Charter Amendments
At the recent National Council meeting, the following changes in bold were made to the National Charter for Local Churches. Most of the changes are clarification of language suggested by various people as a result of the webinars:
Part I. Section 2. under “Affiliation”
The Local Church is a branch of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) / Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), a religious nonprofit organization with national headquarters in New York, NY. and world headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. It is also an active member of the FFWPU.
“and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon” was added at the end of the paragraph.
Part I, Section 4.b.v.2. under “Membership”
Members have the right to vote in Church Council elections based on the following requirements:
They shall be at least 18 years old or have received the Marriage Blessing.
Item 2. was added to make a more uniform standard for church membership nationwide.
(This item may be amended locally by following the amendment process under Part 1, Section 9.b. titled “Amendments”, ie.: With approval of the Local Church Council and a two-thirds vote of the Local Church membership, a Local Church may amend this document for its own purposes as follows:
Requirements for Local Church membership and voting
Election rules
Composition and size of the Church Council
Frequency and rules for Church Council meetings
Participation requirements for Church Council members)
Part I, Section 5.a. under “Church Council”
The Church Council is elected as the governing body for the Local Church in cooperation with the Church Pastor and the National Church Headquarters.
This change was added for clarification.
Part I, Section 5.c. under “Church Council”
A member may run for office if they have been a member of the Local Church or resided in the area for one year.
For clarification, this was changed to:
A member may run for office if they have been a member of the Local Church for one year or, in the case of a new Church Council, resided in the area for one year.
Part I, Section 5.e.i. under “Church Council”
The Church Council is comprised of five, seven or nine members, including the Pastor. Any change to the size of the Church Council shall be approved as an amendment by the Congregation as stated in Section 9.
This change was added for clarification.
Part I, Section 5.e.v. under “Church Council”
Church Council decisions will be made by simple majority vote, except in a vote to remove the Pastor as stated in Section 6.a.iii.
This addition was made for clarification.
Part I, Section 5.e.vii. under “Church Council”
If a council member resigns or leaves, the Church Council will decide on a procedure to select candidates to fill out the term and choose one.
This change was made for clarification and to avoid confusion.
Part I, Section 5.f.ii. under “Church Council”
In accordance with the international model, for every three open seats, the two candidates with the most votes are elected and the third seat will be appointed by the Pastor from among the next three candidates with the most votes. If the number of open seats is two or four, the Pastor will select one; if five or seven, two; if eight, three. If there is no Pastor, the selection will be made by lottery. In the case of candidates being tied for any seat, the outcome shall be decided by lottery.
This was removed and simplified to:
In the case of candidates being tied for the final seat(s), the outcome shall be decided by lottery.
This change as made, because It was felt the original was too complicated.
Part I, Section 9.a. under “Amendments”
This charter may be amended by the National Council with the approval of the President. Questions of interpretation of this Charter will be decided by the National Council.
This is an addition and is a new role for the National Council.
Part I, Section 9.b.iii. under “Amendments”
Composition and size of the Church Council
Added size for clarification
The following changes in bold were made to the National Charter for Districts:
Part II, Section 1.c.iii.1 under “Duties”
Elect the District Leader was changed to:
Select a candidate for District Leader for approval by the Church President.
This change was made for clarification.
The following changes in bold were made to the National Charter for the National Council:
Part III, Section 3.a.vi under “Duties”
Adjudicate Appeals from Local Churches and Districts, at their discretion.
This change was made for clarification.