Green Pages
262 Cooperative Ventures
262.1 Initiative
a) If difficulties are being experienced within the CV, the parish council/session (or in the case of a joint venture, the joint local committee) or any of the parties may request the Joint Regional Committee to convene a special visitation to discuss the matter.
b) A decision to dissolve the agreement may be reached on the initiative of:
i) the parish council or joint local committee
ii) the Joint Regional Committee
iii) a party to the agreement.
262.2 Dissolution by initiative of the parish council/session
If it is manifest to the parish council/session or joint local committee that the agreement cannot be made to work satisfactorily, they may resolve to request the Joint Regional Committee to set up a commission to discuss the question with a congregational meeting in the parish.
a) The JRC shall notify the regional courts and set up a representative commission of not less than two members. For other than a joint venture step b) follows. For a joint venture step c) follows
b) The commission meets with the congregation and should that meeting reach a decision that irreconcilable differences exist such as to call for the dissolution of the agreement then the following steps shall be taken.
i. The JRC shall within seven days of the meeting communicate the terms of the resolution to each of the regional courts (in the case of the Associated Churches of Christ or Congregational Union the regional court shall be taken to mean the church meeting which decides all matters) of the Partners.
ii. The session/parish council must confirm the decision one month after the congregational meeting. This confirmation requires a majority of at least 70% of the office bearers of each of the Partners.
iii. Upon receiving this confirmation of the decision the JRC reports to the regional courts of the Partners.
iv. On receipt of replies from each regional court the commission shall consider these replies and all other relevant information and report to the Joint Regional Committee. The JRC may either defer dissolution pending further discussion; or set the soonest possible date for the agreement to be considered to be dissolved. In either case the JRC shall advise the Partners and parish council accordingly.
c) Each regional court shall
i.convene a meeting of the local parishioners and office bearers in the area to discuss the resolution. Members of the commission will attend and each meeting should be convened within one month of receiving the resolution of the joint local committee
ii. consider its response to the resolution in the light of (i) and forward its concurrence or otherwise to the Joint Regional Committee within three months of receiving notification.
The commission shall act with the parties to wind up the agreement in accordance with 251.2 of the property clauses or any Deed of Trust.
262.3 Dissolution by initiative of the Joint Regional Committee
If the Joint Regional Committee decides that the agreement cannot be made to work satisfactorily and for any reason a resolution to dissolve the agreement is not forthcoming, the JRC may decide to recommend the dissolution of the agreement but such resolution shall not be considered to be effective until the following steps have been taken.
a) The Joint Regional Committee shall within seven days notify the session/parish council or joint local committee and the regional courts of the Partners of its recommendation. (It is expected that each regional court will take this opportunity to discuss the question with its parishioners and office bearers)
b) On receiving (within three months) confirmation of the recommendation from any of the regional courts the JRC shall appoint a representative commission of not less than two members.
c)The commission shall meet with the session/parish council or joint local committee explaining the reasons for the JRC's actions and clarifying the point of view of each party.
d) Upon receiving the report from the commission, the JRC may confirm the recommendation to dissolve the agreement and report to the regional courts who shall communicate their concurrence or otherwise within three months to the JRC and session/parish council or joint local committee
e) When the concurrence of the regional Partners courts has been obtained the Joint Regional Committee shall set the earliest possible date for the agreement to be considered to be dissolved and advise the Partners accordingly.
The commission shall act with the parties to wind up the agreement in accordance with 251.8 of the property clauses or any Deed of Trust.
262.4 Dissolution on initiative of one party to the agreement
Should action under 262.2 and/or 262.3 fail to resolve serious disharmony within the parish, any one of the parties (local or regional) may give notice of withdrawal from the agreement. Such notice shall be considered valid providing
a) no action has been or will be initiated without reference to the appropriate higher Partners courts
b) the regional court of the party intending to withdraw gives notice (with reasons) in writing to the session/parish council or the joint local committee, the Joint Regional Committee and the other parties to the agreement
c) that those giving notice allow up to six months from the day of posting the notice to the other parties to negotiate satisfactory terms of dissolution
d) that no steps shall be taken to dispose of any property included in the agreement to other than Partners without the approval of the Joint Regional Committee.
The Joint Regional Committee shall appoint a representative commission of not less than two to consult with all parties and act with them to wind up affairs under 251.8 of the property clauses or any Deed of Trust.
262.5 Records
c) Ownership. On dissolution of the agreement, the participating Partners that are involved in the agreement jointly own the records and archives.
d) Responsibilities of JRC The JRC will oversee the gathering of past and current records (see 443.3) The parish will provide a list of all the records to the JRC who will advise the Records and Advisory Committee and will oversee the deposit of the collection of archives in the approved repository (see 444.3 and 444.4)