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CHAPTER XIV
A
SUGGESTED PLAN FOR A FUNCTIONAL MERGER In considering the ideas contained herein, the reader
does so in the knowledge that the material is strictly informational only.
Any patterns of organization, titles used or whatever are merely
illustrative. It is hoped that
any persons who have suggestions or criticisms, as was true of all
preceding chapters, will feel free to write to the Commission and express
their views, make suggestions or ask questions.
The
Proposed Plan The plan is offered here in a highly abbreviated form.
While it has been necessary to omit many details, it is believed
that important matters are sufficiently treated. The Basic Assumptions The basic assumptions underlying this plan include
thinking of a merged denomination de novo, i.e., as an entirely new body
rather than trying to salvage and fit together bits and pieces of existing
organizations; preserving as far as possible the major values of both
denominations; retaining the various strengths but putting aside the
weaknesses of each group in the effort to perceive a level higher than
either now occupies; attempting to conceive a plan that will have long
range rather than simply immediate applications; making use of sound
principles used rather widely in institutional life.
What This Plan Is This is a plan for functional merger of the A.U.A. and
the U.C.A. which would be carried out all at one time.
This means that merger would take place and immediately the process
would be set in motion through which all of the problems would be settled.
It is likely that some of these can be settled quickly while others
of serious legal nature would take longer.
However, it is very likely that, if merger should be voted, within a
very few years, the new denomination would be in operation with the kinks
all smoothed out. Everyone
would recognize that regardless of the amount of preparation and planning,
merger cannot be voted today and become operational in every respect the
next month. It is an associational type plan and leaves room for
other denominations or liberal wings to come in when and if they desire.
Although the additional changes which may be necessary should
another liberal group join are not discussed, they would not be very
difficult to make. At the time
of this writing no groups had been approached nor did the Commission
mandate call for such possibility.
Possible Name Throughout presentation of this plan it was necessary
for purposes of identity and communication to adopt some one name, hence
the arbitrary choice is the Liberal Church Association of America. State of Incorporation While no particular state of incorporation is
suggested, some state ought to be considered which will make it possible to
have wide flexibility as to time and place of the business sessions. By—Laws The by—laws give consideration to the usual topics
expected to be found. Only the
highlights are pointed out in the sub-sections which follow. Representative Body:
The representative body is the main locus of authority and
responsibility; it is a delegate type legislative body with official
representatives from the churches and fellowships; it would be known as a
General Assembly and would met biennially at times and places in the United
States as determined by the Board of Trustees.
Membership in the representative body, or General Assembly, would be
principally constituted by churches, by fellowships and by related
organizations such as Regions and national auxiliary bodies.
Each church and fellowship would have one general delegate who may
be either lay or ministerial and one delegate for each 100 legal members or
majority fraction thereof. No
individuals may be members and no provision for life members is included.
Churches would be required to meet specified tests to continue as
members. All national
officers, all regional officers not to exceed a fixed number, and two
delegates each from each national auxiliary would be included as members of
the General Assembly. Officers:
The Officers of the General Assembly, duly elected by that body
through prescribed procedures would be a President, a First Vice-President,
a Second Vice-President, a Secretary and a Treasurer.
Each of these persons would serve fixed terms of office and by
virtue of their positions would also be members of the Board of Trustees.
The President, while being the titular head of the denomination,
would not also be the chief executive officer of the Association, but would
be the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Committees: The General Assembly would have the
necessary committees, some of a standing nature.
Included would be such committees as Nominating, Business, Program,
Credentials, and others as necessary.
Board of Trustees: According to fixed
procedures, the General Assembly would elect members to a Board of Trustees
consisting of 21 members including the officers of the General Assembly.
This Board would be responsible to the General Assembly and would
act for it in intervals between national business meetings but it would in
no sense whatever be the General Assembly per se, or invade that
body's prerogatives. The Board
would supervise the activities and operations of the headquarters through a
chief executive officer whom it would select and appoint.
Such person would be solely responsible to that Board and serve at
its pleasure. Representative Body Procedures:
Such procedures as nominations for offices, elections, the proper
handling of resolutions, special actions, and modification of the by—laws
would all be regularized in such manner as to assure full democratic action
and business-like conduct of affairs.
The details by which these matters would be handled are not offered
here but are closely parallel to the experiences of Unitarians and
Universalists. Headquarters Organization The plan of organization for the headquarters of a
merged denomination depicted on Chart V, would have these features: 1. A Board of Trustees, responsible to the
representative body. 2. A chief executive who would be responsible to the
Board for the proper conduct of association affairs insofar as the
functions at headquarters would be involved and for supervision of
expenditures. All personnel
would be responsible directly or indirectly to the chief executive officer. 3. The Treasurer would be an officer of the Association and
would guide the Assistant Treasurer and Business Manager in policy
adherence, while the chief executive would be responsible for general
administration and supervision of financial affairs. 4. Three Divisions, ultimately headed by principal
associates to the chief executive: responsible for the Division of Churches
and Related Service, the Division of Information and Publications, and the
Division of Finance. For the
time being, these positions need not be filled until the workload and
advance of the merged denomination so warrants. 5. The Division of Churches and Related Service would include
the functions of Ministry, Service, Religious Education and Youth
Activities. Each function
would be headed by an experienced, competent person. 6. The Division of Information and Publications would contain
the functions of Public Relations (or Information if that term is
preferable), the Denominational Journal, and the Presses.
Each function would be headed by an experienced, competent person. 7. The Division of Finance, headed by a principal associate and
termed Assistant Treasurer and Business Manager on the chart, would be in
two parts: Finance and Building Operation and Services.
8. Each Division would have an Advisory Council and each
function head would be assisted by an Advisory Committee: both are for the
purpose of providing adequate checks and counter-balances and for having as
much non-staff participation as possible. 9. The fund raising function is left external until such time as
the new denomination is fully operative and known.
This might require a period of five years, after which consideration
could then be given to whether the fund raising function should remain
external or become an internal one.
This would require re-evaluation and further study before making a
decision. 10.
Although not shown as part of Chart V, the intermediate level plan of
organization would be on a regional basis, with a very close working
relationship between the Regional Directors and the Division of Churches
and Related Services. Some
discussion of regions appears shortly.
Personnel A new set of personnel policies would need to be
created. These would contain
consideration of manner of selection and appointment, benefits including
salary ranges according to positions, working relationships and position
descriptions. All positions would be considered as new ones to be
filled on a basis of merit from among qualified Unitarians and
Universalists, and without regard to having an equal number or any
particular ratio of Unitarians and Universalists. This may mean, of course,
that some present national office staff members may very likely be
appointed to some of the new positions, and they should be if objective
screening indicates they are best fitted. The number of personnel to be required in the new
headquarters was estimated at the time the basic study of a proposed plan
was prepared. While no attempt
is made here to prescribe any exact number since the new chief executive
together with the Board and the sub-executives will have responsibility for
deciding how they want the departments staffed, estimates were made a year
ago. These revealed that if
the plan as proposed is adopted, then the number of personnel would be
considerably in excess of the combined number of staff members now at the
A.U.A. and U.C.A. headquarters per se, because the C.L.C., Unitarian
Service Committee, the L.R.Y., possibly some of the U.P.H. staff and the
personnel requirements of the new information function would be added.
If the Service Committee and the L.R.Y. do not become internal, the
number of persons to be required would still be larger than the present
A.U.A. and U.C.A. The method
of ascertaining the number of persons was not to add the A.U.A. and U.C.A.
personnel, but to study the likely requirements of each function in the
light of a merger, bearing in mind a new and different workload than either
denomination now has.
Merger itself, in the light of long range planning and
likely developments in near term advance, will not mean a reduction in
personnel at headquarters.
Both present headquarters are not adequately staffed as it is. Finance The basis for determining a budget for the new
headquarters included attention to likely income and expense.
The income from the A.U.A, the U.C.A., the C.L.C., the U.P.H., the
L.R.Y., and the Unitarian Service Committee (designated and undesignated
and general) was pooled to form a working basis.
Expenses were determined on the basis of likely functional staffing
and other expense requirements.
The income would be in the neighborhood of $900,000 and expenses
would be slightly higher, with the difference due principally to the
division head positions and also in part to raising all salary levels for
professionals. Since the time
of those estimates, the A.U.A. and the C.L.C. each have received
significant increases in the amount received from the annual appeal.
Thought was also given to fiscal effects of not including the
Unitarian Service Committee, with the result that merger would still be
fiscally possible. In either
budget it may mean for a time, however, that heads of divisions cannot be
appointed. It is anticipated
that if a new denomination continues its rate of giving as has been the
case for the two appeals (A.U.A. and U.C.A.) it would not be long before
such personnel could be appointed.
They should be appointed when it is clear that demands for service
and denominational growth make it imperative and the financial situation
makes it possible.
Regions and State Conventions The plan proposes that a Regional form of intermediate
organization be adopted as an integral part of the whole merger.
A suggested number of regions is shown on Chart VI.
It will be noted that not many changes are involved except as
regards the Meadville, Western, Southwestern and Pacific Coast areas.
The chart is based on 1957 data plus the estimates of growth in the
number of local units in the next ten years, such estimates having been
made by Regional Directors and State Superintendents, respectively.
It should not be felt that this plan involving the number of regions
indicated would be permanent.
As the denomination grows, it will become necessary to add more regions,
through reducing the size of some regions, depending upon the number of
local units involved. The
basic principles involved in determining the number of new regions include
distance, ease of transportation, number of units and the like.
It is not believed that a Regional Director could handle an
indefinitely large number of local units adequately even though he had a
number of staff assistants. Conclusion It should be kept in mind that the foregoing
constitutes one plan for a functional merger.
There are numerous ways of applying the principles involved in this
plan, so that other portrayals would be possible.
The people of the churches are urged to study all the plans and
alternatives, and to make suggestions concerning any of them.
If it develops that a church is interested in merger, it has a
responsibility for making suggestions concerning the organizational pattern
it prefers. Such a plan might
be the illustrative one presented above or it may be some other.
On the other hand, if a church prefers not merging, it should
indicate what alternative it would prefer and make some suggestions as to
the features it would like to see included.
None of the plans or alternatives which have been presented in this
Manual are intended to restrict thinking; i.e., to two possible plans for
merger and four alternatives to the merger.
Churches should feel free to suggest plans or alternatives of their
own devising, whether or not they have been presented herein. When all the results of the first plebiscite are in,
together with the suggestions on plans or alternatives, the Merger
Commission will then work out in detail the plan or the alternative the
majority of the churches prefer. This will be submitted in time for the churches and their
delegates to consider in anticipation of the vote to be taken at the Joint
Biennial in October, 1959.
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