GC45 GS01 Procedural Motion for Summer 2025

Origin: General Secretary

Bounds of the Meeting

That the bounds of the plenary of the 45th General Council be the MacLeod Hall at the TELUS Convention Centre in Calgary and the online meeting room connected with it, excluding the visitor seating and unnumbered tables.

Corresponding Members

That the following persons who are in attendance be corresponding members of the 45th General Council 2025

• All former Moderators;
• Global partner representatives, ecumenical, inter-faith and official guests of the 45th General Council 2025
• Nominees for Moderator who are not Commissioners
• Youth Forum participants and their leaders who are not Commissioners
• Those who have been requested by the General Secretary, General Council, to serve as resource persons to the Council
• Members of the Business Committee, Way Forward Team, Equity Support Team, and Worship Committee who are not Commissioners
• General Council Officers, Executive Ministers, Executive Officers, and Regional Council Executive Ministers

Minute Secretary

That the Minute Secretary for the 45th General Council 2025 be Tyler Lodge.

Business Committee

That the Business Committee for the 45th General Council 2025 be: Joshua Bell, Michael Blair, Taylor Croissant, Treena Duncan, Adele Halliday, Franklyn James, Carmen Lansdowne, Kenji Marui, Shannon McCarthy, Marianna Muhumuza, Cheryl-Ann Stadelbauer-Sampa, Matthew Tyhurst, Johannes Van Kessel

Way Forward Team

That the Way Forward Team for the 45th General Council 2025 be: Mitchell Anderson, HyeRan Kim – Cragg, Emily Duggan, Shannon McCarthy, Horacio Mesones, Deborah Richards, Matthew Tyhurst

Equity Support Team

That the Equity Support Team for the 45th General Council 2025 be: Edna (Hedy) Baker-Graf, Cheryl Bear, Adele Halliday, Amy Haynes, Franklyn James, Jenni Leslie, Lawrence Muvunzi, Sung Ran Kim, Ben Ryan

Worship Committee

That the Worship leaders for the 45th General Council 2025 be: Diane Blanchard, Kay Cho, Teresa Burnett-Cole, Taylor Croissant, Hilary Donaldson, Grace EunKyung Lee, Tia Park-Lee, Kupa Munikwa, Miriam Spies, Dorcus Yohan

Scrutineers

That the Scrutineers for the 45th General Council 2025 be: Angelica Benalcazar, Sarah Charters, Alan Hall

Business Before the 45th General Council 2025

The Moderator will chair the meeting, making any rulings necessary and ensuring that there is full opportunity for discussion and decision-making.

That the following business procedures be adopted:

That proposals:
GS01 Procedural Motion
GS02 Consent Docket
NOM01 Members Recommended for the General Council Executive
NOM02 Members Recommended for the Elected and Appointed Bodies of the General Council
Closing Motion

be dealt with according to the rules of Debate and Order (The Manual Appendix)

That the following procedures be adopted for all other business:

Business at the meeting will be considered according to the following three-phase process:

1. Learning phase: Commissioners will have access to the written proposal and the video (if one has been prepared) that accompanies it. Clarifying questions may be asked in the online platform prior to the convening of General Council on June 22, 2025. Time has been scheduled in the General Council sessions between June 22 and August 9, 2025, for clarifying questions on each proposal. These questions help Commissioners understand what action is being recommended in the proposal.
2. Discussion Phase: The discussion phase will meet with a pre-named facilitator and a note-taker. The discussion phase is the time to debate the proposal. Note-takers record comments, affirmations and suggestions and the discussion groups confirm the information to be recorded and shared. Reports from all discussion groups are forwarded to the Way Forward Team.
3. Decision-making phase: The Way Forward Team’s refined proposals, based on the notes from the discussion groups, are made available to the Council. There is final debate and refinement of the proposal in plenary, with the Way Forward Team returning to do more refinement as necessary. The process concludes with a motion in response to the proposal and a vote on the motion.

During the decision-making phase in plenary, the Moderator will apply the Rules of Debate and Order (The Manual Appendix). Speakers will:

• Indicate a desire to speak to the floor using the GC45 Chime platform to be included on a speakers list. The Equity Team will support the Moderator to ensure that a variety of voices are heard. Speakers will not necessarily be heard in the order in which they raised their hand; prepare to unmute or move to a microphone when the Moderator advises;
• Be recognized by the Moderator prior to speaking;
• Begin comments by identifying themselves by name, role, and regional council;
• Only speak once to a given proposal except at the discretion of the Moderator;
• Each new speaker should offer a new perspective or information;
• Speak for no longer than 90 seconds except at the discretion of the Moderator;
• Use the designated feature in the GC45 Chime platform to raise a point of order, that is to raise a specific question of procedure with the Moderator;
• Use the designated feature in the GC45 Chime platform to raise points of personal privilege, which will be understood to be limited to comments noting that the individual raising the point has been insulted or maligned in the current debate.

Note: General concerns about the meeting (inability to hear, temperature of the room, missing documentation) will be raised directly with Local Arrangements at the Information Desk, who will determine how the concern will be addressed. Concerns for the well-being of individuals, celebrations of birthdays, etc. will be made to the Information Desk, who will coordinate these for “community moments.”

Voting at the meeting will be electronic through the GC45 Chime platform unless otherwise specified.

Procedure for Withdrawing Proposals from an Omnibus or Consent Motion

The 45th General Council 2025 will adopt the following procedure should a Commissioner wish a proposal be withdrawn from an omnibus or consent motion: 

1. The Commissioner making such a request will have one minute to make their request and provide their rationale for their request, indicating the piece of business they wish to have removed.
2. The request will be granted only if a majority of Commissioners vote in favour of it.
3. If an item of business is removed from an omnibus or consent motion, the Moderator will direct the Business Committee to find a place for the work consistent with the request.

New Business

All notices of new business (including the draft proposal) will be presented in writing to the Business Committee by the close of the evening session on August 8, 2025. The Business Committee will report items of new business and recommendations for incorporation into the agenda for the decision of the court.

Items of new business will not be ordered on a first-come-first presented basis, but with preference to items:

1. arising unexpectedly in response to the meeting of the 45th General Council 2025;
2. arising in response to global or national matters that occur during the meeting of the 45th General Council 2025; and
3. as determined by the court on the recommendation of the Business Committee.

New business that cannot be dealt with by the General Council 2025 due to time limitations will be redirected in the closing motion.

Agenda

That the agenda for the 45th General Council be as published with the Business Committee authorized to make changes as necessary.

Election of Moderator

That the following be approved as the process for nominations and election of the 45th Moderator of The United Church of Canada:

1. Nominations may be made from the floor until the close of the session on Sunday, June 22, 2025. Five commissioners together can nominate a candidate. The nominee must indicate their willingness to stand for election to the role of Moderator. The Moderator will call for any further nominations just before the official close of nominations.
2. Nominations from the floor of the 45th General Council 2025 will be declared closed by the Moderator at the close of the session on Sunday, June 22, 2025.
3. The nominees will be introduced to the 45th General Council 2025 and presented with their nominee stoles at the evening session on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
4. Nominees will address the 45th General Council 2025 individually by pre-recorded video on Thursday, August, 7, 2025.
5. Voting will be by electronic ballot and take place on Friday, August 8, 2025, and if necessary, Saturday, August 9, 2025.
6. Anyone who receives 50% plus one of the votes cast will be declared elected as the new Moderator.
7. If there are ten or more names on the ballot, the four with the lowest numbers of votes cast in their favour will be released from the subsequent ballots; if there are seven, eight, or nine names on the ballot, the three with the lowest numbers of votes cast in their favour will be released from the subsequent ballots; if there are five or six names on the ballot, the two with the lowest numbers of votes cast in their favour will be released from the subsequent ballots; if there are four or fewer names on the ballot, the one with the lowest number of votes will be released from subsequent ballots.
8. When there are four or more names on the ballot and there is a tie in the number of votes cast for the candidates with the lowest number of votes in their favour as set out in the preceding paragraph, the candidates who are tied will be released from subsequent ballots. This could mean that more candidates are released from a ballot than as specified in the preceding paragraph.
9. Announcements of the results of the ballots will take place at times determined by the Moderator with advice from the Business Committee.
10. Tallies of votes will not be announced.