Our Constitution
The full name of the Society shall be, “The Scripture Union, Singapore”.
Its place of business and meeting shall be at 7 Armenian Street, Room #03-07 Bible House,
Singapore 0617.
The aims of the Society are:
i) To aid the Christian Church in its ministries by specialist services whereby the Word of God is presented especially to children and young people, so that those to whom it is presented may be led to personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, may be encouraged and instructed in the development of Christian character and witness and in a sense of vocation, and may take their place as members and workers in the life of their churches and of society.
ii) To promote thoughtful Bible reading among people of all ages with a view to furthering personal discipleship, Christian community and social action.
iii) To promote the publication and distribution of Christian literature.
(The above aims are of equal importance and neither should take precedence over the other.)
The Society will in particular further its objects among the students and young people through its sponsored youth programme known as the “Inter-School Christian Fellowship”, a copy of whose rules and regulations are attached. The Management Committee of this Fellowship shall be a sub-committee of the Council.
The colours of the Society shall be green and gold.
Membership shall be open to those who:
a) wish to follow the Scripture Union system of Bible reading
b) accept the aims and support the total programme of the Society
c) pay the annual membership fee as determined by the Council.
The Society upholds the fundamental truths of Christianity as revealed in the Holy Scripture including:
a) The divine inspiration and entire trust-worthiness of the Holy Scripture, as originally given, and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
b) The unity of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in the Godhead.
c) The sovereignty of God in creation, providence, revelation, redemption and final judgement.
d) The sinfulness and guilt of all men since the Fall, rendering them subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
e) Redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin solely through the sacrificial death as our representative and substitute of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.
f) The bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and His ascension to the right hand of God the Father.
g) The necessity of the word of the Holy Spirit to make the death of Christ effective to the individual sinner, granting his repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
h) The justification of the sinner by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone.
i) The indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
j) The one holy, universal Church, which is the Body of Christ, and to which all true believers belong.
k) The expectation of the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
a) The Society upholds the belief that the New Birth is a supernatural, profound experience brought about by the Holy Spirit. The Society shall therefore constantly guard against inducing superficial decisions and spurious professions of faith, but this must be combined with a whole-hearted concern and action in positive God-guided evangelism.
b) An emphasis on Christian growth and a concern for the development of Christian character and a sense of vocation. The Society shall constantly guard against the danger of a divorce between doctrine and behaviour arising from an inadequate presentation of Christian truth.
c) The Society shall in its evangelistic endeavour be concerned to bring young people into the life of the churches as evangelism which does not express this concern cannot be regarded as fulfilling the basic aims of the Society.
d) The Society shall sincerely endeavour to cooperate as far as possible with churches and societies of like-faith and with schools and other institutions as far as it is compatible with the Society’s Basis of Belief and Aims.
e) Only those speakers whose views are known to be in accordance with the aims of the Society shall be asked to take part in the activities of the Society. The Society shall reserve the right to exclude speakers who are known to express views contrary to the Basis of Belief.
f) i) The Society affirms and upholds the historic inter-denominational character of the Scripture Union movement (world-wide), and desires to encourage all members to participate locally and effectively in the life and work of the Churches.
(N.B. The term “inter-denominational” is used in the sense that the movement works amongst the churches and that its company of workers is comprised of members of the churches.)
f) ii) The Society shall exercise due care to ensure as far as possible, a suitable denominational balance in the appointing of committees, staff and honorary workers.
g) The Society upholds the belief in the unity of all true believers in Christ without distinction as to race, language, colour or social position and their equal worth in the sight of God, who is no respector of persons.
i) The number of the Council members shall not be more than fifteen and include members of the following denominations of the Protestant Church:
Anglican
Baptist
Brethren
Mar Thoma
Methodist
Presbyterian
and any other denomination whom the Council may invite when necessary. The membership from any one denomination should preferably be no more than three in number. The Council may elect as it considers necessary a new member to the Council.
ii) Members of the Council, all staff workers and all other members of the sub-committees appointed from time to time by the Council shall sign the Basis of Belief of the Society before taking office and shall continue in office only so long as their views are in accordance therewith.
iii) The Council may appoint such sub-committees as it believes necessary to promote and co-ordinate the activities of the Society in accordance with the detailed arrangements made from time to time by the Council.
iv) One third of the membership of the Council shall constitute a quorum at a properly convened meeting.
v) At least two weeks’ notice in writing of all Council meetings shall be given to each Council member.
vi) Extra-ordinary meetings may be convened at the discretion of the Chairman, and in his absence, the Secretary.
vii) The Council shall elect from its membership a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and such other office-bearers as it may from time to time, deem necessary, all of whom will act in an honorary capacity. All office-bearers except the Treasurer may be re-elected year after year.
viii) The Council may by a majority of three fifths of its membership remove from the membership of the Society, any person, if it considers that in the interests of the Society it is inexpedient that he/she should continue as a member.
i) An annual general meeting of the Council shall be held within six months of the end of each financial year of the Society. The financial year shall end on December 31 and the annual general meeting shall be held in April/May.
ii) At each annual general meeting two members of the Council shall retire from office in rotation. Members due to retire shall be those who have been in office longest since their last election. As between members of equal seniority those to retire shall, in the absence of agreement be selected from among them by lot. Retiring members, except the Treasurer, shall be eligible for re-election.
iii) At least three fifths of the total Council membership must be present for the proceedings to be valid.
Minutes of all Council, committee meetings and of the annual general meetings shall be kept by the Secretary who shall also keep all records, except financial record of the Society.
i) The Society shall be supported by voluntary donations.
ii) The Treasurer shall be responsible for keeping the accounts of the Society and shall present an annual audited statement at the Annual General Meeting.
iii) All moneys other than petty cash received by the Treasurer shall be placed in a bank account which shall be operated by the following Council members namely, the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and one other member appointed by the Council for the purpose. The signature of any two of the above shall be sufficient authority to the bank.
iv) The Treasurer is authorised to spend up to $100 per month for petty expenses on behalf of the Society. Expenditure in excess of this amount shall require the prior approval of the Council.
One person, not a member of the Council will be elected as Honorary Auditor at each Annual General Meeting and will hold office for one year only and may not be re-elected. He will be required to audit each year’s accounts and present a report upon them to the Annual General Meeting.
i) If the Society at any time acquire any movable property, such property shall be vested in Trustees subject to a declaration of trust. Any trustee may at any time resign from his trusteeship. If a trustee died or become a lunatic or of unsound mind or moves permanently or is absent from the State of Singapore for a period of one year, he shall be deemed to have resigned from his trusteeship. If a trustee is guilty of misconduct of such a kind as to render him undesirable that he continues as a trustee, a General Meeting may remove him from his trusteeship. Vacancies in the trusteeship may be filled at a General Meeting, but the number shall not be greater than five or less than two. Notice of any proposal to remove a trustee from his trusteeship or to appoint a new trustee to fill a vacancy must be given by affixing in the premises of the Society a document containing such proposal at least two weeks before the meeting at which the proposal is to be discussed. The result of such meeting shall then be notified to the Registrar of Societies, and the Commissioner of Charities for approval.
ii) “The Trustees shall have the power on behalf of the Society to raise or borrow money required for the work of the Society and the furtherance of its aims but not further or otherwise and to mortgage or charge all the undertakings and properties of the Society or any part thereof as security for any such purpose.”
The Society shall not engage in any political activities or allow its premises to be used for political purposes.
No alterations or additions to these rules shall be made except with the consent of three fifths of the membership of the Council given at a general meeting and they shall not come into force without the prior sanction of the Registrar of Societies and the Commissioner of Charities.
In the event of any question or matter arising out of any point which is not expressly provided for in the rules, the Council shall have the power to use their own discretion.
i) The Society shall not be dissolved except with the consent of not less than three fifths of the total membership of the Council expressed either in person at a general meeting convened for the purpose, or by postal vote.
ii) If on the winding up of dissolution of the Society there remains after payments of all its debts and liabilities, any properties or assets whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed amongst the members of the Society but shall be given or transferred to the Trustees for carrying out objects similar to those hereinbefore set forth or to any other Christian charitable organisations registered under the Charities Act Chapter 37, as the members of the Society may by special resolution in extraordinary general meeting, shall determine.
iii) Notice of dissolution shall be given within 14 days of the dissolution to the Registrar of Societies and the Commissioner of Charities.
As Amended January 1990 |
