HELLENIC ASSOCIATION OF
Article 1
The Greek residents
of
Name of Community
The Community
should be known as the Hellenic Association of
Article 3
The revenue of
the community should be derived from the following sources:
1.
The annual membership obligation of Members.
2.
Tray collections.
3.
From the performance of the various holy sacraments and services, such
as wedding, baptisms, funerals, memorials, and certificates for weddings and
baptisms.
4.
Dances and picnics.
5.
Donations and testamentary bequests.
6.
Such other income as the Parish Council or the General Assembly may
from time to time determine.
Article 4
Such special
funds as are determined by the General Assembly for specific purposes with the
dividends and interests accumulated thereto shall not be co-mingled with the
general treasury of the community and their use is hereby limited to the
specific purpose for which such funds were established. All such funds shall be deposited in special
and separated bank accounts.
Article 5
Section 1: Your annual stewardship obligation shall be determined by your own stewardship pledge to the community. Accordingly, a person shall be entitled to all the privileges under the constitution or the By-Laws.
Section 2: Non-regular stewards
applying for performance of a Holy Sacrament shall pay a fee according to a
schedule as determined annually by the Parish Council.
Article 6
Section 1: All secular matters of the
community shall be administered by a Parish Council consisting of the Pastor,
ex officio and twenty-one (21) councilors, one third of which (7 members) shall
be elected each year for a three year term.
Section 2: The Parish Council shall
administer the affairs of the community in furtherance of the purposes of the
Church in accordance with the Constitution, Canons, Discipline and Regulations
of the Greek Archdiocese of
these By-Laws,
the common law and the General Laws of the Commonwealth.
Section 3: No member of the Parish
Council shall be present during, participate in any discussion concerning or
vote upon any matter in which the Parish Council member or his or her spouse,
mother, father, brother, sister or child shall have a direct or indirect
financial interest.
Section 1: No person shall serve on
the Parish council as of this community for more than two (2) consecutive terms
(6 years).
Section 2: Members of the parish
eligible to vote at elections for the Parish council may vote by absentee
ballot under the following conditions:
a.
Members who on the day of Parish Council election are unable to
personally vote because of employment or military service more than 50 miles
from the place designated for voting, or who will be unable by reason of
physical disability or incapacity to cast their vote in person at the polling
place shall be eligible with the approval of the Board of Elections, for an
absentee ballot.
b.
Application for absentee ballots shall be made on a form provided by
the Board of Elections. All applications
shall be delivered or mailed to the Board of elections (at the Church Office)
at least ten days before the date set for the election. All applications shall be signed by the member
making the application and shall be witnessed by an adult, not a candidate or
related by blood or marriage to a candidate in said election. The board shall review all such applications
and shall cause a ballot to be mailed to all members who the Board has
determined are eligible to vote by absentee ballot. The decision of the Board of Elections on the
eligibility of any members to vote by absentee ballot shall be final. A member who has received an official
absentee voting ballot from the Board of Elections may vote by mailing or
delivering the same to the Board of Elections at the Church office in an
envelope clearly marked "Absentee Ballot”.
All such ballots must be in the hands of the Board of Elections, not
later than the commencement of voting.
c.
Prior to mailing or delivering an absentee ballot to the Board of
Elections, the member shall mark said ballot in the presence of an adult
witness not a candidate or related by blood or marriage to a candidate. Before making the ballot, the member shall
exhibit it to said witness who shall satisfy himself that it is unmarked, but
the voter shall not allow the witness to see how he/she marks the ballot. The witness shall not communicate with the
voter as to how he is to vote. The voter
and the witness shall then execute the affidavit attached to said ballot and
the voter shall enclose and seal the ballot and affidavit in an envelope and
cause it to be mailed or delivered to the Board of Elections in accordance with
paragraph c.
d.
All Absentee ballots shall be opened and tabulated by the Board of
Elections at the time of tabulation of the ballots personally cast. The Board shall examine the absentee ballots
and the affidavits to satisfy themselves that the provisions of these by-laws
have been complied with. If the Board
deems it necessary, it may compare the signature on the ballot affidavit with
the signature on the application for the absentee ballot. The board of Elections may, by majority vote,
disallow any absentee ballot which is not in accordance with these by-laws.
Article 8
The President
has the following duties and powers:
a.
To represent the community in all instances.
b.
To call meetings of the Parish Council.
c.
To preside over meetings of the Parish Council.
d.
To present the agenda.
e.
To rule on motions and preside over debate, to give the floor to
speakers or refuse to recognize those who speak out of order and to adjourn the
meetings whenever his efforts for order are not heeded and he deems it
necessary to adjourn the meeting.
f.
To submit questions to a vote.
g.
To sign the minutes of the proceedings and various incoming and
outcoming documents together with the secretary of the Parish Council and to
sign checks jointly with the treasurer.
h.
To supervise jointly with the Parish Priest the operations of the
office personnel.
i.
He keeps the seal and exercises all the authority vested in him as
President under the law, the Regulations, and the Sacred Cannons.
j.
To execute directly and indirectly the decisions of the general
meetings of the members and of the Parish Council.
k.
To supervise the condition of the treasury.
l.
To appoint committees as deemed necessary.
Article 9
The Vice President
has all the duties and powers of the President whenever he acts in place of the
latter.
The duties and
powers of the treasurer shall be as follows:
a.
To collect community funds upon receipt and deposit same in the name of
the community with depositaries selected by the Parish Council.
b.
To keep a separate Record of the revenues and expenditures in addition
to that kept by the secretary.
c.
To sign checks jointly with the president.
d.
To turn over everything appertaining to his office to his successor in
good order and against receipt thereof.
Article 11
The Assistant
Treasurer has all the duties and powers of the Treasurer whenever he or she
acts in place of the latter.
The duties and
powers of the secretary are as follows:
a.
To attend all meetings of the Parish Council and general meetings of
the members of the community and to keep the minutes thereof.
b.
To keep the community account books which shall be kept in a safe place
in the Church Office.
c.
To turn everything over to his successor in good order against receipt
for the same.
d.
To affix his signature to all incoming and outgoing community documents
which shall also be signed by the President.
Duties of the Assistant Secretary
The Assistant
Secretary has all the duties and powers of the Secretary whenever he or she
acts in place of the latter.
Upon the demand
of a majority of the Parish Council or Parish Assembly, the Treasurer and
Secretary shall submit their books and records for further audit.
The community
shall have a circular seal depicting the “Annunciation” around which shall
appear the words, “Hellenic Association of
Whenever these
By-Laws have not provided procedures, rules, and regulations for the conduct of
the business at the meetings of the Parish Council or the general meetings of
the members,
such meetings
shall be conducted by “Demeter’s Rules of Order”.
The quorum for
a Parish Assembly shall be fifty (50) members in good standing. If a quorum is not present, the Parish
Assembly shall be called a second time in accordance with 1993 Uniform Parish
Regulations, Article VI, Section 5.
(Revised