Parliamentary Procedure: A “Fun” Quiz for Clerks of Session

1. What are the rules that we follow in a session or presbytery meeting called? Answer: or Robert’s Rules of Order

2. Who is responsible for running the meeting? Answer: the moderator

3. Does the moderator have a right to vote? Answer: Only if the moderator is a member of the body. Pastors are not members of their congregations and therefore do not have the right to vote. If a pastor is a moderator of a Presbytery, then she/he has a right to vote. The moderator and clerk should make every effort to maintain an appearance of impartiality so that members on both sides of an issue can feel confident that they will receive fair treatment. To this end, the moderator and clerk do not participate in debate. The moderator may do so only if she/he gives up the chair until the issue is disposed of (which should seldom be done). In addition the moderator votes only when either: . The vote is by ballot, in which case the chair votes along with and at the same time as all other members, or . The chair’s vote will change the result of the vote. (The judicious use of your vote to tie the matter)

4. Why does a motion require a second? Answer: A second means someone thinks the motion is worthy of discussion; it doesn’t mean agreement.

5. Name the most common reason a motion does not require a second. Answer: A motion that comes from a committee or commission does not require a second. Such a motion already comes from more than one person and can be assumed that it has "already" been seconded.

6. What is the difference between an amendment and a substitute motion? Answer: An amendment is the means by which main motions can be “perfected” by the body to achieve a greater consensus. In the simple form of amendment, particular consecutive words within a single paragraph of a motion are amended by either striking out words, adding/inserting words, or both. A substitute motion is the offering of a totally new motion on the same subject or the changing of a lengthy motion by substituting a new paragraph.

7. What is a “friendly” amendment? Answer: On occasion, while a motion is being debated, someone will get up and offer what he or she terms a “friendly amendment” to the motion, the maker of the original motion will “accept” the amendment, and the moderator will treat the motion as amended. This is wrong. Once a motion has been stated, it is no longer the property of the mover, but of the assembly. Any amendment, “friendly” or otherwise, must be adopted by the full body, either by a vote or by .

8. In voting, do you vote for the main motion or its amendment first? Answer: Amendment

9. Do abstention votes count? Answer: The phrase “abstention votes” is an oxymoron, an abstention being a refusal to vote. To abstain means to refrain from voting, and, as a consequence, there can be no such thing as an “abstention vote.” In the usual situation, where either a vote or a two-thirds vote is required, abstentions have absolutely no effect on the outcome of the vote since what is required is either a majority or two thirds of the votes cast.

10. What is the request to “call the previous question”? Answer: A motion to stop debate and to vote on the motion. The previous question is the motion or amendment on the floor. Ending debate requires a 2/3 vote.

11. What is a consent agenda? Answer: A consent agenda is a list of actions to be taken that are generally routine in nature and are voted on all at once. Any member can request that an item be removed from the consent agenda and upon such request it must be done. That item then becomes a regular item in the agenda.

12. If minutes of a previous meeting are corrected, are the corrections entered in the minutes of the meeting at which the corrections were made? Answer: If corrections to minutes are made at the time when those minutes are originally submitted for approval, such corrections are made in the text of the minutes being approved. The minutes of the meeting at which the corrections are made should merely indicate that the minutes were approved “as corrected,” without specifying what the correction was. If it becomes necessary to correct minutes after they have initially been approved, such correction can be made by means of the motion to Something Previously Adopted.