Quorum Vote

For several months, the elders have been discussing the possibility of changing the percentage of members required for a quorum. For years our bylaws have stated that “more than 50% of the voting members” who are able to attend need to be present for a quorum to occur. While we do value high levels of involvement from our membership, we have found it increasingly difficult to reach the 50% quorum requirement specifically at our annual meeting. This is due in part to a growing membership roster, and also in part to the change in attitude toward membership in recent generations.

After much discussion the elders recommended changing the bylaw’s requirement for quorum from “more than 50%” to “at least 30%”. Pastor Nick announced this recommendation to the congregation, and then a letter and ballot were mailed out to all members in November.

We had a large response. We received 64 ballots back of those mailed out to the 105 members. A 50% return was still required to pass this bylaw change, and that was easily met. The results were 44 Yes votes in favor of changing the quorum requirement to 30% and 20 No votes. At the annual meeting Pastor Nick expressed his appreciation for those who voted “No.” It reveals a deep care and concern about what goes on here at East Hills.

It is an interesting footnote that this year’s members at our Annual Meeting easily satisfied the new “at least 30%” quorum, and in fact also satisfied the old “more than 50%” quorum by one person.