If you’re reading this article, you’ve likely found yourself in a position where you need an explanation of business meeting minutes.

That’s where this article will come in handy. Here you’ll find answers to four common questions related to taking minutes.

Business meeting minutes are the official record of a group’s action. Taking minutes is important for at least two reasons.

First, the law expects that organizations will keep an official record of the proceedings of a group’s members, committees, and governing bodies.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires tax-exempt organizations that file a Form 990 to verify that, as an organization, they have documented their actions. Even though the IRS does not require churches to file a Form 990, state nonprofit laws often include a requirement that nonprofit organizations located in that state keep an official record of actions taken.

Second, and arguably more important on a practical level, properly taken minutes eliminate confusion and disagreement about what occurred at a meeting.

Ask most church members what occurred at a business meeting and the odds are low that they will remember the actions taken with any precision. They may remember topics discussed and comments made, especially if there was any controversy, but their memory of the wording of motions made and adopted will not be reliable. Carefully taken minutes provide clarity when a member cannot remember what happened.

In general, it is important to have a designated minutes-taker. Most commonly, this responsibility falls to the individual elected or appointed to the office of secretary, and this person may be different than the individual employed as the church secretary.

The minutes-taker has two important duties: (1) to ensure the minutes actually get taken, and (2) to ensure that the minutes are stored in a designated place that’s easily accessed by those who need them now and in the future.

So, if achieving these goals means that someone other than the elected or appointed secretary takes the minutes, that is completely allowable. It is better to go this route than to have no minutes taken at all or to be unable to find them later.

Very simply, business meeting minutes should include a record of what was done, not what was said. In other words, minutes should include a record of the actions taken on various items of business, but they need not (and should not) include a record of which individuals discussed those items of business or what those individuals said.

Even with the best of intentions, any attempt to summarize the comments made tends to result in inaccuracies or biased presentation. If there’s a reason for the church to have a record of the discussion on various items, the best course of action is to hire a court reporter so that you have a reliable transcript.

If you are the person charged with taking minutes, the first part of the record should include a paragraph containing the following information:

Here’s an example:

After the opening paragraph, the minutes should follow the same order as the meeting agenda and should contain a separate paragraph for each item on the agenda.

Here’s an example of an action recorded in meeting minutes:

Minutes become the official record of a group’s actions when that group approves them. Typically, minutes are presented for approval at the next regular meeting after they were taken, and they are circulated to the group in a reasonable amount of time before the meeting so that the members can review them ahead of the meeting if they choose to do so.

At the meeting where the minutes are presented for approval, there’s generally no need to read them aloud to the group unless someone specifically requests that they be read. Instead, the chairperson should simply ask, “Are there any corrections to the minutes from the January 15, 2022, meeting as distributed?” If there is no response after a brief pause (three to five seconds), the chairperson should say, “Hearing no corrections, the minutes are approved as distributed.”

If there’s a correction to fix the minutes so that they accurately reflect what occurred during the previous meeting, the chairperson should ask if there is any objection to that correction. If not, the chairperson should state that the correction will be incorporated into the circulated draft.

As long as any requested correction is truly that—meaning, it is an adjustment that fixes the minutes so that they are an accurate reflection of what occurred during the meeting—then, objections to that correction should be rare. But if there is disagreement, the group should take a vote on the proper wording.

Note. It is important to remember that making a correction to the minutes is not a way to change what occurred during the meeting where the minutes were taken. What happened at the meeting is in the past, and changing the action taken there can happen only if the group takes a vote to that effect. Approving the minutes is simply a way to confirm that the record of what happened is accurate.

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For related infographics and downloadable resources from the author, visit The Law of Order blog at civility.co.

Whether you’re casting a vote, taking a vote, or calculating a vote at a church business meeting, it is valuable for both members and leaders to understand the voting process and feel confident about how the result of a vote is determined.

To equip you with the skills needed to take and count a valid vote, this article will explain the four primary voting methods and define three important terms.

There are four primary methods for taking a vote: general consent, voice, raised hand or standing, and ballot. No one voting method is inherently better than another although some tend to work better than others in certain circumstances.

First, it is important to understand that no vote must be counted or be secret unless a group has decided that a count or a secret ballot should be used for a specific vote or category of votes.

The rationale here is that counting votes takes time, and a group’s time shouldn’t be used to count votes unless the group has agreed to it.

Here, then, are the primary methods for voting.

A general consent or unanimous consent vote is a vote used for decision-making on noncontroversial matters. The goal of taking a vote by unanimous consent is efficiency. This type of vote skips the discussion portion of the motions process and eliminates the need for the chairperson to say, “All those in favor. … All those opposed. …” Instead, the chairperson can simply ask if there are any objections to the action proposed by the motion.

For example, if the proposed action is approval of the meeting agenda, the chairperson would ask, “Are there any objections to approving the meeting agenda as distributed?”

After pausing briefly (three to five seconds) to listen for any objections, the chairperson would then say, “Hearing none, the agenda is approved as distributed,” and would move to the next item of business. If there is an objection, the chairperson would say, “There is an objection,” and would move to the discussion portion of the motions process as described here.

A voice vote asks members to state whether they are in favor of or opposed to a motion by saying “aye” or “no.” When taking this type of vote, the chairperson determines the winner by listening to which side is louder.

Sometimes, there is need for clarification of the results of this type of vote.

This scenario is not uncommon, especially in a large group, because an individual may be sitting in a section of the room in which the side (ayes or noes) that is louder differs from the side that is louder overall.

As discussed above, calling out “Division” does not require a counted vote—a raised hand or standing vote can clarify the result.

A raised hand or standing vote is a good way to take a vote if the results are too close to call through a voice vote, or if a counted vote is needed or required. This is also a helpful method for taking votes when individuals with voting privileges are seated together with individuals who do not have voting privileges.

For example, some churches allow visitors or regular attenders to stay for business meetings or may allow families to attend business meetings even if not all of them are members. Taking a voice vote in this type of setting may not allow for confidence in the result, especially if the result is close. A raised hand or standing vote can provide a good alternative.

A raised hand or standing vote can be easily counted by having the members count off, starting at the front of the room and working row by row to the back. The chairperson or a teller (a designated vote counter) can cue the first person in the front row to say “1” and lower their hand or sit down, and then cue the person next to them to say “2” and lower their hand or sit down—working all the way through the room until all votes have been counted.

This may sound time consuming, but it doesn’t take much, if any, more time than having a teller go row by row and count all of the votes. The advantage is that the members are involved in the counting and are less inclined to question whether the votes have been accurately tabulated.

A ballot vote is a secret vote by default unless the bylaws require that a ballot be signed. Ballots are generally used for elections and votes on very consequential matters (e.g., a vote to consider a large expense, dissolve a church, merge with another church, or ask an individual to be a pastor, and so on).

When ballot votes are counted, at least two tellers should work together to count them. In the case of an election, each candidate may appoint one representative in addition to the tellers to oversee the counting.

After the ballots are counted, the tellers should prepare a report that includes the total number of ballots cast, the number of votes necessary for election or for adoption of a motion, and the number of votes received by each candidate or votes in favor and opposed to a motion.

The tellers should give the report to the chairperson for announcement of the results and give the ballots to the secretary or a designated person to keep until the time for ordering a recount has passed.

Various terms are commonly used within bylaws to describe the number of votes needed for a motion to be adopted or for an individual to be elected. It’s important to know the requirements for each vote taken and how to calculate results for that type of vote.

In voting contexts, the term majority is defined as more than half. If a church’s governing documents or rules use the term majority without qualification, the baseline or denominator from which a majority is calculated is the number of votes cast. For example, if 120 individuals are present, but only 100 individuals cast a vote, at least 51 votes would be required for the adoption of the proposal.

Qualifiers can be added to the term majority, however, to change the calculation. For example, to adopt any proposal or to adopt proposals on certain topics, governing documents can require a majority of those present or a majority of the entire membership.

In voting contexts, the term two-thirds generally means at least two-thirds of the individuals present and voting. But as with the term majority, two-thirds can be qualified to mean at least two-thirds of the individuals present or at least two-thirds of the entire membership.

It is also important to understand that two-thirds is not necessarily the same as 66.6 percent or 67 percent. The best way to calculate two-thirds is to multiply the total number of individuals of which two-thirds is needed times 2, then divide that number by 3, and then round the result to the nearest whole number.

The term plurality means more votes than any other option but not enough votes to constitute a majority. Here’s an example of a plurality vote calculation: Three candidates are running for office. There are 100 members present and voting. Candidate #1 receives 40 votes; candidate #2 receives 41 votes; candidate #3 receives 19 votes. If bylaws specify that the winning candidate must receive a plurality of the votes, candidate #2, in this case, would be the winner.

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For related infographics and downloadable resources from the author, visit The Law of Order blog at civility.co.

It’s probably safe to say that business meetings are not a church calendar highlight for most staff and church members. Perhaps you view them as necessary but burdensome, and maybe the thought of preparing for one makes you cringe or even panic. Well, be encouraged.

This article aims to help leaders simplify business meetings and streamline the preparation. Let’s dive in by considering three key questions.

Church business meetings take place any time church members, boards, or committees get together to conduct official church business—from annual member meetings to weekly or periodic board or committee meetings where votes are taken and decisions are made.

The first step in preparing for a church business meeting is understanding the documents and rules that apply to the timing and format of a church meeting, as well as the specific matters to be covered.

Consider the following three points:

The contents of the agenda should be guided by the church bylaws. First, do the bylaws outline quarterly business meetings or an annual meeting only? What do the bylaws say about when a church budget is approved or how deacons, elders, and other church leaders are elected?

Becoming familiar with the bylaws is the first step in determining the timing of business meetings and the necessary topics that should be covered.

Outside of matters specifically designated for member input and voting, a church business meeting agenda should include the following items:

There are three main categories in a business meeting agenda: preliminary items, reports, and substantive business.

Unfortunately, business meeting agendas are often created by following a template of sorts from previous meetings, without much strategic thought as to the priorities of the church or the attention span of the individuals attending the meetings. Here is some guidance for improving your business meeting agendas.

Scenario 1. Are finances generally top of mind for leadership because of recent giving trends? Or have there been some unexpected, significant expenses for the church in the last quarter? Or is there an ongoing giving campaign for a certain special fund? If finances take precedence over other areas of concern, you might consider putting the financial update at the beginning of the agenda.

Scenario 2. On the other hand, maybe there’s no notable financial update, and instead, the church needs to hear from the building or facilities committee about plans to expand or make updates to the property. If so, then this would be placed high on the agenda.

Scenario 3. Or perhaps the pastor search committee should provide a report first since this is a next big step for the church this year, and the church property concerns are not imminent. If so, the search committee update would come ahead of the property one.

The point is that the order of the agenda should be driven by the present needs of the church, not by what’s been done in the past.

Key point. There is a tendency in many organizations to save the most important topics for the end of the agenda. Maybe this is done in an effort to ensure people stay to the end or to help members focus on the important items by taking care of everything else first.

Whatever the reason, this agenda order typically does not serve the group well because members are often too tired or unable to stay the full length of the meeting to actually participate in that critical part of the church’s business. Putting the important topics at the top of the agenda can help ensure the church makes headway on matters of priority.

Return to the series homepage.

For related infographics and downloadable resources from the author, visit The Law of Order blog at civility.co.