Prior to March 2020, virtual business meetings were rare or nonexistent for most churches. Many churches had never even entertained options for including members virtually in a business meeting hosted online. And then COVID-19 changed the world. Virtual church business meetings became a necessity—even commonplace.

Now, hybrid meetings—where some members attend in person and others attend virtually—are the norm in many places. But what are the elements of a properly run, fully virtual or hybrid meeting? How can you be sure that a quorum is present, that members are properly recognized, and that votes are accurately counted?

This article will tackle these and other questions with the goal of ensuring your meetings with members attending virtually follow proper parliamentary procedure.

The first step to holding a proper virtual church business meeting is to determine whether your church is permitted to conduct business virtually. The default rule under Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, the rule book that many churches follow, is that a church is not permitted to hold a virtual business meeting unless the state law that applies to that church or the bylaws of that church explicitly allow such meetings.

To determine this permissibility, look first in your church’s bylaws for provisions that address telephonic meetings, electronic meetings, or virtual meetings. Sometimes bylaws will state that a church can hold meetings by any method that allows all participants or members to hear each other simultaneously. If this type of provision exists, your church can permissibly hold a virtual business meeting.

If there is nothing in the church bylaws regarding virtual meetings, the next step is to check the state law that applies to your church to see if it includes any blanket provisions allowing organizations to meet virtually even without bylaws language to that effect.

If neither state law nor your church’s bylaws allow for virtual business meetings, holding one and taking action at it is technically impermissible and definitely inadvisable.

If a church needs to take action that simply cannot wait for an in-person meeting, it can hold a virtual business meeting and then ask the members to ratify the action taken at a later, in-person meeting. But this procedure is risky since the church is under no obligation to sanction the decisions made at the virtual meeting.

The best course is to amend your church’s bylaws to include a provision that allows virtual attendance and participation at any business meetings to be held by the members or any smaller group (e.g., deacons, elders, committees, and so on).

A quorum is the minimum number of members that must be present for an organization to conduct business. This term applies to small boards and committees, as well as general members meetings. For a business meeting of all members, that number, usually expressed as a percentage, should be specified in your church’s bylaws. If your church’s bylaws do not state a quorum requirement, follow the requirement found in the state law that applies to your church.

For a general members business meeting, an accurate roll of church members—or as close to an accurate roll as possible—is the place to start when determining whether a quorum is present. Follow these guidelines:

Calculate the number needed for a quorum by multiplying the decimal version of the percentage stated in your bylaws or state law by the total number of church members on the most-current membership roll.For example, if the current membership roll includes 150 members, and the bylaws state a quorum requirement of 20 percent, multiply .20 times 150. A quorum for meetings would need to be a minimum of 30 members present either in person or virtually.

Organize the roll alphabetically by last name and include the name of each individual member, even if one household includes multiple members.

Use a virtual meeting software that allows members to be placed in a waiting room before entering the meeting, and then ask members in the waiting room to change their screen name to be their full name plus the name of the individuals in the household that are attending the meeting through that specific device.For example, if a husband and wife are viewing and participating in the meeting together using the same computer, one of their names should be the primary screen name and the name of the spouse should be in parentheses, like this: Larry Long-Time Member (Lisa). This format indicates to the staff helping with the meeting that there are two members present in that household and that both members should be counted to determine whether a quorum is present.

Even if your church isn’t concerned about meeting its quorum requirements, using this format to identify the individuals present at the meeting is helpful for recognizing members and facilitating discussion.

At the announced start time of the meeting, those confirming the presence of a quorum should total the members present in person and those participating virtually, then verify the quorum requirement is met before starting the meeting.

A similar process would be followed for determining that a quorum is present for a small group, committee, or board meeting.

Discussion in a virtual business meeting can mirror what might happen in person but cannot replicate or replace it.

Meeting in person is still the best way to allow for as effective and inclusive of a discussion as possible on a topic. Virtual meetings may allow for greater attendance, but more people at a meeting does not necessarily equal more participation, and a virtual environment often slows the democratic process such that fewer total members can speak in a given time frame.

When a motion is made and the chairperson asks for discussion, it is helpful to use the reaction buttons within virtual meeting software to seek recognition.

Depending on the size of the meeting and the nature of the topics being discussed, the chairperson could simply ask members who want to speak to select the software’s “raised hand” icon. The chairperson could also provide more options for participation by asking members to select specific icons to indicate that they want to speak in favor or in opposition, or to indicate that they want to make a motion that has priority (such as a point of order).

When determining how to allow virtual voting, the first question to ask is whether both members and nonmembers will attend the meeting. If only members will attend, voting can likely be accomplished through the virtual meeting software that you are using.

The next question to ask is whether votes must be secret (i.e., by ballot). Votes are not required to be secret unless the bylaws specify this requirement or unless a vote is taken to require that all or certain types of votes be conducted by ballot.

If only members are voting and votes do not need to be taken by ballot, you can use the raised hand button in the virtual meeting software to take a vote. On a noncontroversial matter, a chairperson may be able to determine whether a motion is adopted simply by eyeballing the number of hands raised just as would occur if the members were meeting in person.

On a closer vote, though, the chairperson may need to count the raised hands to determine the result. If this is the case, and you have a large group, you may want to consider using the software’s polling feature, which automatically counts the votes. The difficulty with that option is that it does not account for multiple members who are attending under one login. In this case, manual counting would be necessary.

If nonmembers are virtually attending a meeting, there are two main options for taking a vote and ensuring that the non-members are not voting.

Though many churches have now become very comfortable operating in the virtual space, it is important to realize that meeting logistics become much more complicated when a hybrid meeting format is used. When attendees are present both virtually and in person, leadership will face many more challenges than they would deal with in an all-virtual or all-in-person meeting.

Something intangible is lost by meeting virtually. Though the same decisions can be made, collaboration is minimized, the informal conversations in the hallways disappear, and the “feel” of the group is different when some or all of the participants are not in one physical space together. Additionally, transacting the business in virtual and hybrid meetings takes longer.

In short, physical presence matters. Allowing virtual participation, even with the intent of greater member attendance, is not necessarily better, and leaders should give serious thought to the details of quorum and discussion before allowing a hybrid format.

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

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.

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.

Have you ever attended a business meeting and wondered what exactly is happening when people make motions? Maybe you’ve wondered why it’s necessary at all. Or perhaps the process is generally familiar to you, but you get tripped up from time to time on the little details of how motions work.

Whatever your level of understanding, this article explores four questions to help ensure your motions follow proper parliamentary procedure.

A motion is a proposal for specific action. It’s the vehicle by which a group makes an official decision to do or not do a certain thing.

If you think generally about how decisions are made when more than one person is involved, they typically follow a standard format: (1) they start with the proposal of an idea (e.g., “Let’s get Taco Bell for lunch!”); (2) they often involve some level of discussion (e.g., “McDonalds is better than Taco Bell!”); and (3) they end with individuals expressing their choices.

Motions are the way of formalizing that process in a group that is conducting official business.

There are two types of motions: main motions and secondary motions. Main motions propose substantive action—e.g., “I move that the church repave the parking lot.” Secondary motions propose procedural action related to the group’s meetings—e.g., “I move to refer this main motion to a committee,” or “I move to adjourn.”

To make a motion, ask to be recognized by raising your hand or going to a microphone, and then say the words, “I move that. …” Follow those words with your substantive or procedural proposal.

There are a few pitfalls to avoid here.

After a member makes a motion, there are three events that should occur before the proposal becomes an official action taken by the group.

A second is the word used in business meetings to indicate that more than one person thinks an idea is worth the group’s time. One member makes a motion, and another member has to say “second” for the motion to get any traction.

Once a second is made, the chairperson of the meeting should repeat the motion and then ask if the members want to discuss it. There are a few secondary (procedural) motions where discussion is not permitted, but discussion is allowed on all main motions.

Typically, the chairperson should say the following words, or something similar, to invite discussion: “It has been moved and seconded that the church repave the parking lot. Is there any discussion?”

To participate in discussion, members should seek recognition by raising their hands or coming to a microphone, then wait for the chairperson to recognize them, and then state their comments in favor of or in opposition to the motion that is before the group. Often, the chairperson will alternate between individuals in favor and in opposition.

According to Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, the most well-known parliamentary authority and the rulebook most commonly used by churches, members can speak only two times, for ten minutes each time, on any issue, but alternative discussion limits can be adopted via the setting of special rules. After each speaker, the chairperson’s response to the member’s comments should simply be, “Thank you. Is there any further discussion?”

Ideally, the chairperson will keep his or her own views private. But to participate in the discussion, the chairperson should ask someone else to preside over that motion through the discussion and the vote.

When there is no more discussion on a motion, the chairperson should take a vote. Once a vote is taken and the results are tabulated, that is the group’s decision on that topic. If the motion is adopted, the group should proceed with the action proposed in the motion. If the motion is defeated, the group should continue with the status quo.

As for whether a topic can ever be proposed again if it is defeated, common business meeting procedure says that the topic is off limits until enough time has passed or circumstances have changed to allow the topic to essentially be a new one. In other words, a topic cannot be proposed and re-proposed because such continued discussion wastes the group’s time.

Secondary motions are motions that relate to the procedure of a group’s meetings. They are typically (but not always) made while a main motion is being discussed. Here are three examples of secondary motions.

If a secondary motion is made while a main motion is being discussed, the secondary motion becomes the highest priority for the group, and the group must discuss and vote on that secondary motion before it goes back to the main motion. Here are three examples using the secondary motions listed above.

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