At its April 5, 2024 meeting, the Executive Committee of the American Theological Society unanimously passed the following motion: 1. that a new ATS website tab be created that presents the ATS Annotated Constitution of 1912; 2. that a new ATS website tab be created entitled, “Recent ATS Policies”; and 3. that the list of recent policies be revised as needed in the future to reflect future actions of the Executive Committee and of the Society. The stated purpose of the motion was to provide transparency to the membership in matters of ATS governance.
RECENT POLICIES OF THE ATS
The American Theological Society has flourished for more than 110 years. In that time, its founders, various Executive Committees, and memberships have established policies that have endured to this day or that were defined and then superseded by later policies. The touchstone of ATS policies and practices is the Constitution of 1912. The following policies are not exhaustive. They are recent policies that resonate in current ATS practice and are listed here to provide information.
Membership Policy
Active members of the American Theological Society are those who regularly attend its annual meetings and regularly pay the annual dues. A member is judged to have attended an annual meeting if he or she has 1) registered for the meeting (which entails the payment of dues) and 2) attended at least two program sessions.
Sustaining members are previously active members who have not attended a meeting within the past three years, but who have continued to pay the annual dues. Sustaining members continue to receive announcements of meetings, electronic copies of programs and papers, etc. A sustaining member is automatically restored to active membership upon attendance at an annual meeting.
Inactive members are those who have not attended at least one meeting within a three-year period and who have ceased to pay annual dues for at least three years. Inactive members still receive announcements, papers, and other communications, and are regarded as an important part of the heritage of the Society. A member who is about to be moved to the inactive category is notified by the Treasurer of that fact, and is given an opportunity to remain in the sustaining membership category by becoming current in dues-payment.
Members-designate are those who have been elected to membership but who have not yet attended an annual meeting. A member-designate has three years within which to activate his or her membership; the member-designate becomes a member at that point.
The Secretary and Treasurer may exercise some discretion in the application of these policies, allowing for exceptional cases.
The Society’s active membership is currently capped at one hundred. Thus, the maximum number of new members we may accept each year depends upon the total number of active members and members-designate on the roster, with some allowance for fluctuation. In consultation with the Treasurer, the Secretary adjusts the roster of active/designate, sustaining, and inactive members following each annual meeting, and the resultant roster informs the call for nominations for new members.
Adopted at the annual meeting, 23 March 2013; revised at the Executive Committee meeting, 8 April 2016
Yearly dues for all members are set at $50.00.
Adopted at the annual meeting, 2 April 2022
cmw/ccb.03.13/rev.ccb.04.14/rev.4.16jet.01.20.24
Membership Criteria
I. Definition of Eligibility: Any person in North America whose achievement in the discipline of theology, broadly conceived, is of sufficient merit to promise significant contributions to the fields of theology and to the maintenance of theological discourse of high quality at meetings of the Society.
II. Criteria of Evaluation: (A) Scholarly devotion to reflective, critical, and/or constructive study of theology, as distinct from general religious studies; (B) Evidence of excellence in theological research and writing, normally meaning a Ph.D. degree or its equivalent in one of the theological disciplines, at least one post-doctoral work of significance, and a present or previous tenured position on a recognized theological faculty or equivalent evidence of scholarly affirmation by theological colleagues; (C) Strong, informed recommendation by a member of the Society; (D) Evidence of willingness to participate responsibly in meetings of the Society.
III. Attainment of Full Membership: Those who are elected to membership are defined as “Members Designate” until their first attendance at a meeting of the Society within three years of election, at which time they become full members. The names of those who do not attend within three years are dropped automatically.
(Adopted at the April 2005 Business Meeting on the recommendation of an ad hoc membership standards committee.)
Some Previous Membership Policy Statements:
Resolution on Membership Policy, adopted in 1976:
I. Definition of eligibility:
Any person in North America whose achievement in the discipline of theology, broadly conceived, is of sufficient merit to promise significant contribution to the field of theology.
II. Criteria of evaluation:
A, Scholarly devotion to reflective, critical, and/or constructive study of theology, as distinct from general religious studies;
B. Evidence of excellence in theological research and writing, meaning at least one work of significance;
C. Strong, informed recommendation by a member of the Society;
D. Evidence of willingness to participate responsibly inthe meetings of the Society.
Further Resolution, 1978:
In 1978 the Society commissioned its Membership Committee to exercise “an active initiative in seeking out new members, both among persons nominated in earlier years and among those whom the Society may have overlooked.” One aim of this action was to secure wider representation of minority persons and persons of differing theological perspectives,
Further Resolution, 1980:
In 1980 the Society modified its “Definition of Eligibility” by voting that “new members should normally be resident in the Eastern region of the United States or Canada.” The Membership Committee has interpreted this to mean that nominations of persons from more distant areas should be accompanied by stronger than ordinary evidence of readiness “to participate responsibly in the meetings of the Society.”
Further Resolution, 1987:
In 1987 the Society adopted the following amendment to the By-laws: “Those elected to membership in the Society shall become members only upon their attendance at a subsequent annual meeting, at which time they will be installed. Prior to their installation as members, such persons will be classified as ‘Members Designate.’ Members Designate will pay dues and receive mailings. One may be continued as a Member Designate only for three years. The names of Members Designate who do not attend a meeting within three years following their election will be dropped.”
Since 1967 the maximum number of active members has been set at 100.
Policy on the Duties of Officers
(text entitled “A Brief Description of the Duties of Officers”)
President
1. The president serves for one year, normally after serving one year as vice-president. The term of office, then, runs from the conclusion of the annual meeting at which he or she served as vice-president until the conclusion of the following meeting, at which he or she serves as the presiding officer.
2. The president’s first official duty is to write, soon after the former of these meetings, to those who have just been elected to membership in the Society, to inform them of their election, give them some information about the Society, and explain what acceptance of membership involves. Copies of those letters should be sent to the secretary, and the member-designate should be asked to send a copy of her or his reply to the secretary as well.
3. In advance of the meeting at which he or she is to preside, the president arranges for members to present memorial minutes for deceased members whose deaths have become known since the last meeting. (In an annual communication, the secretary will have invited members to notify the president of any deaths of members of which they are aware.) The presenters should be asked to furnish copies to the secretary of the minutes presented, for preservation in the Society’s archives.
4. The president presides at the meeting of the Executive Committee that precedes the annual meeting, having prepared an agenda for that meeting and for the annual business meeting(s) of the Society in advance, usually in email consultation with the members of the Executive Committee.
5. The president presides over all sessions at the annual meeting except that at which the presidential address is given; currently the memorial minutes are presented at that same session.
6. The president gives a presidential address, on a topic of his or her choosing.
7. The president plans and leads the voluntary Saturday pre-breakfast worship gathering, or delegates this task to someone else, in consultation with the local arrangements chair; the president also offers an invocation (or arranges for someone else to do so), words of welcome, introductions of any guests, etc., at the annual banquet.
8. In consultation with the Executive Committee, and particularly with the vice president and the local arrangements chair, the president will determine a tentative date for the next annual meeting, and will announce that date at the concluding business meeting.
Immediate Past-President
The immediate past president is a member of the Executive Committee for the year following his or her presidential term; at the ensuing meeting of that committee, he or she ascertains what vacancies in office will need to be filled by election at the annual business meeting. The immediate past president then chairs a gathering of all past presidents in attendance at the annual meeting, normally on the Friday evening, which serves as a nominating committee. This group nominates someone to serve as Vice-President for the ensuing year, and someone to serve as a member-at-large of the Executive Committee (a two-year term). If other vacancies in standing offices have occurred, this group will also make nominations for those offices. After ascertaining the willingness of those nominated to serve, the immediate past president will report the full slate of officers for election at the annual business meeting.
Vice-President
The vice-president serves for one year, and automatically becomes the nominee for President the next year. The vice-president is thus also the president-elect. He or she is a member of the Executive Committee. The vice-president chairs the session at which the presidential address is given (and thus introduces the president on that occasion). As this is currently also the session at which the memorial minutes are presented (prior to the presidential address), the vice-president also introduces the presenters thereof, and calls for a moment of silence following the completion of the memorial minutes. The vice-president also chairs any other sessions in the absence of the president. If others have not already done so, it is appropriate for the vice-president to offer motions of thanks to outgoing officers and the host institution and its staff at the conclusion of the annual meeting.
Treasurer
1. The treasurer is elected for an indefinite term. Due to the nature of the office, continuity in office over several years is desirable. The treasurer keeps all financial records, maintains the bank account(s) of the Society, and pays all bills. The signature of a second member of the Society should be on the bank account(s), and the secretary and the incoming president should be given annual notice of the name of this person.
2. At present, most financial transactions (including dues announcements and receipts, and annual meeting charges and disbursements) are handled electronically through the office of the Operations Manager of the Department of Continuing Education at Princeton Theological Seminary, who furnishes reports on these transactions to the treasurer of the Society. Much of the treasurer’s work, then, consists in coordinating these reports with his or her own records, particularly as to members’ payment (or non-payment) of dues, the claiming of travel rebates, and the monitoring of expenditures relative to income and budgeted amounts.
3. The treasurer prepares an annual financial report summarizing income and expenses over the previous fiscal year, with opening and closing balances, and generally including some recent years’ closing balances for comparison and any other pertinent detail to be brought to the Society’s attention. This report is reviewed by the Executive Committee and then presented to the annual business meeting for its discussion and reception.
4. After each annual meeting, the treasurer furnishes to the secretary an updated record of members’ payment of dues over the past five years, along with any other pertinent information, to aid the secretary in determining into which category of membership (active, sustaining, or inactive) each member is to be placed for the ensuing year.
Secretary
1. The secretary is elected for an indefinite term, continuity in office being especially desirable here as well. He or she keeps minutes of all meetings (including meetings of the Executive Committee) and distributes them to the membership before the next annual meeting. The secretary also keeps attendance records at all meetings, circulating an attendance sheet at each program session. The secretary maintains the roster of membership—active (including members-designate), sustaining, and inactive—with names, addresses, and email addresses as available, and distributes an updated roster to the membership annually. It is on the basis of the current roster of active members that the number of vacancies for election to membership is determined.
2. The secretary reminds other officers annually of the timelines for various tasks to be completed in preparation for the annual meeting, consults with the Operations Manager of Princeton Seminary’s Office of Continuing Education regarding the sending of meeting announcements, registration forms, and other documents, and annually solicits from the membership any updated information they may wish to provide for the membership roster (e.g., changes of address or status) as well as information regarding members who have died since the last meeting.
3. At the end of his or her service in office, if not before, the secretary provides copies of annual meeting programs and papers, minutes, reports, and other relevant documents for the ATS archives, kept in the Princeton Seminary Library.
Local Arrangements Chair
(Retitled Local Coordinator [24 March 2018])
The local arrangements chair is elected for an indefinite term. In consultation and cooperation with the relevant Princeton Seminary staff, he or she confirms the dates for the annual meetings; ensures the booking of rooms and equipment as needed for the various annual meeting sessions and events; makes van transportation arrangements for members needing rides between meeting locations; arranges for a light lunch for the Executive Committee meeting, the annual meeting reception, the banquet, and the coffee breaks; in consultation also with the treasurer, program chair, and others, oversees the sending out of the notice of the upcoming annual meeting, which will ordinarily include registration and dues information, an indication (from the program chair) of the anticipated program, and an invitation (from the membership chair) for nominations for membership; arranges for photocopies as needed for the meeting; arranges for name badges for members attending; and attends to other needs that may arise during the annual meeting. In consultation with the archivist of Princeton Seminary Library, the Local Coordinator acts on requests from persons outside the Society for access to its archives.
Membership Chair
The membership chair is elected for an indefinite term (perhaps two or three years). Several weeks before the annual meeting, he or she sends out a letter or message inviting members to submit nominations for membership in the Society. The letter includes or is is accompanied by a description of the criteria for membership and guidelines for nomination. When nominations (or inquiries about nominations) are received, he or she may check with nominators if there are uncertainties as to a potential nominee’s situation or qualifications. When nomination letters and vitae are in hand, the membership chair brings to the meeting of the Executive Committee copies of both for its review, and the Executive Committee functions in effect as a nominations committee, primarily to ensure that the formal criteria have been met. With the approval of the Executive Committee, the membership chair then presents the nominations to a business session of the annual meeting. Ordinarily, the original nominators (if present) are asked to speak, and others with knowledge of the nominee are also invited to make any relevant observations. A few copies of the letters and vitae are then made available for members’ inspection between the session at which the nominations were introduced and the session at which the ballot is taken. (Meanwhile, the membership chair will have prepared a ballot with the names of the nominees, as approved by the Executive Committee.) The membership chair then distributes the ballots at the beginning of a subsequent program session—the timing is to be determined in consultation with the president—with a reminder that only those members who were present at the session at which the nominations were introduced should vote, and indicating by what time the ballots should be returned. After all ballots are received, the membership chair and another member count them and report the results at the final business session. (A two-thirds vote of those casting ballots is required to elect.) The original letters of nomination and copies of vitae should be transmitted to the secretary for eventual deposit in the archives.
Program Chair
The program chair is elected for an indefinite term though in recent experience a two- or three-year tenure is expected. He or she is encouraged, though not required, to develop an informal program committee for assistance. The program chair identifies a theme for each annual meeting, and generally invites three paper-presenters and three respondents to address that theme. (The format of the program may vary, but this has been the ordinary pattern in recent years.) Paper-writers should be invited as early as practicable; ordinarily, topics or titles should be available early in February, and the papers submitted for distribution by the end of February. Paper-writers should be advised that they should take perhaps five minutes at the opening of the session to say a few words as to background and context (and not to summarize the paper, as it is assumed that all participants will have read it), and respondents to take fifteen to twenty minutes to offer a prepared response. (A response prepared in writing might well be sent to the paper-writer in advance, and then distributed to the membership following the meeting.) In addition to the three sessions devoted to papers, a briefer fourth session has been featured in most recent meetings and used for a synoptic discussion of the theme, a short panel discussion on another topic, an effort to identify promising themes for future meetings, or some other subject of interest, at the discretion of the program chair.
In consultation with the secretary, the program chair drafts the printed program for the annual meeting. This can be circulated to the Executive Committee for its review (a step that is most advisable if changes in format and schedule are anticipated), and then sent on to the Princeton office for distribution.
If a paper-presenter is unable to follow through with his or her commitment, or is unable to be present, or if a scheduled respondent is unable to attend, it falls to the program chair in consultation with others as desirable to make alternative arrangements.
Members-at-Large
There are two members–at-large of the Executive Committee, one elected each year for a two-year term. The general aim is to increase the involvement of the membership in the governance of the Society, and to enrich the variety of perspectives and backgrounds represented on the committee. The members-at-large have no fixed duties aside from participation in the committee’s work, though they may take on particular assignments (e.g. service on an ad hoc committee) from time to time.
Redeveloped in March 2013 for the Executive Committee, Charles M. Wood
Amended: C. Clifton Black (2018)
Approved: ATS Executive Committee, 28 March 2014
Approved: The American Theological Society, 29 March 2014
New wording s.v. Local Coordinator, Approved: ATS Executive Committee, 23 March 2018New wording s.v. Local Coordinator, Approved: The American Theological Society, 24 March 2018