REquesting a Business Meeting

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You can have your agenda item added to the business meeting, but what happens if you don't have a business meeting already scheduled?

1. Educate an elder, pastor or other board member (if you are not  board member) sufficiently so that they can request a business meeting.

2. Ask to present to your board in order to then request a business meeting.

3. If both these options fail, use the preliminaries time in your normal church congregational time to request a business meeting. The church as a congregation is considered a mini-business meeting. It is during this time that the nomination reports are voted on, it is during this time that baptismal candidates are voted in, or others who are transferring to their membership. This is a constituency meeting of your church.

Because all major items must be voted on in a business meeting, you can on that basis request a business meeting from the floor of the church.

How to do it?

During the announcements time, raise your hand and address the Elder on duty e.g. Mr Elder, On p. 134 of the Church Manual it states " Major items should be decided at a regular or specially called business meeting." Therefore, I am requesting that we have a special business meeting on X date to discuss and vote on our church's stance on Sola Scriptura and the desire of many in this church to reject the 2015 immunization statement and the 2021 reaffirmation statement. 

The Elder may no know how to respond. Therefore you may need to let him know that he needs to ask if there is any seconders. There will need to both seconders and a majority vote for this special business meeting to be agreed upon.

This third approach is the least preferred approach. However, it is essential that the laity have a voice to be able to express their public commitment to Sola Scriptura and their rejection of any statements that should go against this Sola Scriptura stance.