Covenant and Constitution of the Church of Our Father in Atlanta, Georgia

Covenant

We whose names are written below, hereby unite to form the Church of Our Father in Atlanta, Georgia.

We agree to maintain the worship of God, to cultivate in ourselves and in one another virtuous affections and habits, and to endeavor to pass our lives in harmony with the Spirit and Life of Jesus Christ.

To secure these ends, we have formed and adopted the following Constitution which shall be the rule of our Association.

Constitution

Article I – Name

The name of this Church shall be the Church of Our Father

Article II – Membership

All persons who, after making proper application, shall sign his Covenant and Constitution, thereby agreeing with the purposes and consenting to the rules of this church shall be considered members thereof.

Article III – Officers

Section I.

The officers of the church shall be a Chairman, who shall be chosen at each meeting; a clerk and a Treasurer, who shall be chosen annually, and a Standing Committee of not less than five or more then eleven persons, who shall be elected so that one go out each year.

Section II.

All elections except that of Chairman shall be by ballot, by a majority vote, and all officers shall hold over until their successor are duly elected and qualified.

Section III.

The Standing Committee together with the Clerk and Treasurer shall constitute a Board of Trustees.  It shall be their duty to secure their legal incorporation; to hold the property of the church; to superintend the raising of the minister’s salary; to provide for the incidental expenses to arrange other pecuniary affairs of the church and make to it an annual report of their doings.  These trustees shall be subject always to a directing vote of the church and they shall have no power to sell or encumber its property, without a specific vote of those entitled to vote on these matters as named in Article IV.

Section IV.

The Clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the church and shall at each meeting read the record of the preceding meeting.

Section V.

The Treasurer shall receive all money belonging to the church and pay out the same upon order of the Trustees, and shall make an annual report to the church of his receipts and disbursements.

Articles IV – Business

All questions involving the disposal or encumbering of its property shall be exclusively in the hands of the members of the church who participate in the ownership of such property.  All other questions coming properly before the church shall be decided by a majority of the members present at any meeting regularly called.

 Article V – Meetings

Section I.

The annual meeting of the church shall take place on the first Monday in November.  Other meetings may be called as in the judgment of the Pastor and Standing Committee [as] they are needed, or whenever an application for such meeting shall be made by twelve members of the church.  Due notice of these meetings shall be sent to all members.

Section II.

Seven members of the church shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Article VI – Services

The regular services of worship shall be held on each Sunday of the year.  Services at other times shall be held at the discretion of the Pastor.

Section I.

The Constitution may be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting at any meeting called according to the provisions of Article V; the proposed alterations having been stated in the notice of the meeting.

Section II.

By-laws to carry out the provisions of this Constitution may be enacted at any business meeting.

By-Laws

At each annual meeting, an advisory committee of two members, one lady and one gentleman, shall be elected, who with the pastor, an ex office, third member of this committee shall receive applications for membership of the church and pass upon the fitness of the applicant. All decisions by the advisory committee shall be unanimous.

Physical Archive: UUCA   Box: 25   Folder: 01   Book: 01   Pages: 1- 5
Citation: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta Records, RG 026, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University, Atlanta GA