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In accordance with Article 15 - Amendments, the following changes to the Bylaws are proposed and will be voted on during the business session of the International Convention in San Jose, California this coming July. Proposed deletions are shown in red, strike-through type. Proposed additions are shown in red, underlined type. There are several key changes. 

The International Cabinet has approved a recommendation to change the name of The Auxiliary of The Gideons International to The Wives of The Gideons International. This new name more clearly communicates the vital role our wives have in this ministry. 

The second item the International Cabinet has approved is a recommendation to move from a state leadership model with multiple regional vice presidents to a state structure with a single vice president and multiple regional directors where the regional directors would have the management responsibility for program performance in their region. Additionally, the maximum number of one-year terms an area director and regional program leader can serve is being extended from three to a maximum of six one-year terms.

Proposed amendments to the Bylaws of The gideons international

ARTICLE 5 – ELECTIONS AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

Section 6. Voting Strength

Except as provided in A. and B. below, On on all other matters coming before the annual meeting, at any of its sessions, each Gideon in good standing who is duly registered shall be entitled to cast one vote. The voting power for use in the election of international officers and trustees and amending the Constitution and By-laws shall be:

A. Each U.S.A. state association or its equivalent structure within a qualified national association shall be allowed to cast a vote equal to its full membership in good standing, and such vote may be divided equally among the Gideons in good standing present at the annual meeting from the said state or equivalent association who are registered by 5:00 P.M. on the day preceding the day of voting.

B. In a supported national association and/or a country not having the equivalent of a U.S.A. state association, each camp shall be allowed to cast a vote equal to its full membership in good standing, and such vote may be divided equally among the Gideons in good standing present at the annual meeting from the said camp who are registered by 5:00 P.M. on the day preceding the day of voting. This constitutes the voting power for use in the election of international officers and trustees, amending the Constitution and Bylaws, and in selecting convention cities.

C. On all other matters coming before the annual meeting, at any of its sessions, each Gideon in good standing who is duly registered shall be entitled to cast one vote.

ARTICLE 8 – COMMITTEES

Section 1. The president shall, subject to the ap-proval of the cabinet, appoint the following standing committees:

Executive CommitteeMembership CommitteeFinance CommitteeInternational Outreach CommitteeAuxiliary Wives Advisory Committee

Section 3. The Membership Committee shall consist of at least ten members and shall handle all Gideon and The Auxiliary Wives of The Gideons International (Wives) applications for membership in compliance with Articles 1 and 11 of these bylaws.

Section 6. The Auxiliary Wives Advisory Committee shall consist of three members. The vice-president shall be a member and chairman of this committee. It shall meet with the International Auxiliary Wives Cabinet and counsels with the International Auxiliary Wives Cabinet on all matters pertaining to the work and the functions of the Auxiliary Wives.

ARTICLE 9 – U.S.A. STATE ASSOCIATIONS

Section 2. The management of each state association

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shall be vested in a governing body to be known as the “State Cabinet”, which shall include six or more five elected officers, to be elected at the annual state conven-tion. These officers are: president, two or more regional vice-presidents, secretary, treasurer and chaplain and shall constitute the “Primary Cabinet”. The Primary Cabinet shall elect a regional director for each region and a program coordinator for each international pro-gram as determined by the International Cabinet. The Primary Cabinet, regional directors and the program coordinators shall comprise the State Cabinet. The trustee for the zone shall serve as an ex-officio member of the State Cabinet. The role of the trustee is to exercise the authority and management function of the Interna-tional Cabinet as it relates to the state association. The State Cabinet shall appoint area directors and regional program leaders for each of the international programs. The State Cabinet may also appoint a state editor, a state webmaster and other personnel as necessary.

Section 4. Elections at State Association Conventions

F. The terms of all officers, regional directors and program coordinators shall be for one year and shall be limited to three successive terms.

G. The terms of area directors, program coordina-tors and regional program leaders shall be for one year and shall be limited to three six successive terms. A term shall be understood to cover a part of a term to fill a vacancy.

H. All terms shall begin at the close of the conven-tion. Any vacancy in an elective or appointive of-fice may be filled by the Primary Cabinet but the person so elected to fill a vacancy shall hold office only until the close of the succeeding convention. A term shall be understood to cover a part of a term to fill a vacancy.

Section 5. Duties of Officers

B. Each state association shall have one vice presi-dent. The vice president shall perform the duties of the president in his absence. The vice president will serve as the chairman of the State Convention Program Committee and have the responsibility for the state convention. He shall also perform such other duties as the president may direct.

C. The treasurer shall be responsible for all funds received. He shall make a report of the finances at each session of the cabinet, and at the annual state convention.

i. He will promptly provide receipts to donors for Scripture funds and remit all

of the Scripture funds to International Headquarters not less than monthly.

ii. He will pay out promotional funds only as authorized by the State Cabinet for approved promotional expenses. He will issue receipts as necessary for donors to the state association promotional fund as well as the State Auxiliary Wives Promotional Fund.

iii. He will pay out other monies designated for promotional related purposes as ap-proved.

F. The regional directors, program coordinators, area directors, and program leaders shall perform such duties as specified by the International Cabi-net.

ARTICLE 10 – RULES GOVERNING CAMPS

Section 2. The officers of camps shall be: president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and chaplain. They shall be elected to serve for one year; and until their successors are duly elected said officers’ terms are to be limited to three successive terms. A term shall be understood to cover a part of a term to fill a vacancy. The elected officers shall elect a program chairman for each international program as determined by the Inter-national Cabinet for one year and until their successors are duly elected. There is no limit on the number of terms a program chairman may serve. The elected camp officers and the appointed program chairmen shall constitute the camp cabinet.

Section 4. The camp treasurer shall be responsible for all funds received. He shall make a report of the finances at each camp cabinet meeting.

B. He will pay out camp funds only as authorized by the camp cabinet. He will issue receipts as necessary for donors to the camp fund and/or the Auxiliary Wives camp fund.

ARTICLE 11 – THE AUXILIARY WIVES OF THE GIDE-ONS INTERNATIONAL (AUXILIARY WIVES)

Section 1. Purpose

The Auxiliary Wives is an integral component of The Gideons International, whose purpose is to win others for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is accomplished through prayer, personal witnessing, and the placement and distribution of Scriptures.

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Section 2. Membership

B. Membership shall be applied for by signing a properly completed standard Auxiliary Wives application and sending same to the Secretary of the Association, at PO Box 140800, 50 Century Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37214, USA or the ap-propriate national association secretary, together with the membership dues as specified in these Bylaws.

F. Upon approval by the Membership Committee, each applicant shall be assigned by the Secretary of the Association or the appropriate national as-sociation secretary, to a camp, and a membership card accompanied by an Auxiliary Wives emblem shall be sent to her.

G. Any Auxiliary Wives member desiring to with-draw from the association may do so by making known her wishes in writing to the Secretary of the Association or the appropriate national asso-ciation secretary. Upon receipt of said notice the secretary shall then terminate her membership.

H. Former Auxiliary Wives members desiring rein-statement shall present the standard Wives ap-plication, indicating thereon that the application is for reinstatement, to the Membership Commit-tee for action as described in Article 11, Section 2C for new applicants, which application shall be accompanied by membership dues.

I. Membership shall continue provided her Gideon spouse remains in good standing, and as long as she continues to meet the requirements of these Bylaws. The widow of a Gideon may continue to hold her membership in The Auxiliary Wives of The Gideons International provided she contin-ues to meet the requirements specified in these Bylaws. Should a widow remarry, her eligibility for membership (regular, veteran, or life) shall be determined by the new husband’s membership status.

J. If the beliefs of an Auxiliary Wives member change and she no longer holds implicitly to all of the spiritual qualifications enumerated in Article 3 of the Constitution, upon notice and verification by the Membership Committee, her membership shall be terminated. If any Auxiliary Wives member loses her identity with her Gideon spouse, or becomes a clergywoman, her mem-bership in The Auxiliary Wives of The Gideons International terminates, except as specified in Section I above.

K. The matter of discipline of an Auxiliary Wives member shall be handled as described in Article 1, Section 12 of these bylaws.

L. An Auxiliary Wives member is in good standing if her dues for the current year have been paid and she is not the subject of a discipline proceed-ing.

Section 3. International Auxiliary Wives Officers and Cabinet

A. The following officers: president, vice-president, secretary and chaplain shall be elected at the Aux-iliary Wives business session of the international convention to serve for a term of one year or until their respective successors are duly elected, and they shall comprise the International Auxiliary Wives Cabinet.

C. Any vacancy in an elective office may be filled by the International Cabinet upon recommendation of the Auxiliary Wives Advisory Committee, but the person so elected to fill a vacancy shall hold office only until the close of the succeeding inter-national convention.

D. Management of the Auxiliary Wives shall be vested in the International Auxiliary Wives Cabi-net, together with the Auxiliary Wives Advisory Committee.

Section 4. Meetings

A. The Auxiliary Wives shall meet at the Interna-tional Convention.

B. The International Auxiliary Wives Cabinet shall hold its first regular meeting immediately follow-ing the International Convention in the con-vention city. The International Auxiliary Wives Cabinet shall also hold meetings at the place of, and immediately preceding, meetings of the International Cabinet or at such other Auxiliary Wives time as the International Cabinet may designate.

C. All Auxiliary Wives members in good standing shall be granted all convention privileges.

D. The necessary expenses of the Internationaly-Auxiliary Wives Cabinet members to attend the InternationalyAuxiliary Wives Cabinet meetings, committee meetings and international conven-tions may be paid from the General Fund.

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Section 5. Auxiliary Wives Elections at the International Convention

A. The election of international officers for The Auxiliary the Wives shall be the first order of business in the Saturday Auxiliary Wives business session of the International Convention.

B. Nominations for officers shall be made on the floor of the Auxiliary Wives business session. An Auxiliary Wives member nominated must be a member in good standing. Only one nominating speech may be made for any one nominee. Up to two supporting speeches may be made for any one nominee, but are not required.

D. The election shall be by secret vote. In cases where there is but one nominee for the office, the Auxiliary Wives membership may vote to instruct the secretary to cast a unanimous ballot for the election of such nominee.

E. The voting calculations in The Auxiliary the Wives elections shall be conducted similarly to those used for the election of international of-ficers and trustees as specified in accordance with Article 5, Section 6 of these Bylaws.

Section 6. Dues

A. The annual dues for an Auxiliary Wives member in the U.S.A. shall be thirty dollars (US$30.00). December 31 is the established yearly expiration date.

B. The annual dues for an Auxiliary Wives member living in a country having a national association shall be fixed by and retained by the national as-sociation.

C. The annual dues for an Auxiliary Wives member in an international outreach country shall be three dollars (US$3.00).

D. Any Auxiliary Wives member in the U.S.A. who is married to a life member may have a life member-ship by making a one-time payment of three hun-dred dollars (US$300.00) whereupon no further dues shall be required of her. The total amount received for a life membership shall be placed in the Endowment Fund, and cannot under any cir-cumstances be refunded.

E. Any Auxiliary Wives member living in a country having a national association which has estab-lished a life membership option may have a life membership by payment of an amount which shall be fixed by the national association, where-

upon no further dues shall be required of her. The total amount received for a life membership shall be placed in the Endowment Fund of the national association, and cannot under any circumstances be refunded.

F. Any Auxiliary Wives member in an international outreach country who is married to a life mem-ber may have a life membership by payment of ninety dollars (US$90.00) whereupon no further dues shall be required of her. The total amount re-ceived for a life membership shall be placed in the Endowment Fund, and cannot under any circum-stances be refunded.

G. All annual dues are payable in advance. Any newy-Auxiliary Wives member pays dues for the calen-dar year in which they she joins. Any new Aux-iliary Wives member who joins in June through December will not pay dues again until the end of the following calendar year.

H. A joint dues notice, except for an Auxiliary Wives member in a national association, is mailed in October. A dues notice to an Auxiliary Wives member who is a widow is also mailed in Octo-ber. For an Auxiliary Wives member who has not paid her dues, a second dues notice is mailed in December. This notice includes notification that they she will no longer receive The Gideon maga-zine after the February issue unless and until dues shall have been paid. A third and final notice is mailed in February informing said Auxiliary Wives member that unless her dues shall have been paid, she will be dropped from the member-ship roll as of March 31.

I. Any Auxiliary Wives member who is at least 65 years of age, who has been a member in good standing for a continuous period of twenty years, and is thereafter unable to pay her dues, shall, at her option, be designated a veteran member. Such veteran member shall be exempt from any further payments of dues and her membership shall be for life. A letter to the Secretary of the Association or the appropriate national association secretary shall be sufficient to effectuate the reclassification.

Section 7. Auxiliary Wives Funds

A. The annual dues received from an Auxiliary Wives members in the U.S.A. and international outreach countries shall be apportioned as de-termined by the Finance Committee among the following:

i. Auxiliary Wives State Association Promotion Funds

ii. The General Fund

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B. The portion of the annual dues apportioned to state associations shall be apportioned to each state association Auxiliary Wives according to the Auxiliary Wives membership assigned to it as of May 31. The international treasurer shall remit such amounts to state Auxiliary Wives secretary/treasurers on or before August 31. All such monies rebated are to be used exclusively for the approved Auxiliary Wives promotional costs of the state association’s programs. These funds must not be used for the purchase of Bibles or New Testaments.

C. The portion of the annual dues apportioned for expenses of The Auxiliary the Wives are placed in the General Fund and are used to defray the expenses of the International Auxiliary Wives Cabinet and Auxiliary Wives programs.

D. The camp Auxiliary Wives Scripture Fund is comprised of offerings received from individual Auxiliary Wives members and will be delivered to the camp treasurer when collected. He shall promptly deposit these funds into the camp bank account and forward said monies to International Headquarters, designated as Auxiliary “Wives Scripture Fund.”

E. A portion of the camp Auxiliary Wives Scripture Fund will be allocated to the camp Scripture fund account and may be used to obtain any other Scriptures that the camp usually obtains, includ-ing the Scriptures to be placed or distributed by The Auxiliary the Wives.

F. A portion of the camp Auxiliary Wives Scrip-ture Fund will be allocated to the International Auxiliary Wives Scripture Fund and shall be used to obtain Medical Testaments for state, national, or international medical conventions and to defray the necessary expense incurred in making distribution of these Testaments. These funds can also be used to provide Scriptures to international outreach countries and supported national as-sociations.

G. The Finance Committee shall determine the al-location of the camp Auxiliary Wives Scripture Fund between the camp Scripture Fund and the International Auxiliary Wives Scripture Fund. The Finance Committee shall also determine the portion of the International Auxiliary Wives Scripture Fund that will be used to provide Scrip-tures to international outreach countries and supported national associations.

H. All designated monies (such as Faith Fund of-ferings) received by the camp Auxiliary Wives and/or state association Auxiliary Wives, shall

be immediately turned over to the camp trea-surer or the state association treasurer, who shall promptly forward said monies to International Headquarters, properly designated.

I. The fiscal year of The Auxiliary the Wives shall end on May 31 of each year.

Section 8. Committees

The International Auxiliary Wives President may, subject to the approval of the International Cabinet upon recom-mendation of the Auxiliary Wives Advisory Committee, appoint such committees as she deems advisable.

Section 9. U.S.A. Auxiliary Wives State Associations

A. The management of the international Auxiliary Wives programs in each state association shall be vested in a body known as the Auxiliary Wives State Cabinet”, which shall include five or more four elected officers, to be elected at the annual state convention. These officers are: president, two or more vice-presidents, secretary/treasurer and chaplain and shall constitute the “Primary Auxiliary Wives Cabinet”. The Primary Auxiliary Wives Cabinet shall elect a regional director for each region and a program coordinators for each international Auxiliary Wives program as determined by the International Cabinet. The Primary Auxiliary Wives Cabinet, regional direc-tors and the program coordinators shall comprise the Auxiliary Wives sState cCabinet. The trustee for the zone shall serve as an ex-officio mem-ber of the Auxiliary Wives sState cCabinet. The Auxiliary Wives sState cCabinet shall appoint area directors and regional program leaders for each international Auxiliary Wives program as determined by the International Cabinet.

B. The Auxiliary Wives of a state association shall meet in convention at the same time and place as the state association.

C. The election of the Primary Auxiliary Wives Cabinet shall take place during the Auxiliary Wives business session of the annual convention.

D. Nominations for officers shall be made on the floor of the Auxiliary Wives business session. Any Auxiliary Wives member nominated must be a member in good standing. Only one nominating speech may be made for any one nominee. Up to two supporting speeches may be made for any one nominee, but are not required.

F. The election shall be by secret vote. In cases where there is only one nominee for the office,

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the membership at the Auxiliary Wives business session may vote to instruct the secretary/trea-surer to cast a unanimous ballot for the election of such nominee.

G. On all matters coming before the Auxiliary Wives business session, each Auxiliary Wives member in good standing who is duly registered shall be entitled to cast one vote.

H. The terms of all officers, regional directors and program coordinators shall be for one year and shall be limited to three successive terms.

I. The terms of area directors, program coordina-tors and regional program leaders shall be for one year and shall be limited to three six successive terms.

J. All terms shall begin at the close of the conven-tion. Any vacancy in an elective or appointive of-fice may be filled by the Primary Auxiliary Wives Cabinet with the approval of the Primary state Cabinet, but the person so elected to fill a va-cancy shall hold office only until the close of the succeeding convention. A term shall be under-stood to cover a part of a term to fill a vacancy.

K. Duties of Officers

i. The president shall perform all duties usually pertaining to that office and have general supervision of the work of all committees. The president shall chair each meeting of the state Auxiliary Wives cabinet and the annual Auxiliary Wives business session at the state convention.

ii. Each state association shall have one vice president. The vice president shall perform the duties of the president in her absence. The vice president will serve as the chairman of the State Convention Wives Program Committee and have the responsibility for the state convention Wives arrangements. She shall also per-form such other duties as the president may direct.

iii. Each association shall have a minimum of two regional vice presidents. The president shall designate one regional vice-president to perform the duties of the president in her absence. The presi-dent will designate a regional vice-presi-dent to serve as the chairman of the State Convention Auxiliary Program Commit-tee and a different regional vice-president to have the responsibility for the state

convention Auxiliary arrangements. They shall also perform such other duties as the president may direct.

The secretary/treasurer shall keep a care-ful record of all meetings and business transactions and be responsible for all the Auxiliary Wives promotional funds and any other funds belonging to the Auxiliary Wives of the state association. She will promptly remit all Auxiliary Wives Scripture funds to the state trea-surer. She will pay Auxiliary Wives state promotional funds only as authorized by the state Auxiliary Wives cabinet for approved promotional expenses. She will pay other monies received that are desig-nated for promotional related purposes in accordance with the designation for the funds. She shall make a report of the finances at each session of the state Aux-iliary Wives cabinet, and at the annual state convention. She shall also perform such other duties as the state Auxiliary Wives cabinet may direct.

iv. The chaplain shall seek in every way to deepen the Christian life of the mem-bership. She shall also perform such other duties as the state Auxiliary Wives cabinet may direct.

v. The regional directors, program coordi-nators, area directors, and regional pro-gram leaders shall perform such duties as specified by the International Cabinet.

vi. The state Auxiliary Wives cabinet shall hold its first meeting on the Saturday of the state convention. The state Auxiliary Wives cabinet shall meet at least three (3) other times before the next convention. Special meetings of the state Auxiliary Wives cabinet may be held at such time and place as noticed by the state presi-dent.

vii. There shall be no assessment of dues levied for state Auxiliary Wives activities, but free will offerings may be received.

viii. A camp Auxiliary Wives may be orga-nized with a minimum of four Auxiliary Wives members in good standing. The state cabinet may also close a camp Aux-iliary Wives if doing so is recommended by the state Auxiliary Wives cabinet and/or is in the best interests of the ministry.

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Section 10. Camp Auxiliary Wives

A. Camp Auxiliary Wives shall elect officers from members in good standing and shall operate in accordance with the constitution, bylaws and poli-cies determined by the International Cabinet.

B. The officers of camp Auxiliary Wives shall be: president, vice-president, secretary/treasurer and chaplain. They shall be elected to serve for one year and until their successors are duly elected, said officers’ terms to be limited to three succes-sive terms. A term shall be understood to cover a part of a term to fill a vacancy. The elected officers shall elect program chairmen as determined by the International Cabinet for one year and until their successors are duly elected. There is no limit on the number of terms a program chairman may serve. The elected officers and the program chair-men shall constitute the camp Auxiliary Wives cabinet.

C. There shall be no assessment of dues levied for camp activity, but free will offerings may be re-

ceived. These free will offerings are referred to as the camp Auxiliary Wives fund. The camp Auxil-iary Wives fund will be used to pay all approved expenses of the camp Auxiliary Wives.

D. It shall be the duty of the Auxiliary Wives officers of each camp Auxiliary Wives to: (a) lead the camp Auxiliary Wives in devoted service in fulfilling the object of The Gideons International as set out in Article 2 of the Constitution; (b) encourage each Auxiliary Wives member to active personal par-ticipation in Auxiliary Wives activity; (c) maintain contact with camp Auxiliary Wives members to sustain their interest in Auxiliary Wives activity and to avoid having them drop their memberships through disinterest.

ARTICLE 14 – EMBLEM

Section 2. The Auxiliary Wives emblem shall consist of a Gideon emblem in the center surrounded by lilies of the valley and shall be made of similar material to the Gideon emblem.