CME Judicial Council Declares
Missionary Council President
Exempt from Automatic Retirement
JUDICIAL COUNCIL
OPINION
Justice Lampkin delivered the Opinion for the Council.
Jurisdiction
This matter comes before the
Judicial Council by way of a petition for declaratory judgment from Bishop
Lawrence L. Reddick III, presiding prelate of the First Episcopal District and
Patron Bishop of the Women's Missionary Council of the Christian Methodist
Episcopal Church. The petition is
submitted in accordance with paragraph 805.2, § § 1 and 2 which state:
§1. Members of the CME Church with
a justiciable interest in the meaning and
application of a specific paragraph
(s) or section of the Discipline may petition the Judicial Council for a
declaratory decision.
§2. Petitions shall specify the
paragraph, article and/or section of the Discipline
for which the decision is sought,
be dated, signed by the petitioner(s), and forwarded to the President and Clerk
of the Council.
Bishop Reddick, however, in both
his oral and written presentations made it clear that while he is a bishop in
the College of Bishops, he came before the Judicial Council as an
individual. He opined that he believed
that the relevant statutes listed below were "open to more than one
interpretation" and that he therefore sought clarity from the Judicial
Council.
Issues
Presented For Review
Bishop Reddick asks that the
following paragraphs of The Book of Disciples, Revised 2010, that relate to the
Office of President of the Women's Missionary Council be interpreted:
¶210. The General Conference shall
elect General Officers, except the president of
the Women's Missionary Council, who
shall be elected by the Quadrennial Assembly of the Women's Missionary Council.
¶1001.1. The General Officers of
the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church shall
be: ...The President of the Women's
Missionary Council.
¶1140, Article III, §8. The
Women's Missionary Council shall elect its officers,
secretaries, and chairpersons at
the Quadrennial Assembly by ballot. The
President of the Women's Missionary Council shall maintain the status of
General Officer.
¶450, §2. Members of the Judicial
Council, General Officers, Presiding Elders,
Pastors and all other of the clergy
rank shall be automatically retired at the Conference of authority nearest
their seventh-fourth (74th) birthday ...
Specifically, Bishop Reddick posed
the following question in the petition submitted to the Judicial Council on
June 27, 2011, and during his oral and initial written presentation on
September 28, 2011: [W]hether paragraph 450, §2 means that a General Officer
who is President of the Women's Missionary Council 'shall be automatically
retired' at the General Conference nearest that persons 74th
birthday, or whether the Quadrennial Assembly should be considered 'the
Conference of authority' for retirement purposes." [Emphasis in original.]
In a revised written submission,
dated October 13, 2011, Bishop Reddick rephrased his question, as follows: Is
the President of the Women's Missionary Council, who is a General Officer, subject
to or exempt from being "automatically retired at the
Conference of Authority nearest [her] seventy-fourth [74th]
birthday," as stated in paragraph 450, §2? [Emphasis in original.] As all
of these questions were raised in this petition, our opinion will address all
of the questions presented.
RULING
In September, 2011, the Judicial
Council held a public hearing on Bishop Reddick's petition. Oral and written presentations were accepted
from Bishop Reddick, Retired Bishop Othal H. Lakey, Women's Missionary Council
President Mrs. Princess Pegues, Dr. Yvonne Kennedy, Dr. Velma Lois Jones and
several other interested persons. We
have reviewed relevant portions of The Book of Discipline, Revised 2010, the
Bylaws of the Women's Missionary Council (ratified by the 2006 General
Conference) and have considered the oral presentations, the written
submissions, and have looked to general rules of statutory construction to
arrive at our holdings.
Bishop Reddick's position, in
summary, is as follows.
Historically, the records of the
CME Church confirms that the Women's Connectional Missionary Council was
authorized by action of the 1918 General Conference and therefore the General
Conference has final authority over the Council. He further argues that in 1934, the General
Conference adopted a constitution of the Women's Connectional Council. Paragraph 258 §3 (b), relevant to his
position, states, in part:
(b) The Council shall enact its
own by-laws, make provisions for a
constitution and for by-laws for
Conference and Missionary Circles, all of which shall be in harmony with the
laws of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.
Bishop Reddick argues that because
the Women's Missionary Council is a creation of the General Conference and, in
as much as the Constitutions and Bylaws were authorized subject to their being
in harmony with all laws of the CME Church, these Constitutions and Bylaws of
the Women's Missionary Council have been and always are in deference to the
higher authority of The Book of Discipline.
We do not and cannot disagree with
this interpretation of our law. The
Constitution of the CME Church provides for a General Conference, for the
Episcopacy and for the judiciary. It
does not provide for General Officers.
Article 2 of the Constitution, however, provides that "[t]he
General Conference shall have full powers to make rules and regulations
for the church ***. [Emphasis
added.]
Furthermore, the law of the church,
as reflected in The Book of Discipline, is a result of the actions (full power)
of the General Conference, the legislative or law making branch of government
that has the authority to enact rules for the denomination. As such, no one can contest the fact that the
General Conference has the authority to enact legislation and to permit and/or
authorize exceptions to any legislative action it chooses. It also has the full power to
delegate authority to other bodies as it chooses.
Paragraph §210 is a perfect
example. This paragraph mandates that
General officers shall be elected at the General Conference, except the
president of the Women's Missionary Council, who shall be elected by the
Quadrennial Assembly of the Women's Missionary Council. [Emphasis added.] This legislative enactment indicates a
decision by the General Conference to treat the President of the Women's
Missionary Council different from all other General Officers as to both
the time and place of their election. The General Conference has the full power
to do this. Additionally, paragraph
1140, article III §8 indicates a legislative decision by the General
Conference to have all officers, secretaries, and chairpersons of
the Women's Missionary Council elected at the Quadrennial Assembly. This section specifically provides that the
President of the Women's Missionary Council shall maintain the status of
General Officer.
Paragraph 1001.1 provides that the
General Officers of the CME Church shall be *** The President of the Women's
Missionary Council and paragraph 450 §2 provides that members of the Judicial
Council, General Officers, Presiding Elders, Pastors and all other of the
clergy rank shall be automatically retired at the Conference of Authority
nearest their seventy-fourth (74th) birthday ***
A review of this legislation,
adopted by the General Conference, demonstrates several ambiguities. First, the President of the Women's
Missionary Council according to paragraph 1001.1 "shall be" a general
officer but under paragraph 1140, article III §8, she "maintain(s) the
status of General Officer." There
is a difference in language because, as will be discussed later, as a
"General Officer," the President of the Women's Missionary Council,
is legislatively treated differently.
This difference in treatment has been by approval of the General
Conference. A further ambiguity is seen
when we consider paragraph 210 that provides for the President to be elected by
the Quadrennial Assembly (for a four year term), paragraph 804.2 that provides
for Judicial Council members to be elected by the General Conference, paragraph
1000.5 that says General Officers are to be elected by the General Conference
and compare them with paragraph 450 that provides for automatic retirement at
the Conference of Authority nearest their 74th birthday for classes
of persons (Judicial Council members, General Officers, Presiding Elders,
Pastors & all other clergy rank).
When there is ambiguity among
different sections of legislation covering the same or similar subjects, the
first rule of statutory construction is to look at the legislation and to
attempt to read it in such a fashion that every portion of the legislation can
be read in harmony and can reflect the intent of those who enacted it. The presumption is that legislators know what
they have enacted and meant the enactments to be read harmoniously. Another rule of statutory construction is
that ambiguous enactments should not be read in such a manner as to render an
absurd result. Legislation is looked at
in a way to preserve the original intent of the drafters and in consonance with any subsequent actions that further the
consistency in interpretation. If we
read the "Conference of Authority" for purposes of
retirement to mean the President of the Women's Missionary Council must
retire at the General Conference, then a President of the Women's Missionary
Council who was age eligible under this paragraph would always leave office
with one year (25%) of her term incomplete.
This would yield an absurd result, and one clearly not intended by the
General Conference.
Bishop Reddick argues that the
question of mandatory retirement in the CME Church has been settled for all
bishops, all general officers and all itinerant preachers without
exception. Our review of our prior and current Discipline beginning
as early as 1914 and continuing until 1978 demonstrates that the question
of the retirement age for bishops was constantly in flux. At various times, even though the General
Conference had enacted a retirement age, exceptions would be made on the floor
of the General Conference to extend the age of retirement for select Bishops. We again emphatically state, the General
Conference always had and maintains full power to make
exceptions.
In regards to itinerant ministers
and General Officers, other than the President of the Women's Missionary
Council, the law is clear, that is, they must retire at the "Conference of
Authority" nearest their 74th birthday, provided, however, that
if they are ministers who have been in the itinerant service for 10 years or more and are
65 they can exercise the right to
retirement.
Ministers upon approaching or
reaching age 74 (or qualifying for the 10 year service, age 65 exception) have
retired at their annual conferences (the Conference of Authority over them) and
General Officers over the years, when they approached the General Conference
nearest their 74th birthdays have retired at the General Conference.
In contrast, our research reveals
that the President of the Women's Missionary Council has never retired or
completed her 4 year term of office at the General Conference. The questions that are raised by this
observation, are these:
(1) What is the "Conference
of Authority" for the President of the Women's
Missionary Council;
(2) Is the President of the
Women's Missionary Council exempt from the
"automatically retired"
language of paragraph 450 §2.
Simply put, the answer to the first
question is beyond debate. If we look at
what body has final authority over the President of the Women's
Missionary Council, then the Conference of Authority is always the
General Conference. The General
Conference created the Women's Missionary Council (as it did all other General
Departments of the Church) and has the full authority to do away with it. However, as stated earlier, the General
Conference has full power to make whatever rules it chooses and can make
exceptions, modifications, delegations, etc., whenever it chooses to do
so.
The General Conference has the
power to and has allowed the President of the Women's Missionary Council to be
treated differently from other General Officers. For example, the General Conference has
allowed the Women's Missionary Council to have their own constitution and their
own bylaws which have been ratified by the General Conference. Indeed the Women's Missionary Council's
Constitution is included within The Book of Discipline.
By that ratification, the General
Conference has determined that instead of being elected at the General
Conference like all other General Officers, the President of the Women's
Missionary Council will be elected at a different place and time. The President of the Women's Missionary
Council and all other Council officers are elected at the Quadrennial Assembly
meeting the year following the General Conference. Another distinction among General Officers
approved by the General Conference, is that a General Officer who is also
an itinerant minister and has served 10 years in the ministry can retire at 65.
Another example of an intent to
treat the President of the Women's Missionary Council different than other
General Officers is the fact that all other General Officers report annually to
the General Connectional Board (see Chapter 44) while the President of the
Women's Missionary Council has its own Executive Board to which she makes her
annual report at a different place and time (see Chapter 51).
A compelling example of an intent
to treat the President of the Women's Missionary Council different than other
General Officers, is the Retirement Plan of the CME Church.
Paragraph 1039.1 mandates that all
active Bishops, General Officers, Presidents & Dean of Theological
Seminaries, Presiding Elders & salaried pastors of the CME Church, who are
under 74 years of age shall mandatorily enroll in the
CME retirement plan. However, a
President of the Women's Missionary Council cannot enroll in the CME retirement
plan because they can never meet the qualifications for retirement
benefits, as is illustrated below.
Paragraph 1039.4 provides that a serving
General Officer who retires in office, pursuant to the retirement laws
of the CME Church, shall be entitled to benefits as follows:
§1. A General Officer who served
twelve (12) consecutive years or more, and retires while actively in office as
such General Officer, shall be entitled to a sum equal to one-half (½) of a
General officer's salary at the time of retirement.
§2. A General Officer who serves a
minimum of eight (8) consecutive years or more, and retires while still
acting as such General Officer, shall be entitled to a sum equal to
one-third (1/3) of the salary of a General Officer at the time of retirement.
The President of the Women's
Missionary Council can never retire under subsection one because she cannot
serve 12 years consecutively and because she can never serve a minimum of 8
consecutive years or more and retire while still acting as such General
Officer, she cannot retire under subsection two. She can only serve 8 consecutive years. She cannot ever be "still acting as
General Officer." Therefore, she
cannot participate in the pension fund.
Because the President can't
participate in the retirement fund, a Special Gift Fund was set up for Past
Council Presidents, Treasurers & Editors of the Missionary Messenger, which
they are eligible for after 2 terms of office (see page 161, paragraph
1140, Article VII § 2 of the Book of Discipline 2010). The amount of the gift is subject to a
determination by the Finance Committee of the Women's Missionary Council based upon the
availability of funds which must be confirmed by the Women's Missionary Council
Executive Board. This allowance or gift
was made effective in 2004.
The answer to the second question
flows from our consideration of the first question. It is the opinion of the Judicial Council
that the President of the Women's Missionary Council is exempt from the
"automatically retired" language of paragraph 450 §2.
As was earlier stated, the General
Conference has full power to enact laws, to modify or make exceptions to them
and to delegate authority to other bodies.
An example of General Conference delegation of authority can be seen in
the creation of the General Connectional Board (paragraph 1000 through 1000.7)
with authority granted to it to act between General Conferences. Authority was also granted to the Women's
Missionary Council to enact its own constitution and bylaws. The Women's Missionary Council's Constitution
and Bylaws were
thereafter ratified by the General Conference. In fact, the Women's Missionary Council's
Constitution has been incorporated in the Book of Discipline. Furthermore, at the General Conference in
1998, per resolution #98-08-132, the General Conference voted to allow the
Women's Missionary Council to amend, add to, delete or modify its bylaws. Those Bylaws specifically set out the qualifications
and terms of office for President.
They are, in part, as follows:
A. President
1.
Qualifications
a. The President shall be active member of
the Local Church, the District Conference, and the Annual Conference Women's
Missionary Society. She shall have had consistent
experience in a comparable office at other levels of missionary work in
the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
[Emphasis added.]
b.
She shall not be otherwise
gainfully employed.
c. She shall have a background of higher
education, demonstrated administrative ability, organizational skills, a gift
of effective human relations, a presence of consistent dedication, and
spiritual disciplines.
Section
5: Terms
of Office
A. Council Officers, Department
Secretaries, Standing Committee Chairpersons, and the Chairperson of the
Commission on Christian Social Relations shall be elected quadrennially and
shall not succeed themselves after two (2) terms of four (4) years each, or a
total of eight (8) years.
B.
All vacancies occurring during a
term of office shall be filled by the Executive Committee of the Women's
Missionary Council.
C. Should the office of President become
vacant, the Vice-President shall assume the duties of the office of President
until the next Executive Board meeting, at which time the Patron bishop and the
Executive Committee shall recommend an appointee.
A fair reading of these Bylaws as
well as the actions of the General Conference in ratifying them, leads to but
one conclusion. Because the President is
to have all these
qualifications i.e., served as the president of the
local, district and annual conference Missionary Society (clearly an
accomplishment that can take years to obtain), not be otherwise gainfully
employed (indicating a requirement that the person seeking the office must
have completed their professional career), and must have a background of
higher education, demonstrated administrative ability, organizational skills, a
gift of effective human relations, etc. (again, indicating a person who has
spent many years in preparing themself in all aspects of their life, personal,
professional and spiritually to serve as President), it is obvious that there
was no intent to impose an age limitation on who may serve as President; the
limitation on service, as evidenced by the mandated qualifications without
regard to age, is a term limitation.
The President is prohibited from serving more than two terms (4 year
terms) or a total of eight years. There
is no provision for retirement during a term of office.
As was stated earlier, to require a
President to leave office with twenty-five percent (25%) of her term left would
lead to an absurd result. This could not
have been the intent of the General Conference nor would this tortured reading
of all the relevant statutes we reviewed result in giving full effect to all
the enactments.
Finally, to reiterate, the General
Conference has full power to enact legislation, to make exceptions to it, to
modify it and to delegate authority to other bodies. It is the Opinion of the Judicial Council
that the President of the Women's Missionary Council, who is a General Officer,
subject to the final authority of the General Conference, which is her
"Conference of Authority" is exempt from being "automatically retired" as
stated in paragraph 450 §2. If the
General Conference wants to change this interpretation they have the authority
to do so. The General Conference meets
in 2014. They can either adopt
our interpretation or amend The Discipline if they disagree with us. Our Opinion will be subject to review by the
General Conference in two years, before it would affect the President of the
Women's Missionary Council.
Respectfully submitted,
Justice Roland
Johnson, Jr., President
Justice Pamela
Bethel-LeDuff, Clerk
Justice
Barbara Nichols
Justice
Lawson Adjei
Justice
Leo Douglas
Concurring
in the Opinion
Justices Bernard Snell and Jerry Woodfolk,
Sr., respectfully dissent.
*Justice Kapel Kirkendoll took
no part in this decision.
