Pacific Northwest Bible Quizzing Bylaws

The following are the bylaws of the Pacific Northwest Bible Quizzing non-profit organization, hereinafter referred to as PNW, an independent ministry operation in association with the Pacific Northwest Theological Institute of Washington State.

These bylaws, as adopted by the PNW membership, replace all previously adopted bylaws and amendments.

Article 1 - Membership

Membership in PNW is defined as the ministry organizations that sponsor teams of quizzers to participate in PNW events. These ministry organizations must be theologically traditional Christian, meaning they are in alignment with the Nicene Creed (Symbolum Nicaenum), the English translation of the Armenian version.

The leadership of a ministry organization shall be considered to be the coaching staff for the teams the ministry organization sponsors.

Article 2 - General Assembly Meetings

Member ministry organizations are apportioned 2 delegate votes to represent their organization in the PNW General Assembly of Delegates, hereinafter referred to as the Assembly. An organization's leadership may assign these delegate voting rights in any way they choose. A single person is not prohibited from representing multiple votes, even across ministry organizations.

At least 1 in-person meeting of the Assembly must take place annually. Ideally, in-person meetings of the Assembly should take place as often as is practical, as defined as a logistically available break during a PNW event such that the event's overall schedule will not be negatively impacted. All meetings of the Assembly are open to any leaders of any of the member ministry organizations, members of the Board of Directors, and all meet officials (i.e. quizmasters, answer judges, scorekeepers, and statisticians), regardless of their holding a delegate voting right.

Assembly meetings shall be conducted according to parliamentary procedures as directed by the most recent revision of Robert's Rules of Order. Any bylaw which conflicts with the parliamentary authority shall be understood to override the parliamentary authority in that bylaw's specific use case. While only delegates may vote, all attendees have the right to parliamentary privilege. 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. All discussion and debate speech limits are suspended by default. These can be reinstated through a point of privilege raised by any attendee. 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.

Quorum for Assembly meetings shall be at least 1 representative delegate for greater than 2/3 of the current member ministry organizations.

The Assembly may veto any decision by any other part of PNW leadership by a simple majority vote.

At each Assembly meeting, the Assembly will appoint one of its attendees to be Secretary, who will cause to be made minutes of each meeting that lists the date of the meeting and any main motions that pass.

Article 3 - Board of Directors

The PNW Board of Directors, hereinafter referred to as the Board, shall consist of 5 people appointed by the Assembly for annual terms. Of 5 Board positions, 3 are explicitly tied to a role:

Nominations may be made by any Assembly delegate. Self-nomination of any person shall be considered typical practice. Any nominated candidate may decline.

The Board will provide strategic governance, policy decision-making, and sound financial management for the work of PNW. The Board will:

All decisions not explicitly reserved to others will be considered the responsibility of the Board. The Board may establish ad hoc subcommittees to delegate such portions of their authority as they may desire. Subcommittee members need not be directors of the Board. The Board shall hold accountable all those to whom it appoints and delegates responsibilities.

The Board shall meet at least twice a year. Board meetings may be conducted by teleconference. Board decisions may be conducted by email, but if so done, 100% responsiveness on all votes is required. Board meetings are excepted from prior notice requirements from the parliamentary authority.

Any director may resign at any time, in which case the Board may temporarily appoint a replacement who must be confirmed by the Assembly at the next Assembly meeting. Any director may be removed from the Board and the director's position at any time by a unanimous vote of the other members of the Board or a 2/3 vote of the Assembly.

At each Board meeting, the Board will appoint one of its directors to be Secretary, who will cause to be made minutes of each meeting that lists the date of the meeting and any main motions that pass.

Article 4 - District Coordinator

The District Coordinator is appointed by the Assembly for an annual term and will oversee tactical governance, policy implementation leadership, and financial plan execution. While all tactical activities of the PNW are overseen by the District Coordinator, the District Coordinator should as a norm appoint individuals and charter subcommittees to conduct the work and hold these individuals and subcommittees accountable.

The District Coordinator has the responsiblity to lead or delegate the leading of General Assembly Meetings.

The District Coordinator should not, with a small set of exceptions, manage any tactical activity directly without having first attempted and failed to delegate and then only after receiving explicit Board approval. Such Board approval should be considered short-term and no longer than the quizzing season in which it is granted.

The following are duties of the District Coordinator that should not be delegated:

The following are some of the duties The District Coordinator should attempt to delegate:

Article 5 - Rules Subcommittee

The Rules Subcommittee is a permanent subcommittee of the Board of Directors responsible for the following:

The Rules Subcommittee is chaired by the Rules Subcommittee Leader. All meet officials who are active in the current quizzing season sit on the subcommittee, but only those meet officials who have attended at least 50% of the quiz meets in the previous 12 months are voting members. The Rules Subcommittee Leader is a voting member regardless of meet attendance. Quorum will be considered >50% of all current subcommittee members or >50% voting subcommittee members, whichever is fulfilled first.

Article 6 - Treasurer

The Treasurer shall do or delegate and oversee the following:

Annual budgets shall be approved by a majority vote of the Assembly.

In addition, the Treasurer shall cause to be made a financial records review by a person or persons outside the PNW on an annual basis. The person or persons shall report findings in writing to the Board who will share the report with the Assembly.

Article 7 - Amendments

These bylaws may be amended at any meeting of the Assembly. Proposed amendments must be presented to the Board not less than 90 days prior to the meeting at which the proposed amendment is to be considered and acted upon.

A notice of a meeting at which a change of bylaws will be considered and the text of the amendment or amendments to be considered shall be presented to the Assembly at least 45 days in advance of such meeting. Such notice may be electronically communicated.

An affirmative vote of a 2/3 majority of the Assembly is required for passage of amendments to the bylaws.

If you have any questions, would like to participate in quizzing, or would like assistance starting a quiz program, please email us: contact@pnwquizzing.org