Executive Council

Section 1. The Executive Council, as hereinafter constituted, shall administer and carry on the missionary, educational, and social work of the Church in this Diocese, of which work the Bishop shall be the executive head.

Section 2. The Executive Council shall exercise all the powers of the Diocesan Convention between the adjournment of the Annual Convention and the convening of the next Annual Convention, except: (a) admission of a parish or mission to union with the Diocese according to Canon II.2; (b) dissolution or suspension of a parish or mission according to Canon II.6; (c) election of a Bishop, Bishop Coadjutor, or Bishop Suffragan according to Canon III.1; (d) amendment to the Canons according to Article XV of the Constitution and Canon V.1; (e) amendment to the Constitution according to Article XVI of the Constitution. All actions of the Executive Council shall conform to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church and this Diocese.

Section 3. The Executive Council shall be composed of the following members: (a) the Bishop, and the Bishop Coadjutor or the Bishop Suffragan, if there be either; (b) the President of the Standing Committee, the Secretary of Convention, the Treasurer, the Chancellor, and the President of The Episcopal Foundation of the Diocese of East Carolina, Inc. shall be ex officio members, with seat and voice but no right of voting; (c) sixteen members, nominated and elected as follows: (i) six “at large” members, three of whom shall be clergy and three of whom shall be lay persons who are confirmed communicants in good standing of any congregation in the diocese and are 16 years of age or older, nominated by any delegate to Convention under such guidelines as may be published by the Secretary from time to time and elected by Convention as set forth herein; and (ii) 2 members representing each Deanery of the Diocese, one clergy person, and one lay person who is a confirmed communicant in good standing, nominated by the Deanery Council under guidelines published by the Secretary from time to time and elected by the Convention annually as set forth herein; (d) the Diocesan President of Episcopal Church Women.

Section 4. The members of the Executive Council shall be elected by vote of Convention for three-year terms. A member who has served two consecutive terms on the Executive Council shall not be eligible for re-election, or for appointment to fill a vacancy, until one year after the expiration of his or her second term. The Executive Council shall have power to fill any vacancy in the Council that may occur through death or resignation of any member, provided that the person elected to fill an unexpired term shall meet the classifications for membership of the person whose vacancy is being filled. Appointments to fill any such vacancy shall expire at the close of the next annual Convention following appointment. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy who is eligible for election but is not elected to the Executive Council at the next following Annual Convention may not be appointed to fill any subsequent vacancy for a period of one year following such Convention.

Section 5. The Bishop shall chair the Executive Council. The Council may elect one of its own members, whether clerical or lay, as Vice Chair and prescribe the duties of the office. The Secretary of the Convention shall be the Secretary of the Executive Council.

Section 6. The Executive Council shall provide for a Department of Administration and shall have power, from time to time, to organize such other departments and committees as it may deem necessary or advisable to carry out its responsibilities, and it shall determine the scope of the work of all departments and committees. The standing departments of the Diocese shall be the following, unless changed by the Executive Council: the Department of Communications; the Department of Mission & Development; the Department of Christian Social Ministries; the Department of Christian Formation; the Department of Administration; and the Department of Youth and Young Adults. The Bishop shall appoint the chair and members of each department or committee of the Diocese. Each department or committee shall make a report, at least annually, to the Bishop and the Executive Council. The Executive Council may enact all necessary by-laws for its own government, and for the government of each department and committee, subject to the provisions of the Canons of the Diocese and any resolutions adopted by the Convention of the Diocese.

Section 7. The Executive Council shall submit to each annual meeting of the Diocesan Convention a report of the work done under its supervision for the preceding year, which report shall include the annual report of the Treasurer. The Executive Council shall also at each annual meeting of the Diocesan Convention submit for its approval and adoption a budget for all the work committed to the Council, including the general work of the Church in the Diocese, and such other work as it has undertaken, or proposed to undertake for the ensuing year. The following, among other items, shall be included in budgeted income: pledges of Parishes and Missions for the support of the Diocese, including pledges from prior years, any budget surplus from the preceding year, and unrestricted income from trust funds, investments, permanent or unappropriated funds and reserves and unrestricted income from The Episcopal Foundation of The Diocese of East Carolina, Incorporated. Provision may be made in said budget for the necessary and reasonable expenses of the officers and members of the Executive Council. Such budget and estimate shall be considered by the Diocesan Convention and appropriate action taken. The Executive Council shall have power to make or delegate to others the making of all decisions with regard to the acceptance, receipt, use, management, investment, disbursement and transfer of unbudgeted receipts and gifts or bequests of money, securities or property received by the Diocese or any officials or agencies thereof (except gifts or bequests to the Bishop’s Discretionary Fund and restricted funds of the Episcopal Foundation of The Diocese of East Carolina, Incorporated), subject, however, to the provisions of any will, agreement, restriction or designation governing such gifts or bequests and subject to action of the Diocesan Convention.

Section 8. The Executive Council shall meet with the Bishop at such stated times as it, with the Bishop’s concurrence shall appoint, at least twice a year, and at such other times as the Bishop shall convene it. Nine voting members of the Executive Council, including at least five in the Clerical Order and four in the Lay Order, with the Bishop or Vice-Chair, shall constitute a quorum; the Vice-Chair, if a voting member, shall be counted as a member in determining a quorum. A meeting shall be called by the Bishop, or if there is no Bishop in the Diocese, by the Vice-Chair, at any time upon written request of at least five members of the Executive Council. The Secretary shall give ten days notice of a called meeting.

Section 9. All salaries, other than that of the Bishop, shall be fixed by the Executive Council.

Section 10. With the exceptions hereinafter noted, all departments, committees, commissions and boards of the Diocese shall be responsible to and shall report annually to the Bishop and Executive Council. The exceptions are: the Standing Committee; the Committee on Canons; the Committee on Relationship to and Communications from the General Convention; the Trustees of the Diocese; the Committee on Parishes and Missions; the Church Pension Fund Committee; any committee appointed by the Bishop which is directly responsible and to report only to the Bishop; and any committee appointed or elected by Convention or under its authority which is directed to be responsible and report only to the Convention or to report in a manner inconsistent with this Section 10. The Executive Council shall be the sole custodians of all existing committee records and reports.

Section 11. No committee, commission or department shall be created by the Bishop or by the Executive Council or by the Convention of the Diocese without, at the time of its creation, such committee, commission or department being denominated a “standing” committee, commission or department of the Diocese, or if not, there being a fixed period of duration or a specified task to be performed by the committee, commission or department, at the expiration or conclusion of which the committee, commission or department shall cease to exist without further action by the Bishop, the Executive Council or the Convention of the Diocese.

Section 12. The Bishop may appoint members of the clergy and lay persons of the Diocese, not exceeding eighteen in number, as members of a Consulting Committee. Members of the committee shall serve for one year. They may attend meetings of the Executive Council at the invitation of the Bishop and may participate in its deliberations but shall have no right of voting unless otherwise entitled to vote on the Executive Council by reason of status other than that enumerated in this section.