Proposal For the Reformation of the Congregation of the Silver Hand

Penned by Melysa Marwyn-Ashvale in response to the suspension of the Congregation of the Silver Hand, and the subsequent creation of the Independent Paladin Assembly. The proposition calls for the old congregation to be reformed as THE ORDER OF SAINT UTHER or The COUNCIL OF SAINT UTHER.

REFORMATION OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SILVER HAND

Creation of the Order of Saint Uther

• That in union with the Council of Bishops and by their commission that all Alliance paladins once bound by oath to the Order of the Silver Hand, and/or presently bound by oath in service to the Church of the Holy Light, or aspiring to paladinhood should hereafter come together as one to form the polity of the reformed Congregation of the Silver Hand, hereafter referred to as The Order of Saint Uther.

• That this Order recognizes the right wise orthodoxy of the Church of the Holy Light and freely acquiesces to the traditional bonds of faith and governance that rest between the Church and the holy Order of Paladins, as set forth in the code of the original Order of the Silver Hand. In accordance with the beliefs of this most sacred relationship let it be known that the Church of the Holy Light and its rightful executors, the Council of Bishops, is vested rightly with full power and authority to make, alter and repeal all of the laws, rules and regulations for the administration, discipline and formation of the Order of Saint Uther; that Order being pledged to the defense of the Holy Church, and the Grand Alliance.

Mission of the Order of Saint Uther

• To uphold the Code of the original Order of the Silver Hand as established by Alonsus Faol, and Uther the Lightbringer.
• To walk in the grace of the Holy Light and spread its wisdom throughout Alliance lands.
• To vanquish evil wherever it may be found, and protect the faithful citizens of the Grand Alliance.

• To provide aspirants with the education, physical, and spiritual training necessary to make them worthy of the honor of being anointed paladin defenders of the Grand Alliance.

• The provision of a forum for general petitions from all anointed paladins of the Grand Alliance.

• The direction of united military action as it is relevant to the integrity of the Church of the Holy Light , and the stability of the Grand Alliance.

Polity

Membership

The Order of Saint Uther is to be comprised of all willing and faithful members of the Grand Alliance who claim the holy honor of anointed paladin or wish to aspire to such faithful service.

The Council of Saint Uther

The Order Council or Council of Saint Uther shall contain certain Knights of great renown and anointed representatives from organizations and Kingdoms within the Grand Alliance, who shall stand in council to act as the voices of their constituent bodies and are accorded the privilege of voting on all matters which will effect the Order as a whole, such as the necessity to engage in a joint military operation, levying tithes, and requisitions of funds from member organizations in order to provide for Order activities.

Neutral organizations such as the Argent Crusade shall not be permited membership within the Order, nor shall they have representation on the Council of Saint Uther. 

Council Meetings

The administrators of the Order are behooved to call to the Council to order no less than twice per month and only at a reasonable hour and date.

The Offices of the Council of Saint Uther

Exemplar

The Exemplar is, by all rights and measure, the first among equals to stand at the Council of Saint Uther, and the chief educational official of the Order. He or she is the leader of the polity, and carries the full weight of organizational, educational, and political responsibility upon his or her shoulders. The Exemplar is a senior paladin of great renown, appointed by the Council of Bishops, and serves for life, or until he or she elects to resign. The Council of Bishops shall reserve the right to select a new Exemplar in the event that the present Exemplar is no longer meeting the obligations of his or her office.

The duties, rights, and powers of the Exemplar are limited to:

• The responsibility to speak publically on behalf of the Order.

• The responsibility to direct (Chair) council proceedings.

• The authority to call meetings to Order.

• The authority to appoint or dismiss persons to or from the offices of Chancellor, Clerk, Inquisitor, and Quartermaster.

• A Priorship and the privilege to speak before the Council of Bishops.

• The authority to determine the worthiness of aspirants, and to anoint such worthy aspirants to the Holy honor of paladin defender of the Alliance.

Chancellor

The Chancellor holds primary responsibility for the training of aspirant Knights under the direction of the Exemplar, as well as the maintenance of strict doctrinal orthodoxy. Furthermore, should the Exemplar be rendered unable to perform their duties, the Chancellor shall temporarily take his or her place until a new Exemplar is selected by the Council of Bishops. The Chancellor must be a senior paladin.

The duties, rights, and powers of the Chancellor are limited to:

• The responsibility to establish and maintain a seminary of paladins under the direction of the Exemplar that shall facilitate the continued spiritual and physical training of aspirants.

• The responsibility to uphold and epitomize the Code of the original Order of the Silver Hand above all others.

• The authority to petition the Council of Bishops for the anointment of an aspirant to the Holy honor of paladin defender of the Alliance.

Quartermaster

The Quartermaster is the chief supply officer of the Order and holds the heavy burden of ensuring that the Congregation’s military forces are well supplied with equipment, foodstuffs, and medical supplies. In addition to his military duties, the Quartermaster is also tasked with the maintenance of any and all Order charities.

• The responsibility of maintaining the provisions and equipment stores of the Order.

• The responsibility of overseeing all Order charities.

• The authority to levy tithes and requisitions of funds from member organizations in order to provide for Order activities.

Clerk

The Clerk of Council is the chief organizational officer of the Order. The Clerk is responsible for the maintenance of the docket and affairs of Order as well as ensuring procedural order during Council meetings.

The duties, rights, and powers of the Clerk are limited to:

• The responsibility of maintaining the Council Docket.
• The responisibilty of recording the minutes of each Council meeting.

• The responsibility of ensuring procedure Order during Order council meetings.

• The authority to call Order meetings to Order when the Exemplar is unable to do so, thus acting as temporary chairperson.

• The authority to remove (By force if necessary) disruptive members from the council chamber.

Inquisitor

The Order Inquisitor acts as the primary agent of the enforcement of doctrinal and ideological purity within the Order and serves at the pleasure of the Exemplar. Although the Inquisitor acts in many ways as a typical Inquisitor of the Church Office of Inquiry, he or she does not possess the power to detain or arrest any member of the Order, but only to question and investigate those who the Exemplar deems suspect of crimes against the Light or the Congregation. The Inquisitor is appointed by the Exemplar, but must be approved and appropriately trained by the Council of Bishops.

The duties, rights, and powers of the Inquisitor are limited to:

• The responsibility to actively cultivate the orthodox purity of church doctrine within the Order.

• The authority to receive audience for any inquiries or investigations he may conduct within the Order.

Rules of Order

1. Business.

Business is brought before the Council either by the motion of a peer, or by the presentation of a communication to the assembly. It is not usual to make motions to receive reports of committees or communications to the assembly. There are many other cases in the ordinary routine of business where the formality of a motion is dispensed with, but should any peer object, a regular motion becomes necessary, or the Exemplar may put the question without waiting for a motion.

2. What Precedes Debate.

Before any subject is open to debate it is necessary, first, that a motion be made by a peer who has obtained the floor; second, that it be seconded (with certain exceptions); and third, that it be stated by the Exemplar. The fact that a motion has been made and seconded does not put it before the assembly, as the Exemplar alone can do that. He or she must either rule it out of Order, or state the question on it so that the assembly may know what is before it for consideration and action, that is, what is the immediately pending question. If several questions are pending, as a resolution and an amendment and a motion to postpone, the last one stated by the Exemplar is the immediately pending question.

3. Obtaining the Floor.

Before a peer call make a motion, or address the assembly in debate, it is necessary that he or she should obtain the floor -- that is, he or she must place his or her hand upon the round table after the floor has been yielded, and address the presiding officer by his or her official title. If the assembly is large so that the peer's name may be unknown to the Exemplar, the peer should give his or her name as soon as he or she catches the eye of the Exemplar after addressing him or her.

If the peer is entitled to the floor, as shown hereafter, the Exemplar "recognizes" him or her, or assigns him or her the floor, by announcing his or her name. If a peer speaks before the floor has been yielded, he or she cannot obtain the floor provided any one else places their hand upon the table afterwards, and addresses the Exemplar. It is out of Order to be speaking when another has the floor, and remarks from any peer speaking out of Order shall not be recognized by the assembly.

4. Motions and Resolutions.

A motion is a proposal that the assembly take certain action, or that it express itself as holding certain views. It is made by a peer's obtaining the floor as already described and saying, "I move that" (which is equivalent to saying, "I propose that"), and then stating the action he or she proposes to have taken. Thus a peer "moves" (proposes) that a resolution be adopted, or amended, or referred to a committee, or that a vote of thanks be extended, etc.; or "That it is the sense of this meeting (or assembly) that ______ action be taken," etc.

5. Seconding Motions.

As a general rule, every motion should be seconded. This is to prevent time being consumed in considering a question that only one person favors, and consequently little attention is paid to it in routine motions. Where the Exemplar is certain the motion meets with general favor, and yet members are slow about seconding it, he may proceed without waiting for a second. Yet, any one may make a point of Order that the motion has not been seconded, and then the Exemplar is obliged to proceed formally and call for a second.

A motion is seconded by a peer's saying "I second the motion," or "I second it," which he or she does without obtaining the floor. In large assemblies, and especially where non-members are scattered throughout the assembly, members should rise, place their hand upon the round table, and without waiting for recognition, say, "I second the motion."

6. Debate.

After a question has been stated by the Exemplar, it is before the assembly for consideration and action. All resolutions, reports of committees, communications to the assembly, and all amendments proposed to them, and all other motions except the Undebatable Motions may be debated before final action is taken on them, unless by a majority vote the assembly decides to dispose of them without debate. In the debate each peer has the right to speak twice on the same question on the same day (except on an appeal), but cannot make a second speech on the same question as long as any peer who has not spoken on that question desires the floor. No peer may speak longer than ten minutes at a time without permission of the assembly.

Debate must be limited to the merits of the immediately pending question -- that is, the last question stated by the Exemplar that is still pending; except that in a few cases the main question is also open to debate. Speakers must address their remarks to the presiding officer, be courteous in their language and deportment.

7. Secondary Motions.

To assist in the proper disposal of the question, various subsidiary motions are used, such as to amend, to commit, etc., and for the time being the subsidiary motion replaces the resolution, or motion, and becomes the immediately pending question. While these are pending, a question incidental to the business may arise, as a question of Order, and this incidental question interrupts the business and, until disposed of, becomes the immediately pending question. And all of these may be superseded by certain motions, called privileged motions, as to adjourn, of such supreme importance as to justify their interrupting all other questions. All of these motions that may be made while the original motion is pending are sometimes referred to as secondary motions.

8. Putting the Question and Announcing the Vote.

When the debate appears to have closed, the Exemplar asks again, "Are you ready for the question?" If no one rises he proceeds to put the question -- that is, to take the vote on the question, first calling for the affirmative and then for the negative vote. In putting the question the Exemplar should make perfectly clear what the question is that the assembly is to decide. If the question is on the adoption of a resolution, unless it has been read very recently, it should be read again, the question being put in a way similar to this: "The question is on the adoption of the resolution [which the Exemplarr reads]; those in favor of the resolution say aye; those opposed say no. The ayes have it, and the resolution is adopted;" or, "The noes have it, and the resolution is lost."

The vote should always be announced, as it is a necessary part of putting the question. The assembly is assumed not to know the result of the vote until announced by the Exemplar, and the vote does not go into effect until announced by the Exemplar. As soon as the result of the vote is announced the Exemplar should state the next business in Order.