LIBERAL DEMOCRAT CHRISTIAN FORUM CONSTITUTION

 

(for submission to AGM in September – italics show words or clauses that are new)

1.             DEFINITIONS

1.1      The organisation shall be called the "Liberal Democrat Christian Forum". This name shall be used on official communications. A shorter name, "LDCF" or "The Christian Forum" shall be acceptable for common usage, or for repeated usage thereafter.

1.2          "The Party" means the Liberal Democrats throughout this document.

 

2.         STATEMENT OF BELIEF

2.1          We acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord of all and recognise His authority in the realm of politics.

 

3.         AIMS

3.1      We commit ourselves to the pursuit of just government, which will actively intervene to help the poor, the powerless and the rejected and strive to give all people real liberty and true social justice. To achieve this, we aim to: -

a)    Encourage Christian fellowship among Liberal Democrats and promote the worship of God in Christ Jesus.

b)    Affirm the relationship between prayer and political action.

c)    Be a bridge between churches  and the Liberal Democrat Party.

d)    Actively encourage and seek to develop Liberal Democrat Christian candidates to stand for public office, and encourage all Christians to become involved in the political process.

e)    Support the work of Christian Liberal Democrats who have been elected to public office, as well as those in the House of Lords.

f)      To promote understanding and mutual respect between Christians, other faith groups and those of no faith.

 

4.         MEMBERSHIP

4.1          All Liberal Democrats and members of associated parties who are in agreement with the Statement of Belief and Aims set out above may be members on receipt of a completed application form and their subscription.

4.2          Membership shall cease three months after non-payment of the annual subscription, or on ceasing to be a member of the Party or of an associated party, but associate membership shall be open to those who qualify.

4.3          Those who are not members of the Party or of an associated party, are not members of any other political party in Great Britain, and who are in agreement with the Statement of Belief and Aims set out above may be associate members of the Christian Forum and may attend Christian Forum events and receive Christian Forum publications as non-voting associates, on receipt of a subscription.

 

5          GENERAL MEETINGS

5.1          The Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held normally during the Autumn Party Conference and in any event held at least annually.

5.2          An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) may be called for a specific purpose by the Executive, or at the request of at least twenty members of the Christian Forum.  At such Extraordinary General Meetings no business shall be taken except that specified in the notice convening the meeting.

5.3      Twenty-eight days written notice shall be given of any general meeting and of motions to be considered at such meeting.  Amendments to motions may be submitted to the Secretary in writing not less than seven days’ before the meeting. 

5.4           All General Meetings shall be chaired by the President or a Vice-President or, in their absence, by the Chair or Vice-Chair. The Annual General Meeting shall receive and consider reports from all Officers of the Executive, and such other reports (if any) as the Executive shall determine; shall consider the rates and method of collection of subscriptions pursuant to Article 6.2; shall appoint a duly qualified person to examine the accounts for the following year pursuant to Article 12; and shall consider such policy and business motions as have been duly notified and moved.

5.5           Subject to Article 10, voting at general meetings shall be by a simple majority of those present and entitled to vote.

 

6.         SUBSCRIPTION

6.1            Annual subscriptions shall be payable by all members.(Deleted “annually, immediately after the AGM)

6.2           Recommended (deleted “minimum and standard) amounts shall be set by the Executive and  approved at the AGM (deleted “set by the AGM at a level in line with annual expenditure and non-subscription income).

 

7.         OFFICERS (new section7 & 8 incorporating most of old section 7- key changes italicised)

7.1      The Officers shall be responsible to the membership of the Christian Forum and to the Party for the business of the Christian Forum.

7.2      The Officers shall comprise the following members: (Membership and conference secretaries not included)

·      Chair

·      Vice-Chair

·      Secretary

·      Treasurer

7.3      The Officers shall be elected annually to hold office for a calendar year, subject to Article 4.2 (deleted - all Officers shall hold office until the next AGM.)

7.4      No Officer may hold the same office for more than five successive years and may not then be elected or co-opted to the same office until 2 years have elapsed.

7.5      No Officer may hold more than one office within LDCF nor be also an ordinary executive member, nor be a paid employee of LDCF.

7.6          In the event of an Officer vacancy arising other than at an AGM, the Executive may appoint a member of LDCF to the post and the person appointed shall hold office until the next AGM.

 

8.         THE EXECUTIVE (formerly the National Committee)

            8.1       The Executive shall consist of:

·      The Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary) and 8 ordinary members.

·      Co-options may be made by the Executive to fill any vacancies arising after the AGM or occurring during the year.  A maximum of two further members may be co-opted to fill specific roles which cannot be covered by elected members.  Co-opted members will receive full voting rights. (previously up to 4 further members could be co-opted in addition to ordinary members)

8.2      Subject to anything herein to the contrary, elected members shall be elected to serve for the calendar year.

8.3      Subject to Article 4.2, co-opted members shall serve until the end of the calendar year.

8.4      The Executive may remove any member, or co-opted member, of itself for failure to attend three successive meetings without reasonable excuse or for other good cause.  Before exercising this power the Executive shall give the member concerned an opportunity to be heard, and the member can in the final instance make an appeal to the President.

8.5      Meetings of the Executive shall be chaired by the Chair of  LDCF or in his/her absence, by the Vice-Chair.   Five of those entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum.

           8.6       Within the limits of the Constitution and in furtherance of the Aims and Objects, the Executive shall direct the work of LDCF and be responsible for its co-ordination and implementation.  In particular, the work of the Executive shall include:

a.    conducting the business of LDCF subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting;

b.    governing the organisation and finances of and fundraising for LDCF;

c.     determining LDCF’s priorities and approving its expenditure;

d.    electing or appointing ad hoc Sub-Committees in which the participation of the wider membership shall be actively sought;

e.    establishing ad hoc working groups for specific purposes;

f.      formulating, advocating and advising on matters of policy and contributing to the policymaking process of the Party;

g.    organising and promoting campaigns within and outside the party;

h.    organising and promoting such meetings, conferences and activities (including participation in conferences of the Party) as the Executive shall think fit.

8.7      The Executive shall meet at least four times a year. A telephone conference subject to Article 8.6 can be substituted for no more than 1 of these meetings.

 

9.         MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

9.1      The Executive will appoint a Management Committee consisting of at least four members. At least two members of this group will be members of the Executive, including the Chair. The role of the management committee is to:

·      Manage any paid member(s) of staff.

·      Implement ideas from the AGM and the Executive.

·      Propose ideas to the Executive for approval.

9.2      The Management Committee may appoint paid member(s) of staff to further the aims of LDCF based on their best understanding of the requirements and subject to the finance being available.

9.3      LDCF shall be an equal opportunities employer.

9.4      The Terms of Employment and tasks allotted in writing as amended shall be retained by the Management Committee and can be requested for review by the Executive.

9.5      The Management Committee will appoint a day-to-day line manager/contact for the paid staff.

9.6          The Management Committee will meet every 8 weeks as a minimum and this may be done via a telephone conference call, or other electronic means by which all have the opportunity to participate.

 

10.      ELECTIONS

10.1    The election year will be the calendar year.  The Officers and Ordinary Members shall be elected by and from members of the LDCF (deleted - at the time of the Annual General Meeting.)  If an election is contested, there shall be a ballot in which all LDCF members are sent ballot papers.

10.2      The AGM shall also elect a President and up to four Vice-Presidents.

10.3      The term of office of Officers and Ordinary Members shall be from the 1^st January following their election until the following 31^st December, except the first year in which this constitution operates when the term of office will commence at the AGM.

10.4      Nominations for election shall be invited in the notice summoning the AGM, and shall close at the AGM, but not before the reception of the officers’ reports. They must be proposed and seconded, and except in the case of nominations made at the AGM shall be in writing signed by the proposer, seconder and candidate. 

10.5      Where elections are contested, ballot papers shall be distributed to all members of the LDCF within 21 days of the AGM, and must be returned to the Returning Officer within 21 days after they have been sent out.  The ballot mailing may include an election address from candidates on not more than 1 side of A4.

10.6      All contested elections under this constitution shall be by secret ballot by the Single Transferable Vote method in accordance with election rules made under the Party Constitution.

10.7      The Executive Committee shall appoint some disinterested person to act as Returning Officer. The Returning Officer shall be responsible for the receipt of nominations and for the preparation and distribution of ballot papers, their receipt and counting on return, and the declaration of the results.  The assistance of any paid staff may be sought to help in this process.

10.8      Accidental failure to despatch notice of the AGM or a ballot paper in due time or at all to a person entitled to vote shall not invalidate an election or be treated as an irregularity, unless a substantial number of persons entitled to vote have not received notices or ballot papers at all or have received them too late to make it practicable to attend the meeting or return the ballot paper in due time by first-class post.

10.9      The Returning Officer may extend the time for distribution and return of ballot papers where there are special circumstances making it necessary to do so.

 

11.       REGIONAL ORGANISERS

11.1    The Executive shall appoint a Regional Organiser for each region (mirroring the Federal Party structure).

11.2      The Executive will support the Regional Organisers and will invite them to attend one Executive Meeting a year.

 

12.      ACCOUNTS

12.1      The Treasurer shall provide audited accounts for the AGM detailing Income and Expenditure for the calendar year ending 31^st Dec. The AGM shall appoint an Auditor for the ensuing year.

 

13.      CONSTITUTION

13.1    Amendments to the Constitution may be made only at a General Meeting after all full members have received at least fourteen days notice of such amendment, which shall require at least a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.

13.2    Any disagreement on the interpretation of this constitition will be decided by the President.

 

The Liberal Democrat Christian Forum is an Associated Organisation (AO) of the Liberal Democrat Party.

Annex to the Constitution:  Job Descriptions of Executive Roles

 

Officer Roles

Chair

• Overall responsibility for direction of LDCF, including Executive Committee and management committee;
• “face” of LDCF along with Organiser;
• Chairing Executive meetings

Vice-Chair

• member of management committee and stand in for Chair when unable to attend Executive meetings;
• helping raise profile of LDCF – “marketing supporter”;
• representing LDCF as spokesperson, as and when needed

Treasurer

• responsible for LDCF finances – ensuring books are balanced and staff are paid

• fundraising activity, working with Organiser and volunteers

Secretary

• organising Exec meetings – circulating agendas and reports in advance of meetings;
• writing and circulating minutes

 

Non-elected Roles

Membership Secretary

• working with Organiser to boost LDCF membership

Press Officer

• producing media strategy for LDCF;
• building contacts with journalists;
• sending out comments to Christian press on behalf of LDCF

Conference Organiser

• plan and help organise federal conference events (may include but not necessarily be limited to morning praise, prayer events, AGM, fringe events);

• liaise with Organiser

 Regional Coordinator

• link between Executive and regional coordinators and vice versa;

• ensure that regional conference events are attended;

• support the recruitment work they do

 Line Manager to Organiser

• day to day liaison with LDCF Organiser, ensuring that tasks are set and completed and that workload is of a manageable level;
• liaison with and reporting to the management committee; 
• pastoral role

Newsletter Editor

• working with Organiser to commission, edit and compile newsletter each quarter;
• ensuring that copies are sent out to members and can be used as promotional material for LDCF at conferences

Chaplain/Prayer Secretary

• organise prayer - get prayer requests, share if appropriate;
• support & follow up, pastoral role if necessary;
• email membership with requests and feed back on answers to prayer
• publicise prayer requests at their discretion

Regional Organisers

Additional to the Executive there will be Regional Organisers (see section 11 of constitution)

The role of a Regional Organiser is to:

·      Coordinate the LDCF presence at their regional conference

·      To participate in the email list

·      To contribute to and help implement the recruitment plan for their region

·      To write to local & parliamentary candidates and those elected in their region to let them know about the Christian Forum

 

Job descriptions for each role may change from time to time with the approval of the Executive.  The purpose of such roles are to promote and enable to wider aims and objectives set by the Executive, and are therefore subject to change in accordance with the wishes of Executive in accordance with the constitution.