On 10/5/07, by a vote of 7 to 0, the Club officers changed the 10/6/07 Shooting Range Shoot to 10/13/07 due to conflicting with the 10/6/07 - 10/7/07 FCS booth at TPWDs Expo.
On 10/11/07, by a vote of 3 to 1, the Club officers cancelled the remaining Buda Dove Lease hunts for 2007.
On 10/18/07, by a vote of 5 to 0, the Club officers added a 12/29/07 Guadalupe River Fly Fishing Trip to the Annual Calendar of Events.
On 11/1/07, by a vote of vote of 6 to 0, the Club officers cancelled the 11/9/07 - 11/10/07 Duck Hunt due to the fact that we only received two of the needed four commitments.
On 11/19/07, by a vote of 8 to 0, the Club officers added a 12/15/07 Fishing Trip and Luncheon Sponsored by the Buda Chapter to the Club Calendar of events.
On 11/21/07, by a vote of 9 to 0, the Club Officers added a 12/2/07 Promotion at Cabela's Sponsored by the Buda Chapter to the Club Calendar of Events.
On 11/9/07 I initiated a discussion on a proposal (by me, and agreed upon by the other nine officers) to change our Bylaws regarding membership requirements for women. On 11/16/07, I initiated a vote on the proposal. This was due to the following:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department National Surveys of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation have shown some alarming trends.
Nationally, the number of hunters reached at peak in 1975 at 17,094,000. By 1991, we had declined to 14,063,000. We stayed about the same in 1996 (13,975,000) but by 2001 we had dropped to 13,034.000 and by 2006 we had dropped to 12,500,000. That's a drop of 4,594,000 hunters in 31 years or almost 27%! This begs the question, “What will our numbers be in another 30 years?”
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service surveys show that there have been significant declines in males, whites, blacks, 6 -11 year olds, and 18 – 34 year olds. The only two groups that are growing in number are Hispanics and women.
An examination of the Christian Sportsmen’s organizations that we have links to on our Christian Sportsmen’s Organizations page revealed that out of the 14 organizations who have information about membership 10 of them have both male and female members without restrictions and four are restricted only to men.
I proposed to make the following changes to the Bylaws:
II. Statement of Purpose:
The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen (FCS) is a non-denominational, non-political, brotherhood[RR1] organization, founded in Austin, Texas in 1988 by a group of Christian sportsmen. FCS is a ministry to the hunting and fishing world.
The purpose of the Club shall be to encourage Christian fellowship opportunities for men (and each man’s wife and adult female relatives[RR2] ) who like to hunt, shoot, and fish. We exist to:
4. Encourage serving the Lord Jesus.
5. Encourage fellowship in a local church.
III. Membership:
H. Other minor males[RR8] , whose father's are not members of the Club, can become youth members. To do so they must complete a youth membership application but they do not pay a membership due. Youth Club members in this category must also secure parent or guardian permission in order to purchase Club Apparel. A youth membership application is required to be completed for all youth whose fathers are not Club members prior to participation in Club events.
I. Prospective members (men[RR9] who have never attended a FCS event) will receive e-mails and/or a one-time mail out of materials at their request or the request of a Club member. After a prospect has been sent a mail out of materials he[RR10] will be removed from the mailing list and not reinstated unless he becomes a member. Prospective members also will not be allowed membership benefits until they become members. Newsletters, flyers, and other FCS publications will continue to be made available to prospective members at FCS events.
J. Inactive members (men[RR11] who have at one time been active members of the Club but who have not renewed their memberships) become active members upon receipt of a membership due. Inactive members will not be allowed membership benefits until they renew their memberships.
L. Married male Club member's wives and female relatives and single male Club member's female relatives can participate in all Club outings with their male sponsor. Single male Club member's girl friends (and single female Club member's boy friends) can participate in all Club day events with their male Club member/sponsor. For events that involve overnight camping, stays at motels, sleeping in bunk houses, etc., single male Club member's girl friends must be sponsored by a female Club member, who they will share quarters with and single female Club member's boy friends must be sponsored by a male Club member, who they will share quarters with. In all cases single couples must sleep in separate quarters. Single women who are not related to a male Club member or women who are married but their husbands are not Club members can participate in all Club events but cannot participate in events that involve overnight camping, stays at motels, sleeping in bunk houses, etc. unless they have at least a son or daughter with them who is interested in learning how to hunt, shoot, or fish and they are sponsored by a female Club member, who they will share quarters with.[RR12]
VIII. Conduct:
Christian walk
There are numerous references to “his” that will be changed to “his or her” and “he” that will be changed to “he or she.”
[RR1]Change to “sportsmen’s.”
[RR2]Change to “people.”
[RR3]Delete.
[RR4]Change to “men and women.”
[RR5]Change to “men and women.”
[RR6]Delete.
[RR7]Change to “men and women.”
[RR8]Change to “minors.”
[RR9]Change to “men and women.”
[RR10]Change to “he or she.”
[RR11]Change to “men and women.”
[RR12]Delete.
[RR13]Change to “spouse’s.”
[RR14]Add (from “L.” above.
[RR15]Renumber.
On 11/22/07 the proposal passed by a vote of 13 to 2.
On 12/9/07, by a vote of 9 to 0, the Club officer's canceled the 12/15/07 Fishing Trip and Luncheon due to scheduling conflicts.
On 12/23/07, by a vote of 12 to 0, the Club officer's added a 1/5/08 Guided Duck Hunt to the Club Calendar of Events.
On 12/17/07 I, Randy Rowley, initiated a discussion on three propositions. On 12/24/07, I initiated a vote on the propositions.
Proposition 1 was in regards to approving the Annual Calendar of Events, additions to the Calendar, cancellations of events, and date, time, and/or location changes to events that have already been approved.
For almost nine years the Club has had the practice of approving the Annual Calendar of Events, as well as additions, cancellations, and changes to the calendar. On 3/26/07, by a vote of 15 to 0, we changed the Bylaws to make this a responsibility of the officers rather than the active members.
Here are some facts:
Every vote on a proposed calendar has passed unanimously.
Every vote on adding an event has passed unanimously.
Every vote on making a change (date, time, and/or location) to an event has passed unanimously.
Every vote except one to cancel an event has passed unanimously (the one exception was a misunderstanding; I thought that the dove hunting had died in Woodson so I moved to cancel the remaining hunts for 2007; however, the hunting was not completely dead).
In reality our discussions and votes on calendars and events are just a formality with a predetermined outcome.
It takes time to type up proposals, send out the discussion e-mails, respond to questions, send out the vote e-mails, tabulate the votes, put the results on the website, and then let everyone know.
It would be a lot simpler to let our Vice Presidents and me simply make changes to the calendar as needed. Then I will simply inform everyone that a change has been made. This will save me and the other officers' from having to conduct work that really isn't needed.
The following changes would need to be made:
IV. Officers:
B. The Club President…
5. Responsible to ensure that votes on
Bi-annual and called officer elections by the active Club members, votes on
proposed changes or additions to the Bylaws and Statement of Events or any other
proposals from active Club members,
[RR1]
and
[RR2] votes on
the Annual Fiscal Year Budget and Annual Calendar of Events
[RR3] by the Club
officers, and votes on additions, cancellations, and date, time, or
location changes to the Annual Calendar of Events by the Club officers
[RR4] take place,
[RR5] and the
results are tabulated and reported to the active Club members within seven days
of the vote...
The new #5 will read:
5. Responsible to ensure that votes on Bi-annual and called officer elections by the active Club members, votes on proposed changes or additions to the Bylaws and Statement of Events or any other proposals from active Club members, and votes on the Annual Fiscal Year Budget by the Club officers take place and the results are tabulated and reported to the active Club members within seven days of the vote...
6. Responsible to ensure that votes on
proposed changes or additions to the Bylaws and Statement of Events or any other
proposals from active Club members take place, using the procedure from #5 and
the results are tabulated and reported to the active Club members within seven
days of the vote.
[RR6]
C. The Vice President (Events)…
3. Responsible to communicate to the Club President when he or she has made a change to the Club Calendar a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event (with the exception of rain outs, cancellations due to lack of game or participants, etc.).[RR7]
4. Responsible to enter Club events into the
FCS Calendar on the mycalendars.net website
a minimum of one week prior to the day
of the event
[RR8]
within seven days of an event's approval.
[RR9]
Renumber the remainder.
E. The Chapter President…
3. Responsible to communicate to the Club President when his or her chapter has scheduled a Chapter event or changed a Chapter event a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event. [RR10]
Renumber the remainder.
F. The Chapter Vice President…
3. Responsible to notify the Club President that a new event(s) has been entered in the FCS Calendar on the mycalendars.net website. [RR11]
Renumber the remainder.
P. The Club officers shall maintain an Annual
Club Calendar of Events. The proposed Annual Calendar of Events must be
approved by a majority vote of the Club officers prior to implementation. Any
proposed event during a specific year that was not already on that year’s Annual
Calendar of Events must be approved by a majority vote of the Club officers
prior to implementation. Any cancellation of and date, time, or location
changes to an already approved event must be approved by a majority vote of the
Club officers prior to implementation.
[RR12]
[RR1] Moved from #6 (below).
[RR2] Add.
[RR3] Delete.
[RR4] Delete.
[RR5] Delete.
[RR6] Delete because the bulk of it was moved to #5.
[RR7] Add.
[RR8] Add.
[RR9] Delete.
[RR10] Add.
[RR11] Add.
[RR12] Delete.
On 1/1/08 the proposal passed by a vote of 15 to 0.
Proposition 2 was to change the requirement that the Club president must attend at least one half of all chapter meetings. The Buda chapter is meeting weekly (at this pace they will have 52 meetings a year). To be blunt I can't afford the gas to drive to Buda and back for at least 26 meetings a year. I propose that the language be changed to "He or she is expected to attend at least one of each of the other chapters in the Austin area meetings a year." This does not prevent me or a future Club president from attending more than one. I added "Austin area" because there is a possibility that we'll one day have a chapter many miles from Austin. It will be unreasonable to expect the Club president to travel 400 miles round trip (for example) to just attend a chapter meeting.
On 1/1/08 the proposal passed by a vote of 15 to 0.
Proposition 3 was to add Buda Chapter Bylaws. The Buda Chapter officers would like to establish their own Bylaws as a supplement to the Club's Bylaws. These Bylaws are not intended to replace the Club Bylaws but to add the intent, goals, and procedures for the Buda chapter. This will help them to establish their own identity. I and the other Club officers have no problem whatsoever with this. We do not want this chapter or future chapters to be exact clones of us. If we insist that they cannot add to what has already been established then we might as well not bother to have chapters. There is nothing that they would like to add that goes against what has already been established. In fact the things that they would like to add strengthen the Bylaws. In particular, I like their mission statement and the finances, quorum, scholarship, and conduct sections.
Buda Chapter Bylaws
(Supplemental to the Club Bylaws)
I. Name:
The official name of this organization is The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen – Buda Chapter (FCS-Buda).
II. Statement of Purpose:
The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen (FCS) is a non-denominational, non-political, sportsmen's organization, founded in Austin, Texas in 1988 by a group of Christian sportsmen. FCS is a ministry to the hunting and fishing world.
The Buda Chapter (FCS-Buda) was founded in 2007 to serve the South Austin/Hays County areas
The mission of FCS-Buda is to provide sporting/outdoor opportunities to members and guest of the club, providing fellowship opportunities, sharing outdoor activities, helping members and guest with growth in their walk, encouragement and witnessing to non-Christians, challenging others to establish and maintain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and providing outdoor opportunities to area youth though scholarship activities. This will be accomplished by creation of a non-judgmental environment, providing opportunities for honest/open discussion of Biblical topics, building of friendships, and outreach to non-Christians. The club is dedicated to not only fellowship among members but more importantly out-reach to the community it serves.
III. Membership:
A. Membership is focused on the South Austin/Buda/Hays County geographic areas and will follow the guidelines established by the founding club.
B. Membership is though the founding club.
IV. Officers:
A. Officer positions shall consist of a President and such other positions that are deemed necessary by a majority vote of the active Chapter members. All Chapter officers are expected to set the example for the FCS membership by following the bylaws and through attendance at FCS events. All Chapter officers are expected to participate in scheduling, planning, and promoting all Chapter meetings and outings. All Chapter Officers will serve two year terms. Officer Elections will be held no later than the month before the expiration of the present officer's terms. All Chapter officers are expected to be current in their membership dues.
Chapter Officers will consist of the following:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Chaplain
B. Future elections for unopposed Chapter officers/active Chapter members (as determined by Ballot Surveys) will not be held. An unopposed Chapter officer will automatically receive another two year term. An unopposed active Chapter member will automatically receive the job he or she applied for.
C. The Chapter officers shall maintain an Annual Fiscal Year Budget (beginning each September the 1st). The proposed Annual Fiscal Year Budget must be approved by a majority vote of the Chapter officers prior to implementation. Any proposed unplanned purchase(s) of $50.00 or more must be approved by a majority vote of the Chapter officers prior to the purchase(s).
D. The Chapter officers shall maintain an Annual Chapter Calendar of Events. The proposed Annual Calendar of Events must be approved by a majority vote of the Chapter officers prior to implementation. Any proposed event during a specific year that was not already on those years Annual Calendar of Events must be approved by a majority vote of the Chapter officers prior to implementation.
V. Quorum:
A quorum is defined as 60% of the officers. Example: With Five officers in the chapter, three officers will be needed to be in attendance in order to proceed with a vote.
VI. Chapter Finances:
A. Membership to the club and associated benefits will be provided by the parent Club.
B. Chapter fundraisers, scholarship donations, expenditures will be approved via majority vote of Chapter Officers.
VI. Meetings:
Official meetings will be held according to the schedule of the Annual Calendar of Events that was approved by a majority vote of the Chapter officers. The President, or a majority of the other Chapter officers, or the majority of active Chapter members can also call a meeting. Attempts must be made to notify all active Chapter members at least 72 hours in advance of called meetings via e-mail and mail or phone proxy (for active members who do not have an e-mail address). The ranking Chapter officer or most tenured member (in the event that no Chapter officers are involved) is responsible to attempt to notify all active Chapter members.
VII. Amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Faith, or Fiscal Year Budget:
A. Active Chapter members (only) can make amendment proposals.
B. Amendment proposals must be made to the Club President and can be in written (preferably) or oral form.
C. Amendment proposals do not require a "second" in order to be put to a vote.
VIII. Scholarships:
A. The Chapter shall provide a process to solicit donations for scholarship activities at each Chapter Function.
B. The Chapter shall provide for scholarship opportunities, which may include hunting, fishing, camping, etc. Chapter officers shall vote on proposed scholarship activities.
C. Chapter officers shall provide for a selection process of area youth to participate in scholarship activities. Chapter officers shall vote on proposed scholarship participants.
D. The Chapter shall vote for expenditure of scholarship funds
IX. Conduct:
Christian walk
To attend church in a regular manner.
To participate in church activities.
To try every day to outreach.
Safety and shooting practices
Take every opportunity to teach a child gun safety and how to shoot.
Hunting and Fishing practices
To treat property and property rights as your own.
To share your harvest.
To respect the non-hunting community.
On 1/1/08 the proposal passed by a vote of 15 to 0.