Bylaws

The following are the bylaws of the Organization known as Christian Bible Quizzing (CBQ), a non-profit organization, hereinafter referred to as Quizzing, incorporated under the laws of the State of Washington on July 27, 2024. Quizzing may also operate as Bible Quizzing.

• Bylaws Version: 2024-07-27

Article 1 - General Assembly and Qualified Delegates

• 1.1. The general assembly ("General Assembly") of Quizzing shall consist of all those persons who in some active role as defined by Quizzing's rule book ("Rule Book") or standard operating procedures ("SOPs") participate in any meeting or event sponsored by Quizzing in the previous 12 calendar months and are at least 18 years old.
• 1.2. There shall be 2 official General Assembly meetings per calendar year.
  • 1.2.1. Official General Assembly meetings shall be held via live remote teleconference.
  • 1.2.2. The first of the 2 meetings will be held between January and March, and the second will be held between July and September.
  • 1.2.3. Official General Assembly meetings shall be announced, at a minimum, on the Organization's website and through a publicly subscribable email distribution, no less than 45 days in advance.
• 1.3. A qualified delegate ("Qualified Delegate") is a member of the General Assembly who:
  • 1.3.1. Participates in at least 3 of the most recent prior 4 official General Assembly meetings or who is appointed by the Organization's Articles of Incorporation should there have yet to be 4 such meetings, and
  • 1.3.2. As per the Organization’s Articles of Incorporation, professes theologically traditional Christianity, meaning they are in alignment with the Nicene Creed (Symbolum Nicaenum), the English translation of the Armenian version.
• 1.4. Assembly meetings shall be conducted according to parliamentary procedures as directed by the most recent revision of Robert's Rules of Order.
  • 1.4.1. Any bylaw which conflicts with the parliamentary authority shall be understood to override the parliamentary authority in that bylaw's specific use case.
  • 1.4.2. While only Qualified Delegates may vote, all attendees have the right to parliamentary privilege.
  • 1.4.3. Attendees are excepted from rising to full stature to seek recognition from the chair and from requirements to speak only in the third person and only to the chair.
  • 1.4.4. All discussion and debate speech limits are suspended by default. These can be reinstated through a point of privilege raised by any attendee.
  • 1.4.5. In addition to amendment types as stipulated by the parliamentary authority, motions to amend may alter their target content by replacing it entirely with new content.
  • 1.4.6. There are no quorum requirements for Assembly meetings.
  • 1.4.7. The Chancellor will either chair the meeting or delegate a chair, and the Chancellor will cause either by direct action or delegation the creation and publication of minutes of the meeting to the Organization's web site.

Article 2 - Chancellor

• 2.1 The General Assembly shall call and appoint a person to the role of Chancellor, should that role be vacant, by a super-majority vote, defined as two-thirds of the Qualified Delegates in attendance at a properly-called and held official General Assembly meeting.
  • 2.1.1. The Chancellor shall hold that office until the Chancellor resigns the office or is removed by a vote of no confidence.
  • 2.1.2. There shall be a vote of confidence in the Chancellor ("Confidence Vote") held at each official General Assembly meeting.
  • 2.1.3. The voting process of votes of confidence shall be conducted confidentially and the summary totals of aye or nay votes announced in the same meeting.
  • 2.1.4. A super-minority vote, defined as one-third of the Qualified Delegates in attendance at a properly-called and held official General Assembly meeting, is sufficient to remove the Chancellor from office.
• 2.2. The Chancellor shall lead Quizzing and will cause either by direct action or delegation the effective management of the ministry and its affairs.
  • 2.2.1. The Chancellor shall be accountable to the General Assembly for the proper and legal conduct of Quizzing.
  • 2.2.2. The Chancellor shall be accountable to the General Assembly for the optimization, either by direct action or delegation, of all Quizzing to maximize achievement of its mission.
• 2.3. The Chancellor shall cause either by direct action or delegation the creation and maintenance of Quizzing's web site and a publicly subscribable email distribution service.
• 2.4. The Chancellor shall cause either by direct action or delegation the creation and maintenance of Quizzing's minute book, which shall be made publicly available in digital form on the Organization's web site.
• 2.5. The Chancellor shall lead either by direct action or delegation a Quizzing-wide international championship event annually.
• 2.6. The Chancellor shall cause either by direct action or delegation the writing and editing of Quizzing's standard operating procedures ("SOPs"), which should be published on the Quizzing web site.

Article 3 - Council of Elders

• 3.1. The General Assembly shall appoint 2 to 3 people to a Council of Elders during the General Assembly meeting in the second-half of the year.
• 3.2. Elders will serve for 1 year unless they resign prior.
• 3.3. Should an Elder resign, the Chancellor shall appoint a replacement to serve until the next General Assembly meeting, during which the General Assembly shall appoint a new Elder to serve the remainder of the prior term.
• 3.4. In all cases, those appointed must be Qualified Delegates.
• 3.5. The Council of Elders will advise the Chancellor via routine asynchronous communications and live remote teleconference.

Article 4 - Finances

• 4.1. The Chancellor shall cause either by direct action or delegation the creation and maintenance of Quizzing's financial statements, including balance sheet and annual report, on an annual basis at minimum, which shall be made publicly available in digital form on the Organization's web site.
• 4.2. The Chancellor shall cause either by direct action or delegation the establishment, maintenance, or termination of one or more bank accounts in the name of the Organization for the funds of the Organization with any federally insured bank or similar depository; to cause to be deposited, from time to time, in such accounts, such funds of the Organization as deemed necessary or advisable, and to designate, change or revoke the designation, from time to time, of the officer or officers or agent or agents of the Organization authorized to make such deposits and to sign or countersign checks, drafts or other orders for the payment of money issued in the name of the Organization against any funds deposited in any of such accounts; and to make such rules and regulations with respect to such accounts as such officers may deem necessary or advisable, and to complete, execute and deliver any documents as banks and similar financial institutions customarily require to establish any such account and to exercise the authority granted by this resolution including, but not limited to, customary signature card forms and form banking resolutions.

Article 5 - Transparency

• 5.1. Unless otherwise exempted hereinafter, all decisions, data, and identified operational reporting stipulated in the standard operating procedures ("SOPs") for Quizzing should be made public, accessible either directly or via means published on Quizzing's web site.
• 5.2. Person-to-person communications along with working-group discussions in which no decisions are made are not required to be published on the Quizzing web site; however, should any Qualified Delegate ask, the Chancellor shall be obliged to share a summary of such.
• 5.3. Should ethical and moral breaches occur, the names of any victims will be held in confidence along with any details that might provide means to identify the victims; private disciplinary and counseling communications will be held in confidence.

Article 6 - Dissolution

• 6.1. An affirmative vote by the Chancellor, the Council of Elders, and a super-majority, defined as two-thirds of the Qualified Delegates in attendance at a properly-called and held official General Assembly meeting shall be sufficient to effect dissolution of the organization.
• 6.2. Failure to hold a General Assembly meeting for 2 years will trigger dissolution of the organization.
• 6.3. Immediately following a vote of dissolution, all assets of the organization will be donated to a non-profit non-CBQ Bible Quizzing organization identified by majority vote of the Council of Elders.
• 6.4. Should the Council of Elders not specify an organization, all assets will be donated to non-profit organizations chosen by the assets’ possessors.

Article 7 - Amendments

• 7.1. These bylaws may be amended at any official General Assembly meeting.
• 7.2. Proposed amendments should be sent to the Chancellor no less than 60 days in advance, who shall cause either by direct action or delegation the publication and communication of the proposed amendments, at a minimum, on the Organization's website and through a publicly subscribable email distribution no less than 45 days in advance.
• 7.3. An affirmative vote by a super-majority, defined as two-thirds of the Qualified Delegates in attendance at a properly-called and held official General Assembly meeting, is required for passage of amendments to the bylaws.