The International Society for Orthodox Church Music

Constitution of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music

1 §The name of the association is "The International Society of Orthodox Church Music - ISOCM" and its domicile is the town of Joensuu, under the aegis of the Department of the Orthodox Theology of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Joensuu, Finland.

2 §The purpose of the Society is to foster the development an knowledge of church music traditions based on Byzantine and other Eastern Christian heritage, irrespective of the origin of the local Orthodox Church, and develop same creatively this for the needs of the Orthodox Churches in the future.

3 §The Society implements its purposes

1) by educating and informing both members and non-members by organizing meetings, lectures, conferences and other such activities.

2) by inviting all interested individual members to an annual conference to study, reflect on and discuss issues relating to Orthodox music.

3) by creating an internet database on Orthodox music recourses.

4) by publishing works of interest both to members and a wider

audience.

5) by circulating an electronic newsletter about the activities of the members of the Society

6) by hosting and moderating an internet discussion group dedicated to  Orthodox ecclesiastical matters

4 §Any person who is a professional, a choir director, a teacher, or a creative composer in the practical field of Orthodox Church music, and who promises through his / her activities to promote the goals of the Society, may be accepted by the Board of the Society as a member.

Any person accepted by the Board of the Society may become an asociate member of the Society. Associate members have no right to vote in the meetings of the Society.

The Society may in its meetings elect any person as a honorary member who has supported its activities in an outstanding way.

The Board of the Society may expel any member whose activities are in contradiction to the goals, purposes or rules of the Society.

Only a real person, not an artificial legal entity, may be accepted as a member.

5 §Members and associate members pay to the Society a membership fee which is decided at the annual meeting of the Society.

The Society can receive donations and legacies

6 §The business of the Society is taken care of and represented as lawful by the Board to which, at the annual meeting, a president and four members are elected. The Board elects from itself a vice-chairperson and a secretary and selects a treasurer who may also be a person not a member of the Board.

At the annual meeting the chairperson is elected for the term of four years. Other Board members are elected for the term of two years, so that two members are in rotation every second year.

7 §The Board meets by request of the chairperson, and the three members present constitute a quorum. If vote is tied, the  chairperson's vote is the deciding vote.

8 §The name of the Society is written by two members of the Board, of whom one has to be a chairperson or a vicechairperson.

9 §The balancing of the accounts of the Society is done according to the financial year starting from the 1st day of March each year until the end of February (1.3. - 28/29.2 each year). The accounts must be given one month before the annual meeting to the chartered accountants who must give an auditors' written report to the annual meetings of the Society.

10 §The annual meeting of the Society is held during the period May-July. Other meetings are held when the Board deems it necessary or when at least one tenth of the whole number of the members of the Society demands it in writting for a specifically announced matter.

The meetings of the Society are summoned by the Board at least three months before the day of meeting by post, electronic mail or other traditional or new means of communications.

11 §In the annual meeting the following matters are to be dealt with:

1) election of the chairperson, the secretary, and two scrutinizers of the minutes of the meeting,

2) establishment of the legality of the meeting,

3) presentation of the annual report of the Society, the accounts, the report of the scrutinizers and the closing of the accounts,

4) certification of the closing of the accounts and discharging the Board,

5) fixing the annual membership fee,

6) certification of the the plan of action, revenue estimates and expenditure estimates (budget) for the present year,

7) election of the chairperson of the Board every fourth year and other members to replace the members in rotation,

8) election of two chartered accountants and two substitutes,

9) discussion of other matters submitted to the meeting at least three months before the day of meeting.

10) discussion of any matter submitted to the Board less than three months before the annual meeting, provide that there is unanimous decision to do so on the part of the annual meeting.

The annual meeting may not, however, make any decision concerning the dissolution of the Society, changes in rules, nor the selling, buying or mortagaging of real estate, if it is not mentioned in the notice of the meeting.

12 §There must be one chartered accountants and one substitute elected.

13 §These rules may be changed; it must be done in two subsequent meetings the second of which must be held at least three months later than the first one, and in both of which the change is supported by at least two thirds of the given votes.

14 §If the Society is to be dissolved, its funds at the moment of the dissolution, after any debts have been settled, will be transfered to the Department of the Orthodox Theology at the University of Joensuu to be used for the benefit of international research into Orthodox church music.

15 §With regard to any other issues, the provisions of the law on associations in force in Finland are followed.