SOUTH WEST COUNCIL OF FAITHS

CONSTITUTION

NAME

The name shall be The South West Council of Faiths, hereinafter referred to as "the Council".

PURPOSE

The Council shall exist to appoint, support and guide the work of the Faith Communities’ Member of the South West Regional Chamber. (The faith communities are among the Social and Economic Partners represented in the Chamber and are allotted one seat in the Chamber.) Through its appointed member, it shall seek to acknowledge the spiritual dimension of our community’s life and to represent in the Chamber the values and social concerns shared by the participating faith communities in the region. It shall provide channels of communication between faith communities and the South West Regional Chamber.

If and when a South West Regional Assembly were constituted, the Council should continue to perform a similar function in accordance with the constitution of that Assembly.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to all religious faiths with groups or congregations in the region (as defined by the Regional Chamber) and which seek to represent those matters in which they share essential agreement.

Any faith group or sub-group (denomination) may nominate up to two members to attend and participate fully in the deliberations and work of the Council.

OFFICERS

The Council shall appoint annually from its membership the following, to serve for one year from the first day of July in each year. Each may be re-appointed for a maximum of a further two years.

Faith Communities’ Member of the South West Regional Chamber; to

a.. bring before the Chamber the views and concerns of the faith communities

b.. report to the Council on the proceedings of the Chamber

c.. bring before the Council any matters relative to the Chamber’s work on which members of the Council may have views.

Secretary; to

a.. maintain a directory of member bodies and their representatives

b.. be correspondent on behalf of the Council

c.. keep the Council’s minutes, records and correspondence

d.. give notice of and distribute minutes of the Council’s meetings

Treasurer; to

a.. Care for the Council’s monies

b.. Co-ordinate any fund-raising activity of the Council.

c.. Receive contributions to the Council’s fund

d.. Make payment for all goods and services purchased by the Council and authorised expenses incurred by its members.

e.. Prepare and present to the Council, at the required time, for its approval and forwarding to the Charity Commission and any such statutory authority empowered to receive them, annual accounts of all income and expenditure in the previous financial year and a balance sheet as at the close of that year.

In the event of an appointee having to cease functioning in mid-term, the Council shall as soon as possible elect one of its members to take up the task for the remainder of the current year.

A Chairperson will be appointed at the commencement of each meeting from the representatives present and will serve until the commencement of the next meeting.

Other members of the Council may be appointed from time to time to perform specific tasks on its behalf.

FINANCE

The Council shall keep its administrative costs to the minimum necessary to perform its work. It shall not employ permanent staff and its officers shall be unpaid except that they may receive reimbursement of necessary out of pocket expenses. The Council may raise funds and receive contributions or subscriptions from member groups. Annual accounts shall be presented to a meeting of the Council not later than four months after the close of each accounting period, which shall be the calendar year ending each 31st day of December.

A bank account shall be opened and all income shall be deposited into and expenditure drawn from it.

Three signatories shall be appointed by the Council and all cheques shall be signed by two of these..

MEETINGS

At least two meetings each year shall be arranged by prior agreement of as many members as possible with at least one month’s notice being given. The appointed Member of the Regional Chamber and the Secretary may convene emergency meetings and the widest and earliest possible notice shall be given.

The attendance of members representing at least four faith groups shall constitute a quorum, but in all deliberations those present shall seek to be sensitive to the possible views or concerns of participating groups whose representatives are not present.

The aim of the Council shall be to represent those matters upon which the participating faith communities are in general agreement. There shall be no voting but, where there is disagreement, a minute shall be made to record the elements of diversity.

Minutes shall be made of agreed resolutions or, where it is believed useful, of other matters; the wording of the minutes being agreed and written down at the meetings. The member in the Chair shall sign these minutes at the close of the meeting where they were made.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OR DISSOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL

A decision to amend any part of this constitution or to dissolve the Council could be taken only by two consecutive meetings of the Council at an interval of at least one month, each of which one month’s notice had been served together with full details of the proposed amendment(s) or action to all member groups and at which meetings two thirds of the registered participating groups were represented. If it were not possible to convene representatives of sufficient groups at these meetings, a third meeting, of which wide public notice of at least one month’s notice had been given would have power to make the notified amendment(s) or to dissolve the Council, even though less than two thirds of the registered participating groups were represented.

Upon dissolution, any remaining assets of the Council would be transferred to a body with aims and function similar to those of the Council.
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