Proposed Bylaws Changes Regarding Director Terms for Consideration by General Synod 35

Proposed Bylaws Changes Regarding Director Terms for Consideration by General Synod 35

This summer, General Synod 35 will review and act on three different sets of proposed amendments to the UCC Constitution and Bylaws. This is the second article in a series of articles regarding the proposed amendments. Here is the first article. An additional article regarding the Unified Governance Changes will be forthcoming. You can find a Frequently Asked Questions Document here, and you can register for an upcoming Webinar about these changes using the information below:

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 from 12-1:30 pm (Eastern) – Register by Clicking Here

Tuesday, June 3, 2025 from 5:30-7 pm (Eastern) – Register by Clicking Here

The UCCB aims to support General Synod delegates, Conferences, local churches, and interested UCC-ers in understanding why these changes are being proposed as well as the practical implications of these proposed changes.

Proposed Bylaws Amendments regarding Director and Member Terms

The UCC Bylaws set forth the terms of the Directors who serve on the United Church of Christ’s Board of Directors, the terms of the Members who serve on the General Synod Nominating Committee, and the terms of the Directors who serve on United Church Fund’s Board of Directors. When GS 34 voted to change the frequency of General Synod from every two years to every three years, this changed the existing terms for these various roles. In response to concerns raised during the debate about General Synod frequency, the UCCB pledged to review the Director Term length issue and bring that back to General Synod 35. The changes proposed regarding Director and Member Terms are the result of this pledge. 

Under the current UCC Bylaws, a Director for the UCCB and a Member of the General Synod Nominating Committee are elected to serve for three terms of the General Synod, or nine years. Some of the concerns raised during the GS Frequency debate identified that this was too long for any person to be in such a role and that the length might make it difficult for some people to even consider participating in the UCC in this way. The UCCB appointed a Task Force to evaluate different potential term lengths and their pros and cons. The Task Force proposed and the UCCB voted to bring a change in the Bylaws to GS 35 to shorten the term for a UCCB Director and a General Synod Nominating Committee Member from three terms of the General Synod (nine years) to two terms of the General Synod (six years). This means that generally speaking, there will be two classes of Board Members and Nominating Committee Members now instead of three, so leadership transitions will look different (and will be addressed by the UCCB Standing Rules). However, the UCCB believes that this change both addresses the concerns raised and will ensure the UCC’s ability to continue to elect an intentionally diverse Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors for United Church Funds is appointed by the United Church of Christ Board of Directors. Currently, the UCC Bylaws base UCF Director terms on General Synod terms. At the request of the United Church Fund’s Board of Directors, the proposed change specifies a term for the UCF Board Directors to be six years, without reference to General Synod terms.  

Summary of Proposed Changes Discussed in this Article

With the proposed changes to the UCC Bylaws, a Director for the UCCB and a Member of the General Synod Nominating Committee will be elected to serve for two terms of the General Synod, or six years. Under the current UCC Bylaws, a Director for the UCF is elected to serve for three terms of the General Synod, or nine years. With the proposed changes to the UCC Bylaws, a Director for the UCF will serve a term of six years. 

Questions or Feedback?

If you would like to discuss this information in greater detail, please reach out to the UCCB Chair Julia Gaughan at gaughanj@ucc.org. You can find a Frequently Asked Questions Document here. Please also consider joining us at one of our upcoming webinars:

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 from 12-1:30 pm (Eastern) – Register by Clicking HereTuesday, June 3, 2025 from 5:30-7 pm (Eastern) – Register by Clicking Here