED AT THE ST. THADDEUS ANNUAL PARISH MEETING, HELD DECEMBER 2002.