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Handbook for Evangel Presbytery Clerks

8 Robert’s Rules of Order for Clerks

It is common for a church’s bylaws to specify that session meetings will be run according to “the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.” As clerk of session you will often be the de facto parliamentarian—the person who has enough familiarity with Robert’s Rules (and general rules of parliamentary procedure) to help the moderator navigate situations where he is unsure of the proper steps.

The goal of following established rules of procedure is to promote peace within the session. This is best accomplished by preserving the will of the majority while also preserving the voice of the minority.

This chapter is a mix of Robert’s Rules and general advice regarding good order. The parts that are from Robert’s Rules are cited and are from the 12th edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR). You can get the authoritative edition here. We encourage clerks to get it and read it. There is also an abbreviated edition, Robert’s Rules of Order In Brief.

8.1 Important Terms for Sessions

  • Adjournment – This means ending the meeting, but technically with the intention of reconvening as a body at a later time. A motion to adjourn requires a set time you’re adjourning to, most likely the next meeting. If the session has a regular meeting schedule, it is implied that the motion to adjourn is proposing adjournment to the next regular scheduled meeting. (See Motion to Adjourn below.)
  • Call the Question – If successful, a motion to call the question puts an end to debate and causes an immediate vote on the motion being discussed. Also called “Previous Question” (see RONR 16:1).
  • Consensus – This is the generally expressed will of the session, and can be used to take official action. Which is to say, not every action requires the formality of M/S/A.
  • M/S/A, i.e., Moved, Seconded, Approved – This tends to be the most frequent application of Robert’s Rules in session meetings. The normal process is for a member of the session to move that the board take some action. The motion then requires a second from another member of the session (but see Small Boards below); only after a second can the motion be discussed. After discussion (if there is any), the session votes on whether or not to approve the motion.
  • Orders of the Day – This helps ensure that agenda items that are pre-agreed on happen at a certain time. It is commonly used to set a standard meeting end time. If an end time has been set, and that time is reached, a member may move to extend orders of the day by a certain amount of time in order for discussion to continue (see RONR 41:41; see also Orders of the Day below.)
  • Quorum – A quorum is the minimum number of members who must be present in order to conduct business (RONR 3:3). See BCO 14.1 for Evangel Presbytery’s definition of a quorum for session meetings.

8.2 Handling Common Situations

8.2.1 Following the Agenda

An agenda exists for the purpose of disciplining a board to stay on task. If there is an agenda that determines what business is in order for the meeting, that agenda must be approved by the board (typically at the beginning of the meeting) in order to be binding (RONR 41:61–62). Members of the board generally have the privilege of introducing new items of business during the “New Business” section of a meeting (RONR 41:27).

8.2.2 Recording Motions

As clerk you are responsible to record motions in the minutes. Sometimes it can be a challenge to know exactly what the motion is, especially if there has been extended discussion about the motion. The clerk must pay close attention, and he is often looked to as the source for the current state of the motion. Feel free to speak up and ask for clarification (but avoid dominating the discussion with requests for clarifications). It is always a good idea to read a motion before proceeding to a vote. The importance of doing so is heightened by the length of discussion, as well as the gravity, complexity, and nuance of the motion being voted on. (For general information on keeping good minutes, see Keeping Minutes.)

Amended Motions

Motions will often be amended before they are finally voted on. This commonly takes place in the following order of events:

  1. Member A makes a motion.
  2. Member B seconds Member A’s motion.
  3. The session discusses Member A’s motion.
    1. Member C makes a motion to amend Member A’s motion.
    2. Member D seconds Member C’s motion to amend Member A’s motion. (If there is general consensus that the amendment enhances the original motion, the amendment can be considered a “friendly amendment,” and the session can skip to the final step of approving the original motion, as amended, without having to formally vote on the amendment.)
    3. The session discusses Member C’s proposed amendment to Member A’s motion.
    4. The session votes on Member C’s amendment to Member A’s motion.
  4. If necessary, the session continues to discuss Member A’s motion (as amended, if the amendment was approved).
  5. The session votes on Member A’s motion (as amended, if the amendment was approved).

For amended motions, you almost never need to record the original version of the motion in the minutes. You just record the version you ended up with and which was finally voted on. Then, if it is approved, you record, “Approved as amended.” (See RONR 48:4(6)(a); see 48:8 for an example.)

Occasionally, the elders board may have a motion with an amendment (and possibly an amendment of the amendment) pending, and the board decides that it no longer wants to deal with the main motion or its amendments. In this case a motion is in order to “postpone to a definite time” (say, the next session meeting) or to “postpone indefinitely.” If such a motion is approved, it dismisses the previous main motion and all of its pending amendments with that one vote. In such a case, the minutes will need to record the current state of the motion and all pending amendments (RONR 48:4(6)(b)). This is one of the only times you ever need to record the contents of amendments and something other than the final version of a motion in the minutes.

8.2.3 Approval of Minutes

Minutes of past meetings must be approved by the board. If you keep up with this, at each meeting you will be approving just the minutes of the most recent past meeting. Note that “A formal motion to approve the minutes is not necessary, although such a motion is not out of order” (RONR 41:10). Minutes are often simply approved by consensus. For a recommended approval process, see Adoption Process for Session Minutes.

8.2.4 Orders of the Day

As stated above, some boards have a standard ending time for their meetings. This is called “orders of the day” (RONR 41:41). It may fall to you as the clerk to help the session conduct its business within its own agreed-upon time limits. However, it is important that you do so while being sensitive to the conversation that’s going on, and that you wait for an appropriate moment to bring up orders of the day. That moment is probably not the very moment the clock strikes 9 p.m.

8.2.5 Motion to Adjourn

The moderator should generally ask for a motion to adjourn rather than simply adjourning the meeting on his own authority (see RONR 21:14–15). Asking for a motion to adjourn gives anyone who needs to a chance to bring up important business before the meeting is over. A motion to adjourn is not debatable or amendable; if the body doesn’t want to adjourn, the motion simply gets voted down and you proceed with business.

8.3 Robert’s Rules Was Made for Man, and Not Man for Robert’s Rules

Remember that Robert’s Rules of Order is intended to enhance and not to hamper the work of a deliberative body. Here are some liberating provisions straight from Robert’s Rules which you might not know about:

8.3.1 Small Boards

Robert’s Rules explicitly calls for less formality when the size of the board is small:

In a board meeting where there are not more than about a dozen members present, some of the formality that is necessary in a large assembly would hinder business. The rules governing such meetings are different from the rules that hold in other assemblies… (RONR 49:21)

For instance:

  • Motions do not need a second (though see below about custom).
  • Informally discussing subjects is allowable when there’s not a motion currently pending.
  • The moderator can participate in debates and in informal discussions and can vote on matters (unless your bylaws specify that he doesn’t have a vote)—all without leaving the chair (i.e., without temporarily stepping down as moderator as you do in a large assembly).

See RONR 49:21 for more information.

8.3.2 Custom

It is not against Robert’s Rules for a board to have its own customs. After all, Robert’s Rules itself is just a commonly accepted custom which a board may opt to follow.

In some organizations, a particular practice may sometimes come to be followed as a matter of established custom so that it is treated practically as if it were prescribed by a rule. If there is no contrary provision in the parliamentary authority or written rules of the organization, such an established custom is adhered to unless the assembly, by majority vote, agrees in a particular instance to do otherwise. (RONR 2:25)

For example, a small board might by custom require a second on formal motions. There may be no need to have this custom written down. You simply observe it.

When a custom is called into question, it may sometimes make sense to take a vote on it that’s then entered into the minutes and documented as a decision of the board.

8.4 Congregational Meetings

Many of the above principles for good order apply equally to congregational meetings. However, congregational meetings are necessarily more formal than session meetings because they involve more people. For instance, informal discussion, while appropriate in many session meetings, is almost always unhelpful in the context of a congregational meeting.

Here are some questions regarding congregational meetings to make sure you know the answers to:

  • Who’s the clerk? Depending on your church bylaws, you may automatically be the clerk of congregational meetings by virtue of being the clerk of session; or a clerk may need to be elected. Know your bylaws and help the moderator know what is supposed to be done.
  • Who takes minutes? The clerk is responsible for taking minutes for the congregational meeting. For more information on who takes minutes, see The Clerk’s Help.
  • What’s a quorum? The clerk of the meeting will need to establish a quorum in order for business to be conducted at the meeting. Consult your church bylaws beforehand to know how many members constitute a quorum.
  • What about ballots? If your church bylaws call for voting by secret ballot, ensure that such ballots are prepared for the meeting. Also make sure there’s a process in place for collecting and counting ballots.
  • What constitutes a majority? Know what your bylaws require in order for a vote to pass. In some cases, a supermajority, i.e., more than a 50%-plus-1 majority, is required to take action, especially on significant matters like amending the church’s constitution. Also know what your bylaws say about whether the majority required is a majority of all members, a majority of those present at a meeting, or a majority of the votes cast. The last is the most common and is recommended for most procedures.