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Youth Federation Constitution
Allegheny East Conference ADVENTIST YOUTH SOCIETY

*

CONSTITUTION OF THE

_____________________ Chapter

of the

Allegheny East Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

YOUTH FEDERATION

 

Preamble

The AY Societies of the constituency feel that we need a closer bond of fellowship for the exchange of ideas and experiences as we work in sharing our faith — carrying the Advent message to our communities and the world in this generation. To foster meaningful cultural activities, and wholesome recreation, to keep our young people actively engaged in taking the Advent message to all the world, to help and inspire our youth to higher scholastic achievement, we unite ourselves into a Youth Federation and hereby adopt this Constitution and Bylaws.

 

Article I — Name

The name of this organization shall be the ____________________ Chapter of the Allegheny East Youth Federation.

Article II — Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be the promulgation of the Advent message by any and all legitimate means proposed by the Church body or conceived by individual members of the Federation.

 

Article III — Membership

Section 1 Membership shall consist of three classes: Active, Associate, and Honorary.
    1. Active: All Senior AY and Young Adult members (16-35) years of age.
    1. Junior members of these affiliated AY societies who have reached the age of 15 years or who though younger, are attending Church or Public Schools.
    2. The Conference Youth Director shall be an ex-officio member of the Federation.
    1. Associate: Associate members shall be members of the church who love to be with young people and who are willing to contribute moral and financial assistance to the Federation.
    2. Honorary: The honorary members are the district pastors of the churches involved.

     

    Section 2 Members must uphold the standard expressed in the Adventist Youth Pledge and Law.

    Section 3 Admission to the social activities shall be limited to the membership and their guests.

     

    Article VI — Election of Officers

     

    Article IV — Officers

    Section 1 The officers of this organization shall be the president, vice-president, secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chaplain, parliamentarian, social secretary, public relations secretary, music coordinators, pastoral advisors, transportation coordinators (optional), youth coordinators.

    Section 2 The above officers shall make up the executive committee plus the AY, Pathfinder, and Area Ministerial Representative and any other number not exceeding two that the Federation chapter may deem fit.

    Section 3 The Conference Youth Specialist shall be the general supervisor and sponsor.

     

    Article V — Meetings

    Section 1 The time, date, and place of the general meetings of the organization shall be set by the executive committee.

    Section 2 The executive committee should meet at the call of the president, at least four weeks before a general meeting to confirm and finalize all program plans.

    Section 3 Regular meeting of the Federation shall be held twice a year at a time which can be adopted as a regular schedule, and at a place which can be secured and arranged for by the host church, with each member church of the Federation being given an opportunity to host according to an adopted rotation plan.

    Section 4 No more than two "special" meetings shall be held in any one year.

     

    Article VI — Election of Officers

    Election of all officers shall be held at the last meeting of each 2-year term. Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of members present.

     

    Article VII — Amendments

    An amendment to this constitution may originate either from the rank and file or from the executive committee. In any case, it should be submitted to the executive committee in writing. After they have studied it and obtained a simple majority vote of the body, the proposal shall be accepted as an amendment to the constitution.

     

    Bylaws

    Article I — Officers

  1. Term

Section 1 The officers shall serve a term of 2 years and may succeed themselves in office. However, officers shall be eligible for re-election for no more than two consecutive terms in the same office. The executive committee shall fill vacancies between elections.

Section 2 Elected officers shall assume their responsibilities within two weeks after the elections.

Section 3 Officers shall be chosen through a nominating committee consisting of three representatives from each member society. (AY Leader, Pathfinder Leader and Area Ministerial Representative). If one of these officers is presently serving as a Federation officer, an assistant can be designated to serve on the committee as a representative.

Section 4 The nominating committee shall return one name for each office to the body for election, which shall be by a majority vote by voice or show of hands.

Section 5 If there are any questions on the report brought by the nominating committee, the entire report must be referred back to the committee.
  • Qualification
    1. The officers of the Federation are open to any active or associate member in good standing in the church.
    2. Honorary members may serve on the executive committee or other special committees, but shall not hold office or have voting rights.
    3. The President shall be a member in good and regular standing who is not only highly spiritual, but well versed in the operations and policies of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

     

     

    Section 6 - Duties

    1. President

      1. The president shall be responsible for the smooth operation of the Federation by seeing to the coordination of all committees.
      2. He/She is chairperson and therefore shall preside at all executive committee meetings and all general meetings of the Federation.
      3. He/She shall be considered an ex-officio member of all committees of the Federation, be they standing or special.
      4. The president may be granted the privilege of appointing special committees.
    1. Vice President
      1. Each vice-president shall assume the duties of the president in his/her absence or when called upon by the president to do so.
      2. Each vice-president shall be responsible as chairman for special committees.
    1. Secretary
      1. The Federation secretary is the recording secretary of the executive committee, and shall be responsible for the minutes at all meetings.
      2. He/She shall be responsible for all correspondence of the Federation.
      3. He/She shall be the custodian of the constitution.
    1. Assistant Secretary

      2. The assistant secretary shall serve in the absence of the secretary, and help the secretary in all of his/her duties when called upon by the secretary or the president to do so.

    2. Treasurer
      1. The treasurer is custodian of all Federation funds and shall disburse such funds only at the express authorization of the executive committee.
      2. A checking account shall be opened in the name of the Federation.
      3. All checks shall be signed by the treasurer and the president or any other person the executive committee may empower to do so in the unlikely event of departure of the president or treasurer.
      4. The treasurer shall be given a petty cash account of $25.00 to be spent between meetings. If he/she needs more before the next meetings, the co-signer shall check his/her receipts with him/her before renewing the petty cash account.
      5. The treasurer is to receipt, bank, and account for all funds of the Federation. The disbursement of all funds shall be by check. Checks must have two signatures (President and Treasurer).

       

    1. The treasurer shall present a financial report of all Federation funds quarterly and at whatever other times deemed necessary by the Federation's executive committee.
    2. A copy of the treasurer's financial report is to be forwarded to the Conference Youth Specialist office on a quarterly basis, accompanied by the signatures of the treasurer and president.
    3. It is strongly recommended that the President and Treasurer live in the same general locals or city.
    1. Assistant Treasurer

      2. The assistant treasurer shall assume all the duties of the treasurer when he/she is unable to carry out his duties, or when he/she is unable to carry out his duties, or when called upon by the treasurer or president to do so.

    2. Parliamentarian
      1. The Parliamentarian shall acquaint himself/herself with parliamentary procedure in order to facilitate the smooth operation of Federation business.
      2. Robert's Rule of Order will be the guide for parliamentary procedures.
    1. Chaplain
      1. The chaplain shall be responsible for the devotional activities of the Federation. He/She shall give counsel in choosing a speaker for the general meetings, and help to insure the spirituality of the Federation.
      2. He shall be responsible for the "Share Your Faith" activities of all Federations.
    1. Social Secretary

    The social secretary shall be responsible for the recreational and social activities of the Federation.
    1. Public Relations Secretary
      1. The public relations secretary shall be responsible for promoting and advertising all activities of the Federation.
      2. The publicity committee shall use all the free media at its command to make sure that the general meetings are well advertised. Placards, handbills, newspapers, radio, Regional Voice, The Visitor, letters, etc. may be used. The executive committee may provide a modest budget to have this done.

     

    1. Music Coordinator(s)

      2. The music coordinator(s) shall be responsible for all the musical presentations at Federation meetings.

    2. Transportation Coordinator(s)

      3. The transportation coordinator shall be responsible for arranging transportation services for each meeting.

    3. Religious Activity Coordinator

    The religious coordinator shall be responsible for encouraging an effective youth witnessing ministry within the Federation. Assist and encourage the church public relations secretary to publish senior youth news in the local city paper, church newspapers, and local conference papers. During federations, said person(s) shall assist in whatever capacity to insure a smooth operation of program. He/She is also coordinator for the Bible Bowl League in its Federation.

     

    Article II — Committees

    The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, who serves as its chairman, the vice-president, the treasurer, secretary, parliamentarian, chaplain, and the following chairpersons: public relations secretary, music, athletic, constitutional, cultural, educational, religious, social, prison ministry, Pathfinder, singles, editorial, transportation, all AYS Leaders, honorary members and appointed chairpersons of standing committees.

    Section 1 The Federation's executive committee shall convene as often as necessary to discuss, plan, devise ways and means for accomplishing its goals and purposes.

    Section 2 Standing Committees of the Federations shall be as follows:

    Religious (devotional and outreach), Educational, Music, Public Relations, Finance, Social, Prison Ministry, Athletic, Constitutional, Cultural, Singles, Pathfinder, Editorial, Transportation.

    Members of these committees shall be appointed by the executive committee, in counsel with the Conference Youth Specialist, at the first regular executive meeting after elections.

     

     

    Article III — Finance

    Section 1

    The Federation shall be financed primarily by the dues of the members (AY Societies) and special Federation offerings. Each AY society shall pay according to the size of its local congregation.

     

    Church

    Membership

    Yearly

    Dues

    Quarterly

    Dues

    Monthly

    Dues

     

     

    1 - 75

    80.00

    20.00

    6.66

    76 - 150

    120.00

    30.00

    10.00

    151 - 300

    145.00

    36.25

    12.08

    301 - 400

    170.00

    42.50

    14.16

    401 - 500

    200.00

    50.00

    16.66

    501 - 600

    225.00

    56.25

    18.75

    601 - 800

    250.00

    62.50

    20.83

    800 and up

    280.00

    70.00

    23.33

    All dues are to be paid up before all general meetings so that funds will be on hand to defray expenses of Federation meeting.

    Section 2 All Friday night offerings belong exclusively to the Federation. The loose offering taken at the divine worship services shall be shared equally with the host church and the Federation. In addition, a special offering shall be taken on behalf of the Federation. If the Federation is not held in a constituent church, the entire offering goes to the Federation to cover rental expenses.

    Any offering designated verbally or written as Sabbath School Offering or Church Expense must be used for that purpose.

    Section 3 It is recommended that any one general meeting of the Federation shall not exceed $1,000.00 (dollars). This should include all expenses and honorariums.

    Ten percent (10%) of all Federation Chapter dues and offering shall be forwarded to the Allegheny East Conference Federation Treasury quarterly to be used to help defray the expenses of the Annual Conference-wide Federation, Congress or activities.

     

     

    Section 4 Each Federation should offer two or more scholarships per year from Federation funds to worthy students who are planning on attending or is in attendance at an Adventist Institution. These funds will be a part of the Conference Three-Way Matching Scholarships.

     

    Article IV — Share Your Faith Activities

    Section 1 The Federation executive committee shall promote outreach activities by the members of the Federation, and encourage the member societies to engage in well planned outreach activities.

    Section 2 Each Federation shall set a yearly goal for souls and announce the same at the first regular meeting of the year and give a progress report at subsequent meetings. The Federation should report quarterly to the Conference Youth Department the number of souls won.

    Section 3 Share Your Faith activities shall take the form of One-to-One Evangelism, Voice of Youth Evangelism, Operation Fireside, Friendship Teams, Daniel and Revelation Seminars, and Literature Evangelism (selling books and free distribution of literature).

     

    Article V — Amendments

    Section 1 Amendments to these bylaws may originate either in the executive committee where after a simple majority vote, it may be brought to the floor of the house; and after a simple majority vote of the body, it shall be "so ordered."

     

    Article VI — Quorum

    Two-thirds (_) of the executive committee constitutes a quorum of the committee and one-fourth (¼) of the members of the Federation shall constitute a quorum for the Federation.

    Section 1 The quorum for the executive committee meetings shall be called 15 minutes after the stated time of meeting.

    Section 2 Any officer who is absent from three consecutive meetings without valid excuse shall be terminated.