INFORMATION FROM THE BOOK FOR ORDER
MORAVIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
 SOUTHERN PROVINCE

1550.

THE CONSTITUTION AND RULES AND REGULATIONS
 OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
SOUTHERN PROVINCE

I
 THE CONSTITUTION

Section 1. Name and Title

The name and title of this Province of the Unitas Fratrum shall be the "Moravian Church in America, Southern Province."

Section 2. The Government of the Unity

The Unity Synod of the Moravian Church is supreme in all things assigned to it by the Constitution of the Unity. In all other affairs of the Unity in the Southern Province, the Government is vested in the Provincial Synod, and in the Boards elected and authorized by the Provincial Synod.

Section 3. The Provincial Synod

The Provincial Synod has the supreme legislative power of the Province in all things not committed to the Unity Synod. It shall consist of elected delegates and official members; it shall determine the qualification of its own members; it shall prescribe what bodies shall be entitled to representation, and on what basis, and in what manner to be elected.

Section 4. Duties and Functions of the Provincial Synod

The Provincial Synod shall have power: to examine into the spiritual and temporal affairs of the congregations; to adopt Rules and Regulations for the same; to hear and redress grievances. It shall elect the Provincial Elders' Conference, the Financial Board, and other Synodical Boards, all of which are responsible to the Synod for the management of the affairs committed to them. It shall elect Bishops. It shall elect Delegates to the Unity Synod. It shall interest itself in Salem Academy and College and Moravian College and Theological Seminary. It shall supervise Church publications and its Provincial Funds. It shall watch over the Doctrine and Liturgy of the Church, according to the principles established by the Unity Synod. It shall regulate the organization of congregations and shall exercise a general supervision over the Church activities of the Province.

Section 5. The Provincial Elders' Conference

The Provincial Elders' Conference shall administer the government of the Province according to the Rules and Regulations laid down by the Provincial Synod to which it is responsible.

It shall supervise the congregations of the Province and encourage them in their work and service. It shall call and superintend the ministers of the Province. It shall see that the enactments of Synod are carried out. It shall pass upon the admission of new congregations.

It shall fix the date and place of the meeting of Provincial Synods. It shall have the power to call Special Synods.

It shall act as the standing committee of credentials at all Synods.

It shall appoint the officers of Provincial Synods, the committees and the committee chairpersons prior to the convening of Synod.

Section 6. Amendments

Any proposed changes in this Constitution shall be submitted to a stated

Provincial Synod, and then referred to the Committee on Government, and when reported back by the said committee, shall be read and voted on two times, one time on each of separate days, and shall be passed only by receiving a majority of three-fourths of the votes cast at each reading.

II RULES AND REGULATIONS

 I. Provincial Synods

1. The stated Provincial Synods of the Moravian Church in America, Southern Province, shall meet in 1995, 1998 and every four years thereafter.

2. Special Synods may be called in the interval by the Provincial Elders' Conference or upon a written request of 300 or more communicant members.

3. At least sixty days prior to the opening date of each stated Synod, the Provincial Elders' Conference shall appoint its chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, and parliamentarian.

4. At least sixty days prior to the opening date of each stated Synod, the Provincial Elders' Conference shall appoint a Committee on Government. It shall also appoint a Nominations Committee, which shall present to Synod nominations for all boards to be elected by Synod unless otherwise provided for. After presentation of the Nominating Committee's report, additional nominations may be made from the floor.

5. Each Provincial Board elected by Synod shall prepare a written report of its work during the inter-synodal period to be submitted to the Provincial Elders' Conference at least thirty days prior to the date of Synod. A copy of those reports shall be distributed at least two weeks in advance of the opening of Synod to all official delegates.

6. Only the report of the Provincial Elders' Conference may be read in full during the meeting of Synod.

7. The Provincial Elders' Conference shall appoint synodal committees as may be needed. Each committee shall study the state of the church in the field assigned to it, pass upon resolutions of Synod referred to it, and render a report to Synod.

II. Members of Provincial Synods

The following shall be members of the Provincial Synods:

1. Delegates from the congregations in the Province.

2. Members of the existing Provincial Elders' Conference.
3. Members of the existing Financial Board.
4. The Provincial Treasurer.

5. All Bishops residing in the Southern Province.
6. All ordained ministers serving under call in the Southern Province and all ministers, ordained or lay, who are in full charge of organized congregations in the Southern Province.
7. One representative of Salem Academy and College.
8. The President of the Provincial Women's Board.

9. The Executive Director of the Board of Christian Education if he or she is not an ordained person serving under call, otherwise the Chairperson of the Board.
10. The Executive Director of the Board of Evangelism and Home Missions if he or she is not an ordained person serving under call, otherwise the Chairperson of the Board.
11. The Executive Director of the Bd. of World Mission of the Moravian Church in America.
12. One representative of the Moravian Home.
13. All retired ordained ministers residing in the Southern Province or retired from the Southern Province.
14. The Archivist of the Moravian Church in America, Southern Province.
15. The President of the Mission Society of the Moravian Church, South, Inc.

16. All certified Moravian full-time professional Church Educators currently employed by congregations in the Southern Province.

17. Assistant to the President of the Provincial Elders' Conference who is a member of the Moravian Church.

III. Representation at Synod

1. Every regularly organized congregation shall be entitled to one delegate for every one hundred twenty-five (125) adult communicant members or major fraction thereof, based on the membership list at the close of the last statistical year as determined by the Provincial Elders' Conference; provided, however, every regularly organized congregation shall be entitled to at least one delegate. Communicant members are those described in Paragraph 1500, Article II, Section I. Such entitlement shall, however, be subject to the fulfillment of the following requirements:

a. The payment of the pastor's salary, such salary to be agreed upon by the Board of Trustees or the Church Board of the Congregation and the Provincial Elders' Conference.

b. The payment of its current expenses.

c. The payment annually of all contributions required by Synod and listed under Article XX, paragraph 1, of these Rules and Regulations. Congregations that do not meet this requirement shall have their delegate(s) seated at Synod with privilege of the floor and participation in committees but without vote. If the Provincial Elders' Conference and the Provincial Financial Board deem there are justifiable reasons for waiving the prohibition to voting for a particular congregation, they may recommend to each Synod that such congregation's delegate(s) have voting privileges

2. All members of a congregation who are entitled to vote in elections having reference to the affairs of their own congregations shall have the privilege of voting for delegates. A majority of the votes cast is necessary to decide the election, which is to be held by ballot.

3. In the election of delegates where nominees are presented at a  Church Council, at least 20% of these official nominees shall be members of the official Board or Boards.

4. The delegates must be full communicant members.

5. Alternates are to be elected according to the same rule that applies to delegates.
6. The delegates and alternates must be furnished with the necessary credentials.

IV. Developing Congregations

1. No fewer than fifty  (50) persons may be regarded as a nucleus of a congregation in development.
2. An application of less than fifty  (50) communing members may be submitted to the Board of

Evangelism and Home Missions for the designation of a congregation in development. The Provincial Elders' Conference gives the final approval for this designation. A developing congregation may apply for charter and full church status once the communing membership reaches one hundred (100) in number. The Provincial Elders ' Conference may adjust the number of communing members required if so requested by the Board of Evangelism and Home Missions and the congregation. Congregations in development are entitled to one advisory delegate to the Provincial Synod.

3. A congregation in development may have a regularly constituted board to oversee its ministries. 4. Whenever the number of communing members in an organized congregation falls below fifty (50), the Provincial Elders' Conference may ask the Board of Evangelism and Home Missions to evaluate the congregation and make a recommendation for its redevelopment.

V. Elections and Appointments 

1. A majority vote of two-thirds of the votes cast shall be necessary for the election of bishops (by ballot without nomination) and all members of the Provincial Elders' Conference (by ballot without nomination).

2. All other elections shall be by a majority of the votes cast.

3. Members of the various boards elected by synod or appointed by these various boards, shall serve for one term of four years after which they shall be eligible for re-election or re-appointment to a second term of four years. After serving two consecutive full terms, they may be eligible again for election or appointment after an interval of four years.

4. Members of the Provincial Elders' Conference and of other boards shall be elected at each stated Synod.

5. Any board may designate among the members it is authorized to appoint a position or positions to which members may be appointed for less than a four-year term, provided no such member serves more than eight consecutive years.

6. In the event of a vacancy on a board, or a member fails to be re-appointed or re-elected, the one appointed or elected to fill the vacancy shall serve the unexpired portion of the term of the person being replaced. The new member's eligibility to a succeeding four-year term shall be determined by the remaining eligibility of the person being replaced. Members who serve less than four years of the second term of the person replaced shall be eligible for election or appointment to two terms in their own right.

7. Vacancies occurring on boards to which synod elects members shall be filled as follows: 

a. Vacancies occurring on interprovincial and interdenominational boards of members elected by the Synod of the Southern Province shall be filled by the Provincial Elders' Conference.
b. Vacancies occurring among the members of any board other than specified in Paragraph 7a above shall be filled by the remaining members of the elected board.

c. A member of any board may be removed for cause, such as failure to attend meetings or enter into the work of the board. Such removal shall be by 2/3 vote of the affected board.

8. In the event the office of the President of the Provincial Elders' Conference becomes vacant between Synods, the Conference may appoint a person to bring the Conference to full membership. The Conference may then choose one of its members President. The order of rotation shall be preserved in the terms of the members of the Conference other than that of president. If a member of the conference other than the new appointee becomes its president, the new appointee's eligibility for election to a succeeding four-year term shall be determined by the remaining eligibility of the person elected president.

9. Individual boards and agencies of the Province as constituted as of the date of synod are authorized to determine the best date on which their newly elected members shall take office. The date selected shall not be later than the first day of the second month following their election.

VI. Election of Bishops

Resolutions calling for the election of a bishop or bishops shall be referred to the appropriate Synod committee dealing with the ministry. In the event no such resolution is presented, the appropriate committee may recommend to Synod the election of a bishop or bishops. I.

VII. Provincial Elders' Conference

1.The Provincial Elders' Conference shall consist of five persons, two of whom shall be laypersons and three ministers, to be elected by Synod.

2. The Synod shall elect the President of the Conference, after which the remaining four members shall be chosen in accordance with Article V of the Rules and Regulations. No person may be elected President after reaching the age of sixty-five.

3. The term of office of the President of the Provincial Elder's Conference shall be from the first day of the second month following the adjournment of Synod until a successor is seated. All other members shall take office upon election. The outgoing President of the Provincial Elders' Conference shall be continued on salary and housing allowance for a period of two months after the end of Synod to permit an orderly transfer of authority to the incoming President.

4. It shall he the duty of the Provincial Elders' Conference:

a. To inform the Bishops of the Province of areas of individual and congregational crisis and need and make use of the Bishops in meeting such needs, if and when deemed advisable.
b. To determine the need for pastoral service in the congregations and to call pastors to meet this need.
c. To call ministers to service on the various provincial boards and other agencies of the Church, as directed by Synod or as need dictates.

d. To call ministers to serve in special ministries, and supervise them in their ministries.

e. To inform all ministers of the Province of opportunities for personal and professional growth and achievement, and to encourage them to take advantage of such opportunities.
f. To meet periodically (at least once every three years) with the Boards of the congregations to appraise the work of the congregation and the pastor's performance of duties.
g. To seek to foster a spirit of unity among the people and congregations throughout the Province.
h. To establish and implement goals and priorities for the Province.
i. To inform the congregations, boards and agencies of the Province within ninety days of the adjournment of each Synod of all resolutions or acts of Synod related to their particular sphere of influence.
j. To maintain oversight over the boards and agencies of the Province, including but not limited to the Financial Board, to determine that each in its sphere of responsibility fulfills its duties as laid down by Synod.

k. To work with the Board of Evangelism and Home Missions in the establishment of specialized ministries and new congregations and in providing pastoral service needed for such undertakings.

l. To function as a vital part of the worldwide Moravian Unity and to interpret to the province the needs and concerns of the Unity as a whole.

5. It shall be the duty of the President of the Provincial Elders' Conference:

a. To preside at meetings of the Conference and to carry out the directives of the Conference.

b. To be knowledgeable about the talents and capabilities of the ministers and students preparing for the ministry in order to recommend to the Conference the best use of ministerial personnel.

c. To be knowledgeable about the needs and opportunities for growth and service of the congregations, and to assist them in achieving maximum results.

d. To represent the province or to provide for representation at the meeting of ecumenical bodies of which the province is a member.

e. To represent the province on the Unity Board.