SECTION 1. The Diocesan Council as established by Article X of the Constitution, hereinafter sometimes referred to as "Council", shall have charge of the development and extension of the work of the Church, the care of vacant property, the acquisition and disposition of Diocesan property as set forth in Canons 12 and 13, subject, however, to the provisions of the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese, and to the direction of the Convention. The Bishop shall be President and Executive Officer and shall preside over the meetings of the Diocesan Council.
SECTION 2A. At the time of the Primary Convention of the Diocese, all elected members of Bishop and Council of the Diocese of Louisiana representing convocations of this Diocese shall become members of the Diocesan Council, to serve until the adjournment of the first regular annual meeting of the Convention.
SECTION 2B. At the first regular annual meeting of each Convocation, the following members of the Diocesan Council shall be elected:
(a) A Priest from the Acadiana and Shreveport Convocations, a layman from the Alexandria Convocation, and a lay woman from the Lake Charles and Monroe Convocations for a one (1) year term.
(b) A priest from the Lake Charles and Monroe Convocations, a layman from the Acadiana and Shreveport Convocations, and a lay woman from the Alexandria Convocation for a two (2) year term.
(c) A Priest from the Alexandria Convocation, a layman from the Lake Charles Convocation and Monroe Convocation, and a lay woman from the Acadiana and Shreveport Convocations for a three (3) year term.
Prior to the 1981 meeting of the Convention and each annual meeting of the Convention thereafter, each Convocation shall elect one member from the same category to succeed the retiring member from that Convocation, for a three (3) year term.
SECTION 2C. After serving one (1) full term, no elected members of the Committee shall be eligible for election until the annual Convention next following the expiration of their term.
SECTION 3. The Diocesan Council shall fill any vacancy in such elective membership from the same category and same Convocation, each member so elected to serve until the expiration of the term for which his predecessor in office had been elected. The Bishop shall fill any vacancy occurring among Council members appointed to serve until the expiration of the term for which his predecessor in office had been appointed.
SECTION 4. The Council shall meet not less than twice each year and at such other times as necessity shall require. The President or Vice-President of the Council shall have authority to call Special Meetings thereof. Nine (9) members shall constitute a quorum.
SECTION 5. The Council shall provide for such departments of the Diocese as from time to time may be considered by them to be expedient. The Council shall determine the scope of the work of each department and provide the manner and means by which the same shall be conducted. The Bishop shall be ex-officio a member of each Department, and shall appoint the Chairman thereof who need not be a member of the Diocesan Council Each Department Chairman shall have the power to appoint, subject to confirmation by the Council, additional members of the Department. Each Department shall elect a Secretary, who shall keep a record of its proceedings and acts, and shall report in writing to each stated meeting of the Council the work done under its direction.
SECTION 6. The Council shall elect annually, not necessarily from its membership, a Secretary. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to give timely notice of all meetings of the Council, to provide for the recordation of its proceedings, to provide for the preservation of its journals and records, to attest with the seal of the Diocese, as the occasion may require, its public records and proceedings, and faithfully to deliver into the hands of his or her successor all books and papers in his or her possession or under his or her control, relative to the concerns of the Council.
SECTION 7. The Council shall submit to each Annual Meeting of the Convention a report of the work done under its supervision for the preceding year.
SECTION 8.(a) It shall be the duty of the Council to promote a sound Christian Stewardship within this Diocese, such that the primary Mission of the Church shall constantly be brought before the members of the Church herein residing.
(b) The Council is authorized to secure from each congregation an annual pledge of its financial commitment to the Diocese for the work of the Church.
(c) 19 20 Each Congregation will notify the Diocesan office of the amount of its pledge by November 30th of each year.
(d) The Council shall then prepare a proposed budget which shall be submitted to each congregation not less than two (2) weeks prior to the annual Convention.
(e) Each congregation shall pay its annual pledge in equal monthly installments to the Diocesan office.
(f) 21 The Council shall have power to expend all monies provided in the Budget.
SECTION 9. The Council shall have power to ask for such reports and statements from every Parish, Mission, School, Home and Institution, which is under control of the Diocese, as it may deem necessary, and such reports and statement shall be furnished when asked for by the Council.
SECTION 10. The Council shall make and preserve a full record of all its acts, and shall have the right to adopt bylaws, rules and regulations for its government and the government of its officers, agents and departments; and shall have power to fix the time and place of its stated meetings provided they are not in conflict with the Constitutions and Canons of this Diocese and of the laws of Louisiana.
SECTION 11. All Mission Clergy, Chaplains and Archdeacons, if there be such, shall be appointed by the Bishop, but their Diocesan stipends shall be fixed by the Council.
SECTION 12. No Mission Clergy, Institutional Chaplains or Archdeacons or any other person whose salary or stipend is fixed by the Council, or who is employed by the Council, shall incur any pecuniary obligation whatsoever in carrying on his or her work which shall be a charge against the Diocese or the Council or the property of any Mission, School, Home or Institution, save and except upon written authority of the Council.
SECTION 13. The Council shall meet and organize within ten (10) days after each annual meeting of the Convention, and immediately shall enter upon the duties imposed upon it by the Constitution, Canons or by the Convention.