Constitution of the Anglophone Catholic Youth Ministry (ACYM) of the Yaound Archdiocese -Cameroon

CONSTITUTI ON
Of the Anglophone Catholic Youth Ministry

(ACYM)
Of the Yaound Archdiocese Cameroon

This constitution was first revised in 2004, at the St Philip Parish Etoug-Ebe Yaound, during the 2004 Youth camp. The recent revision was effected in November 2008 by the constitutional committee, formed to this effect.

PREAMBLE
We the Anglophone youths of the Yaound archdiocese, coming from all walks of life and from two Anglophone parishes; St. Joseph Anglophone parish Mvog Ada, and the Sts. Peter and Paul Anglophone parish Simbock; a mixed parish; St. Benedict Mixed Parish Ekounou and Anglophone communities; St. Anne parish Obili, St. Charles Lwanga Parish Nkolbisson, St. Joseph Parish Emana, St. lukes parish Carrire, St. Michael parish Elig Edzoa, St. Charles Borromee Nsimiyong, and Ntemasi, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the father and the son (John 14:16), in communion with the universal church in her mission of preaching divine truth and, in accordance with Canon Law No 298-311, governing associations in the Roman Catholic Church, do solemnly declare that we have come together under the banner of this Ministry, engaged in some fundamental objectives and missions as here stated.

PART I GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER 1 SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION

Article 1: Scope of the Constitution This is the fundamental norm of the Ministry and nobody is above it; that is, it is applicable equally without any exception. NB: Apart from this constitution, there are also laws and regulations adopted either by the general assembly or by the council which are not written down in this constitution Article 2: Powers of the constitution Any behavior contrary to the laws outlined in this constitution, shall be declared null and void or simply rejected. Article 3: Authenticity of the constitution This constitution once adopted remains valid except it is proved faulty. This can only be done by vote of the general assembly and in so doing, leading to the revision of the part or potion said to be faulty.

CHAPTER 2 STATUS OF THE MINISTRY

Article 4: Name The association shall be known and addressed as the Anglophone Catholic Youth Ministry under the acronym ACYM. Article 5 : Patron Saint The patron saint of the Ministry shall be Saint John Bosco, who is the patron saint of all youths. Article 6: Motto The Motto of the Ministry shall be Love, Unity and Commitment. Article 7: Emblem The emblem of the Ministry shall be Youths holding hands and a dove above them, as a symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Article 8: Watchword The formula for greeting shall be:

Greetings: In Christ!!!
Response: There is Love, Unity and Commitment!!!
This shall also serve as a method of calling members to order during any gathering of the Ministry. Article 9: Language The working language of the Ministry shall be the English Language. The Pidgin English and the French Language may occasionally be used for oral expression. Article 10: Colours The colours of the ministry shall be those of its patron saint, John Bosco. Article 11: Seat The ministry shall have as its seat, the St. Joseph Anglophone Parish Mvog-Ada. NB: The Ministry upon agreement of the General assembly changes the seat to more permanent area, depending on the Ministrys financial ability.

PART II OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the ministry shall be;

 To minister to the spiritual and social needs of member groups through camps, Rallies, Retreats, talks, Pilgrimages, excursions, publications To assist Member groups to understand and foster the Catholic faith and Doctrine. To help member groups to love, live and spread the Gospel To collaborate with group leaders in the formulation of Parochial, inter-parochial as well as archdiocesan youth programmes and activities that draw young people to the greater participation in the life and mission of the Roman Catholic Church. To assist young people through their groups to willingly consecrate their lives, as well as answering the call of God in various aspects

PART III MEMBERSHIP CHAPTER 1 ACQUISITION OF MEMBERSHIP

Article 12: Eligibility Membership shall be opened to all recognized Youth Movements and Associations of the Anglophone Parishes and Communities in the Yaound archdiocese. Article 13: Registration Individuals can only gain membership through their respective youth groups. All new members shall register with the sum of 500 (Five Hundred) F CFA. Old members shall pay an annual renewal fee of 100 (One Hundred) F CFA before the end of the month of January.

CHAPTER 2 LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP

Article 14: A group can loss its membership in ACYM through suspension, or expressed resignation (This must be done through an official motivated letter addressed to the General assembly through the Executive committee) Article 15: Considering the fact that ACYMs membership is gained by individuals through groups, an individuals Membership shall be loss in case of death, resignation and suspension which maybe indefinite from his group. In case of any of these situations hereby mentioned, the groups must inform the Ministry in writing, through the Executive committee. NB: A member group can be put on indefinite suspension, only after the deliberation of the executive body in consultation with the Youth Chaplain and the concerned group.

PART IV ACTIVITIES
The Ministry shall have two types of activities, Religious and socio-cultural.

CHAPTER 1 RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES

The Ministry; Article 16: Shall organize joint recollections twice a year, before the Rally and Youth Camp respectively. Article 17: Shall organize a Rally every year after lent to be hosted in turns by the different members in their respective parishes and communities. Article 18: Shall Organize a Youth Camp yearly in the month of November. Article 19: Shall sing during religious ceremonies through its joint choir when called upon.

CHAPTER 2 SOCIO-CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

Article 20: Shall organize sports activities for its members (this could be competitive or not depending on the decision of the general assembly). The principal objective here should be to unite all the Anglophone youths in the archdioceses. Article 21: Shall assist member groups whenever these loss a member by means of death. The Ministrys participation is to be felt in this case at the corpse removal, wake keeping and so on. As for any financial contribution, the Ministry shall decide through the Exco depending on the financial viability of the Ministry at the time. Article 22: Shall encourage groups to handle other social issues like weddings, births, graduations etc.. Article 23: Shall organize cultural activities, seminars, musical concerts NB: The ACYM Anthem will be sung at the beginning of any activity organized by the Ministry and Non-Catholic Christians may be allowed to participate in the Ministrys activities.

PART V ORGANIGRAM
The Ministry shall have three main organs; The General Assembly The Executive Board

 The Council.

CHAPTER ONE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Article 24: It is the most powerful organ of the Ministry. Article 25: It shall be constituted of all duly registered members of the registered groups. Article 26: Its function shall be among others; to elect the Executive body, propose amendments to the constitution, adopt the constitution; debates on issues presented before them by the Executive, and appoint counselors. NB. The general assembly alone has the powers to depose a member of the exco, provided the following conditions are met: I. II. 2/3 quorum of all registered groups must be met A motivated reason must be channeled to the exco two months before and in the following month, notice is taken of the fact that the individual member has not changed. This notice must be made by an adviser who drops a written report at the secretariat. A vote of no confidence is therefore conducted, where there just need to be a simple majority. The exco member is then stripped off all his prerogatives and an interim member from the counselors is voted by the exco instantly. This person shall serve for three months before being confirmed or dropped

III. IV.

CHAPTER TWO THE COUNCIL/ EXECUTIVE BODY

Article 27: All groups shall propose three (3) counselors before every election, and only these can be elected into any executive post. Article 28: They shall be elected for a period of two years renewable once for any post of responsibility, making every executive member automatically a counselor. Article 29: It is responsible for the safeguard of the constitution, once adopted. Article 30: It shall take final decisions on crucial matters affecting the Ministry when the Council or the General Assembly is unable to come to a compromise.

Article 31: It shall make proposals, policies and projects pending approval from the council/ General assembly. Article 32: It shall ensure the applicability of every decision taken by the General assembly; Counselors meeting as well as the executive itself. Article 33: For the sake of an equitable representation, each member group of the Ministry shall hold a maximum of two posts of responsibility in the executive. Article 34: It shall comprise of the following Offices: The President The Vice President The General secretary The Vice General secretary Financial secretary Treasurer A stores accountant A spiritual coordinators A music directors A public relations officer A social organizer A sport coordinator A health coordinator A discipline master Legal Adviser In addition to the above mentioned posts of responsibility, are honorary members herein refered to as Ex-Officio, among whom are: The Youth Chaplain, Youth Coordinator, Patronesses, Patrons and former presidents who automatically form the advisory body.

CHAPTER THREE

JOB DESCRIPTION OF THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS

Article 35: The President shall: Be the chief executive of the Ministry Be the custodian of the constitution Convene and preside meetings, and can delegate this power to any other executive member Represent the Ministry when and where need be. Ensure smooth functioning of every executive duty. Be one of the signatories for every financial transactions Appoint members of committees when need be, for the committees stop existing after the completion of their raison dtre. Article 36: The Vice President shall: Temporally or permanently takes over the presidency in the absence of the president due to death, resignation, dismissal, insanity, or inability. In case of a permanent take over of power, the Council shall appoint an interim vice president. Convenes a quarterly evaluation meeting of all group presidents. Be a member of all organizing committees Together with the president determine the policy of the mandate. Article 37: The General Secretary shall: Ensure the day to day running of the Ministrys secretariat Take down and read minutes during meetings Prepare all reports presented by the ministry Concert with the president in advance and presents an agenda for every meeting Access the ministrys e-mail address for any correspondence Convene a meeting of all group secretaries twice a year, for proper evaluation. Organize training workshops for all secretaries on how to handle books and report writing Article 38: The Vice secretary shall act in the absence of the General Secretary under any of the conditions listed above in article 36 on the vacancy of the presidency. Article 39: The Financial Secretary shall: Collect dues and levies, issue receipts and hand the money to the treasurer upon recording. Compile and keep the financial records of the Ministry.

 Always prepare and present a brief financial report at every Executive meeting and detailed during the counselors meetings . Be a signatory to all financial transactions of the Ministry. Organize workshops and training seminars on book keeping and accounting. This could be done with the invitation of experts in the field, for clarity of reports, and a unified way of accounting. Be the head of the finance committee. Article 40: The Treasurer shall: Receive and keep the Ministrys finances Disburse funds after the president and the financial secretary sign and endorse all claims submitted to them for payment. Be a signatory to all financial transactions in the ministry Be a member of the Finance committee. Article 41: The Spiritual Coordinator shall: Be a person who masters the Catholic doctrine and ready to defend it at all costs Organize spiritual activities (retreats, recollections, pilgrimages, etc) Work in close collaboration with the youth chaplain as well as the spiritual coordinators of the member groups Heads the liturgical committee alongside the music directors Article 41: The Music Director shall: Coordinate the effective growth of the musical level of member groups. Take care of the Ministrys musical instruments Be a member of the Liturgical committee Organize workshops and training sessions for member groups Coordinate the activities of all music directors in the ministry, who act as his assistants Draw singing programs for all gatherings when need be. NB. The Music director and his assistants i.e. all other group music directors, shall decide on the internal rules that concerns their milieu. Article 42: The Public Relations Officer shall: Publicize all activities of the Ministry Plays the liaisons between all member groups, as well as with other parishes and groups Update the Ministry with current information from within and without the archdiocese Be the spokesman at all ACYM gatherings, except decided otherwise.

Article 43: Socio-Cultural Organizers shall: Coordinate all socio-cultural activities of the Ministry Be in charge of lodging and feeding at all ACYM gatherings Organize meetings with all social secretaries of the Ministry, who serve as his assistants. Head all organizing committees with the president and vice Article 44: The Sports Coordinator shall: Plan and manage all sporting activities of the ministry Work in collaboration with all member groups sport coordinators who serve as his assistants Propose a sports calendar which must be the fruit of his quarterly meeting with his assistants. Be in charge of the Ministrys sport equipments once they live the hands of the stores accountant. Must be accountable to the council and the executive body on every activity he carries out. Article 45: The health coordinator shall: Be in charge of the first aid box at every outing or meeting of the Ministry. Organize health talks and sensitization campaigns in various groups for the wellbeing of group members. Heads all matters of health in the Ministry. Article 46: The Disciplinarian shall: Work in collaboration with other group disciplinarians who automatically become his assistants Conduct roll call during meetings and submit his report to the General secretary who will read the sanctions as stated below. Present a quarterly disciplinary report, in the counselors and executive meetings Head the disciplinary committee, along side the Youth Chaplain. Organize all meeting venues in collaboration with the socio-cultural secretary Act as protocol officer, with his assistants Article 47: The Stores accountant shall: Keep record of all property belonging to the Ministry and propose a scale of preference as far as the purchase of new equipments is concern. Shall be responsible for all purchase of every equipments of the Ministry Shall take notice of every damage caused on group equipments Shall be directly responsible to the President under the supervision of the executive.

Article 48: The Legal Adviser shall: Be appointed by the President Be responsible for all legal contentions involving the ministry to any organizations or individuals Together with the President be a protector of the constitutionality of norms in the Ministry Be member of the disciplinary committee, for all legal interpretation of the rules.

CHAPTER FOUR OTHER ARMS OF THE MINISTRY

Article 49: THE COUNCIL : Shall constitute of three members from each group, from which two the exco members can be voted. Shall meet once every month in ordinary session as well as in extra-ordinary sessions when need be. Being a representation of the general assembly, shall discuss programs and debate issues in lieu of the general assembly. Extra-ordinary sessions can be convened by the president or by 2/3 of the executive body Amend and approve proposed calendars of executive departments. Can initiate a vote of no confidence by uniting the elements above mentioned in article 26. The group of the deposed exco member shall produce a new counselor to fill the gap created by the convicted. In case the said group fails to present the counselor as demanded within one month, they shall forfeit the seat to another group chosen by lot. Article 50 : AD-HOC COMMITTEES : They shall be created as need may arise, and their terms of office shall end after the presentation and defense of their report to the council.

PART VI ELECTIONS
Article 51: Electoral procedure Elections shall be conducted every year during the Youth camp Elections shall be done by a general assembly of duly registered members who posses membership cards and are attending a camp. Before elections are carried out, part VI of this co Constitution shall be read out to the general assembly.

 Elections shall be through nomination /personal presentation,(or as the electoral committee may think it fit at the moment) from the list of counselors, followed by a secret ballot. All candidatures must come among counselors who in principle are the actual representatives of the various groups. The electoral committee shall read out the various job descriptions on each post of responsibility, as a reminder. For each post of responsibility, there will be four nominees and all the vice will be voted in a separate ballot round. Results are proclaimed instantly, as a ballot is through. Winners shall be by a simple majority. In case of a tie, the electoral committee members will also vote. Any candidate who fails in obtaining one post of responsibility can contest for another. Members shall not be voted in absentia except with a written consent from the absentee. No candidate can hold more than one post of responsibility. All groups are called upon to hold at least one post of responsibility in the ministrys Exco. Elected officials shall be presented and installed in church during the closing mass of the camp. NB. Except for the post of President and Secretary, the replacement of any exco member is the duty of the council sitting in an extraordinary session as stipulated in Article 49 above. Article 52: electoral Commission Shall be an independent committee headed by the Youth chaplain or his representative. Shall be made up of either 3, or 5 members. Shall coordinate and ensure a free and faire elections. This committee shall be dissolved once they present their report to the general assembly, after examining all electoral appeals. Article 53: Eligibility To be eligible for elections, a candidate must: Have clean records with the ministry Be active, dedicated and committed to the activities of the ministry Have been a counselor for one year Candidates for the post of President, General Secretary, Financial secretary, and Treasurer must have been active members of the Ministry for at least two years, prior to the election date. All other candidates must have been members of the Ministry for at least one year.

PART VII FINANCES

Article 54: Sources of Finance The Ministry shall have as its source of finance: Grants , donations, funds from socio-cultural activities An annual due of 10 000 (Ten thousand) Frs. CFA by each group, payable before the rally for the running of the Ministrys activities. Individual group Members yearly adhesion rights of 100F.CFA payable through their respective groups for old members and 500FCFA for the new members. Fines and sanctions collected by the Disciplinary department Ministry initiated projects Fund raising ceremonies NB : Any member group owing any fine, may find their fines being reduced from any prize they win.

Article 55: Disbursement of Funds For any funds to be disbursed, the treasurer must have a signed consent of the President and the Financial secretary. Any fund going out without such consent is considered null and void, and the treasurer is bound to replace the said amount. The ratio of disbursement of funds for the prizes during the Youth Camp and Rally based on merits and availability of funds shall initially be 4:2:1 or otherwise decided by the Executive body.

PART VIII SANCTIONS

The following sanctions shall be meted out on member groups in case any of the following wrongs are committed. All meetings or gatherings of the ministry shall be obligatory to all member groups. Any unjustified absence will be sanctioned by a 500 FCFA fine on the group. Late coming for any activity organized by the ministry shall be noticed 30 Minutes from the time the activity begins, and the group shall pay the sum of 500 FCFA

 Unnecessary disturbance during meetings by any individual shall be noticed and the individuals group notified and the individual sanctioned with either a fine of from 100frs to 500 frs CFA or a one month suspension from the Ministrys activity or with both fine and suspension. Other sanctions as the disciplinary department shall, in consultation with the counselors deem necessary be respected, but the financial sanction shall not exceed 500 frs. CFA. Any Sanction with fine greater than 500 Frs CFA shall be initiated by the General assembly and may vary as the cases present themselves.