REGULATIONS

Article I - Meetings of the Conference

1. The Conference shall convene every four years.

2. Each meeting of the Conference shall determine the time, place and convening church of the next Conference.

Article II - Executive Officers

Each meeting of the Conference shall elect the following officers: a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, a Recording Secretary and a Corresponding Secretary.

1. The Chairman shall:

a. call the meeting to order at the appointed time and see to it that each session is properly opened and closed;
b. insure that the matters on the agenda are dealt with as expeditiously as possible;
c. put to the meeting every motion that is made and duly seconded, as well as take the vote;
d. rule on all points of order, subject always to an appeal from two voting delegates.

2. The Vice-Chairman shall:

a. take the chair when the Chairman desires to express himself on any question before the meeting;
b. assume the duties and privileges of the Chairman in his absence;
c. render all possible assistance to the Chairman.

3. The Recording Secretary shall:

a. call the roll every day once the devotions have concluded;
b. keep an accurate record of all the proceedings of the meeting;
c. insure that all documents are properly cared for;
d. forward three copies of the proceedings to the member churches as soon as possible after compilation.

4. The Corresponding Secretary shall:

a. during the meeting of the Conference, assist the Recording Secretary whenever and wherever possible;
b. in between the meeting of the Conference:

i. attend to all correspondence;
ii. receive all reports from committees of the Conference and distribute them to the member Churches;
iii. assist the convening Church;
iv. publish materials, reports or other publications as authorized by the Conference;
v. report to the next meeting of the Conference on his activities and in the interim be responsible to the Interim Committee.

5. The Executive shall manage the proceedings of the meetings, arrange and propose the business to be transacted in every session and make recommendations concerning committees.

Article III - Interim Committee

The Interim Committee shall consist of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman and the Recording Secretary.

It shall:

1. oversee the work of the Corresponding Secretary;

2. invite one of the alternate committee members to serve when necessary;

3. report to the next meeting of the Conference;

4. be dismissed subsequent to its report to the next meeting of the Conference.

Article IV - Committees

1. The Conference may appoint a committee to study any matter that is deemed to be of mutual concern to the member churches.

2. Every attempt shall be made to make the members of these committees as representative as possible. The Conference shall also appoint members who can serve as substitute members should original appointees no longer be able to serve.

3. Committee reports shall be in the hands of the Corresponding Secretary at least one year prior to the next meeting of the Conference.

Article V - Participants

1. The following are to be seated at the meetings of the Conference:

a. Voting delegates from the member churches.
Each member church shall be entitled to sending two voting delegates to the meeting. These delegates shall be known as 'Voting Delegates'.

b. Advisory delegates from the member churches.
Each member church may appoint two advisors, but they shall have no vote.These delegates shall be known as 'Advisors'.

2. No others shall sit as participants in the meeting unless and until invited by the Conference to participate.
These include:

a. Observer delegates of Churches that have made application for membership in the Conference.These delegates shall be known as 'Observers'.

b. Visiting delegates of Churches which have not yet applied for membership.These delegates shall be known as 'Visitors'.

3. The Conference may provide a designated area for official Observers and Visitors, to distinguish them from others who may be present to observe the meeting.

Article VI - Convocation of the Conference

1. The convening church shall organize a prayer service prior to the opening session of the Conference.

2. The convening church shall appoint one of its members to preside at the opening of the Conference.

3. The convener shall designate three delegates who will collect, examine and report on the credentials of each delegation.

4. The convener shall supervise the election of the Executive Officers.

Article VII - Agenda Material

1. The Conference shall place on its agenda:

a. correspondence from member Churches;
b. applications for membership from other Churches;
c. reports from its special committees and Corresponding Secretary;
d. reports from its Interim Committee;
e. recommendations from any two member Churches to extend an invitation to another church to send observers to the Conference.

2. Materials for the agenda should be received by the Corresponding Secretary one year in advance. Recommendations should also be in the hands of the Corresponding Secretary one year in advance and be circulated as soon as possible thereafter. Amendments to Committee proposals can be received by the Corresponding Secretary up to the opening session of the next meeting of the Conference. Other agenda material received less than one year before the opening of the next meeting of the Conference shall only be considered if the Conference so decides.

3. The agenda must be finalized three months in advance and a copy be sent to all member Churches.

4. Additional subjects for the agenda introduced by a delegate of a member Church shall be restricted to those matters which are important and urgent and which could not have been placed on the agenda in a regular way. In such cases the meeting of the Conference shall decide by a two-thirds majority whether to place these matters on the agenda.

Article VIII - Rules of Order

1. To obtain the floor each speaker must be recognized by the chair. He shall address himself to the Chairman with decorum and respect.

2. If a delegate fails to adhere to the point under discussion or becomes unnecessarily lengthy in his remarks, the Chairman shall call him to order.

3. If any delegate has spoken twice on a given issue, others who have not yet spoken shall be given priority by the Chairman.

4. When the Chairman believes that a motion has been sufficiently discussed, he may propose that debate be drawn to a close. Any delegate convinced of the same may move to close the discussion.

5. Decisions shall be taken on the basis of a simple majority of votes cast, with the exception of Article IV, 1,c., IV, 2., VI of the Consti- tution and Article X of the Regulations.

Article IX - Finances

Each meeting of the Conference shall appoint a Treasurer with the mandate:

a. to assess the membership annually according to the established method;
b. to collect the funds in equal instalments;
c. to re-imburse all costs incurred by the Conference;
d. to provide the Missions Committee with the budgeted amount as required;
e. to submit a financial report to the next Conference; and
f. to draw up a budget with the assistance of the Interim Committee for the following Conference.

Article X - Amendments to the Regulations

These Regulations may be amended by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast.

The proposed amendment(s) shall be sent to the Corresponding Secretary one year prior to the meeting of the Conference.