Table of Contents

Article I.      Name
Article II.     Purpose
Article III    Membership
Article IV    Board of Directors
                           Section 1. Purpose
                           Section 2. Composition
Section 3. Terms of Office
                           Section 4. Election of Board members
Section 5 Board Meetings

Article V    Officers of the Board
                            Section 1. Officers
                            Section 2. Election of Officers
Section 3. Spiritual Director
Section 4. Vacancies

Article VI     Committees
                            Section 1. Committees
Section 2. Chair of the Board
                            Section 3. Guidelines for Team Selection Committee 

Article VII        Three-Day Walk to Emmaus Article VIII       Amendments
Article IX          Ratification
Article X           Dissolution
Article XI          Fiscal Year

United Emmaus and Chrysalis Community of Johnson City Bylaws

Article I. Name

The name of this Community shall be The United Emmaus and Chrysalis Community of Johnson City, hereinafter referred to as the Community.

Article II. Purpose

Section 1.
The purpose of the Community shall be to inspire, challenge and equip church members for Christian action in their homes, churches, places of work and the world community through the Emmaus Experiences.

Section 2.
The Community is affiliated with the International Emmaus Program of the Upper Room Ministries, Nashville, Tennessee.

Article III. Membership

Section 1.
All persons who have completed a weekend experience of the Walk to Emmaus sponsored by an Upper Room Emmaus Community shall be members of the Community.

Section 2.
Persons who have completed a Walk to Emmaus, Cursillo, or Tres Dias weekend may become members by participating in the activities of the Community and asking the Database Chair to include their name on the mailing list.

Article IV. Board of Directors

When selecting a Board of Directors, those on the nominating committee must choose candidates based on how they follow God’s edicts as found in the scriptures. No person lives without sin in their life, but those willfully defying God’s commands without remorse, repentance and abandonment of those sins should not be in a leadership role in the United Emmaus Community. The purpose of the Walk to Emmaus is to build leaders for our churches. To knowingly place a person in a leadership position who is living an immoral lifestyle or in persistent, unrepentant sin as defined in the Holy Scriptures would be seen as legitimizing that lifestyle or sin. While we cannot address every sin in this document, we are addressing the marriage covenant.

The biblical principle for marriage transcends time and culture. Marriage, according to Scripture, is a covenant commitment to the exclusive, permanent, monogamous union of one man and one woman, and thus it cannot be defined as a flexible contract between consenting human beings. Rather, the strong and enduring bond of marriage, pledged in the presence of God Himself, is enriched by the couple's unconditional love for and acceptance of one another.

Believers must resist any claims of legitimacy for sexual relationships that biblically have been declared illicit or perverse lest they fall prey to an accommodation to the spirit of the age. Deviation from God's plan for sex and marriage mars the image of God and distorts the oneness God intended in the sexual union. _{[SBC Article 18]} For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female. Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9. _{[The Light]}

Section 1. Purpose
Direction of the Community shall be vested in a Board of Directors.

Section 2. Composition
The Board will consist of fifteen (15) elected lay members or no more than eighteen (18) and the Community Spiritual Director. Each member will have one vote.

Section 3. Terms of Office

1. Laypersons on the Board shall be elected by the Community members for three (3) year terms in three (3) classes, each having five (5) members.
2. Board members cannot succeed themselves in consecutive terms, a term being three (3)
3. Terms of office shall begin January 1 and shall terminate December

Section 4. Election of Board Members

1. Board members are elected by the
2. The nominating committee will be the board and shall submit a slate of seven (7) nominees to elect five (5) Board members. Any member of the Community may nominate a person or persons for potential Board Such nominations must be presented no later than August 31. Nominations may be made in writing, submitted to any Board member, or by emailing the same to the Board secretary using the community website.
3. The ballot shall be provided to the Community members as part of the website and shall be available no later than September 15 of each year.
4. Ballots are to be received by the Board no later than October 15 of each
5. Election is by majority vote of the ballots
6. The immediate past chair of the Board shall serve on the Board one (1) additional year or the normal period of the term, whichever is longer. They will be an ex-officio voting

Section 5. Board Meetings

1. The Board will meet monthly in regular meetings unless otherwise Two-thirds of the board must approve any changes to a regular meeting.
2. Special Board meetings may be called by the Community Lay Director, the Community Spiritual Director or when requested in writing by ten (10) members of the Board.
3. Quorum - Ten (10) members of the Board of Directors present at a duly called meeting shall constitute a quorum.

 

Article V. Officers of the Board

Section 1. Officers
Officers shall be Chair or Community Lay Director, Vice Chair or Community Lay Director elect, Secretary, and Treasurer; and in the case of absence will chair meetings in this order. The vice-chair must be eligible to serve an additional year on the board and serve as the chair if elected to the post. Officers can accept responsibility for a work area in addition to an elected position on the Board.

Section 2. Election of Officers
Officers are elected by the Board annually at the November Board meeting, to take office the following January.

Section 3. Spiritual Director
The Spiritual Director of the Community shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the November meeting.

Section 4. Vacancies
The Board may elect persons, upon nomination by the chair, to fill a vacant term until the next regular election for that term. Such persons are eligible for election to a full term by the Community at such regular election.

 

Article VI. Committees

Section 1. The Board of Directors shall name Board members to chair the following committees:

1. Gatherings/Walks/Send-offs
2. Registration
3. Transportation
4. Logistics/Facility Set-up/Breakdown
5. Agape
6. Group Reunions/Follow-Up /4th Day Committee Representative
7. Kitchen
8. Literature/Supplies
9. Team selection
10. Music/Entertainment
11. Candlelight/Sponsors Hour
12. Community Training
13. Prayer
14. Database Chair
15. Communications
16. Sponsorship
17. Other Ministries

Section 2.
The Chair of the Board will be an ex-officio member of all standing committees.

Section 3.    Guidelines for Team Selection Committee:

Those on the Team Selection Committee must follow the guidelines of the board nominating committee and choose candidates by how they follow God’s edicts as found in the scriptures. While no one leads a sinless life, those who do not recognize or are not repentant of a persistent sin shall not be considered for a leadership role on a walk.

In order to bring clarity to issues that have continually been addressed by the Board, the following set of guidelines have been established to assist in the selection of the Walk Lay Directors and other team members.

1. List from previous Selection Committee should be considered first in formulation as these names have been already prayerfully considered.
2. Candidates must be active in a Reunion
3. All new Emmaus members must wait one (1) year after their Walk before they are eligible to serve on an inside team.
4. Members can only serve on one (1) Emmaus team per twelve (12) month This does not apply to Lay Directors, Spiritual Directors, and Music team or those serving on an outside team of Agape, kitchen, and prayer room.

 

Article VII Three-Day Walk to Emmaus 

Section 1.
The Community shall follow the guidelines of the Upper Room Walk to Emmaus program in the presentation of the three-day (72 hour) experience Walk to Emmaus.

Section 2.
The Board of Directors shall have general oversight in all matters relating to the local Walk to Emmaus Community

Section 3.
The Board of Directors shall choose a Lay Director for each Community Walk to Emmaus weekend.

1. The Lay Director chosen for the Walk should have served in each of these areas and preferably more than once.
   1. Assistant Table leader
   2. Table leader
   3. Assistant Lay

Section 4. The Spiritual Director for each Community Walk shall be selected by the Board.

Section 5. The Board shall establish a Team Selection Committee. This committee shall consist of a Board member who serves as chair of this committee, the Community Spiritual Director and three (3) or four (4) members of the Emmaus Community who have broad awareness of the Community membership and a solid understanding of team needs. Community members are appointed by the Board chair.

Section 6. Guidelines for Team Selection Committee

When forming a team, the committee must choose prospective team members based on how they follow God’s edicts as found in the scriptures and applying the same standards as in Article IV pertaining to the selection of board members. Persons living an immoral lifestyle or in persistent, unrepentant sin as defined in the Holy Scriptures shall not be considered for a leadership role in the United Emmaus Community walks.

1. Chair of the Team Selection Committee and the Lay Directors for the three-day events set a date to meet, a date no later than six (6) months before the date of the walk.
2. The chair of the Team Selection Committee notifies the committee members of the time and place of the The Team Selection Committee begins praying for guidance in the team selection process.
3. The chair of the Team Selection Committee furnishes the newly selected Lay Director a packet of pertinent materials: The Walk to Emmaus Directors’ Manual, Assistant Lay Directors’ checklists, talk outlines, a sample “welcome to the team” letter with team meeting dates and other team meeting notes.
4. The Lay and Spiritual Directors may come to the meeting prepared to make recommendations to the committee, or they may rely solely on the committee to suggest team members. The selection process is based on prayer and spiritual For each position on a team, the committee names a person with one or two more names as backup.
5. At the meeting, the Community Spiritual Director works closely with the Weekend Spiritual Director in selecting clergy for the team.
6. After the Board approves the Team Selection Committee list(s), the prospective team members are called by the Walk Lay Director. In the event prospects are unable to serve, the Team Selection Committee chair is contacted to discuss additional If clergy prospects cannot serve, the Community Spiritual Director is notified about additional clergy possibilities.
7. When the team has been confirmed, the Walk Lay Director sends the team roster to the Team Selection Committee chairperson and to the website editor for publication.

Article VIII Amendments

Section 1.
Proposed amendments may be presented to the Board by any member of the Community one (1) month in advance of consideration by the Board.

Section 2.
If the amendments are voted in the affirmative by a three-fourth (3/4) vote of the Board, they will be circulated to the membership through the Community website, and if no petitions signed by at least twenty-five (25) Community members objecting to the new amendments are received, the amendments will be considered adopted. Any objections must be received within sixty (60) days of the notification on the website. If an objection petition is received, the amendment will be considered void.

Section 3.
If the Board then wishes to submit the amendment to the entire Community for a vote, it may do so. A majority or plurality of votes cast by the membership will decide the matter.

Article IX. Ratification

The bylaws take effect immediately upon certification of the Board that the majority of the ballots cast by the Community approves them.

The Bylaws of the Chrysalis Community associated with the United Emmaus Community will be ratified in like manner.

Article X Dissolution

The Community shall use its funds only to accomplish the purposes specified in these Bylaws and its charter and shall take no action that would in any manner cause it to lose its exemption from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Upon dissolution of the Community in any manner or for any reason, its assets, if any, remaining after payment of all liabilities shall be distributed by the Board of Directors to another organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) with preference being given to another organization or activity that is involved in presenting “The Walk to Emmaus” or a similar experience.

Article XI Fiscal Year

The fiscal year of the Community shall be from January 1 through December 31.