Proposed Bylaw Revisions
During 2025, the Board of Trustees reviewed the Bylaws for Unity Palo Alto (UPA) and is recommending changes. Your Board of Trustees has unanimously approved revisions to our Bylaws, and are bringing to the Annual Voting Member meeting for review, voting, and approval.
The Annual Voting Member Meeting is on Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 11:30 am in the Unity Palo Alto Sanctuary.
Because the Bylaws had not been reviewed in some time, we are proposing four sets of changes. Each set of changes is described below and will be voted on separately at the annual meeting. For reference, here are the full current and proposed bylaws:
Click here for the Current Bylaws
Click here for the complete Proposed Bylaws with mark-ups
Click here for the complete Proposed Bylaws (no mark-ups)
Motion 1. Updated Membership requirements
In 2024, UPA introduced two levels of membership: community member and voting member. The primary changes are to update “member” to “voting member” throughout the bylaws to avoid confusion, and to remove the requirement to send notifications via US Postal Service while still requiring notification through other appropriate methods.
Click here for Motion 1 bylaw changes
Motion 2. Update requirements to serve on the Board of Trustees
The board recommends updating the requirements to be a board member to align with Unity Worldwide Ministries’ recommended requirements for board service. The other change recommended is to simplify the presentation of board candidates at the annual meeting and require that all board candidates be vetted by the nominating committee prior to the annual meeting.
Click here for Motion 2 bylaw changes
Motion 3. Update the purpose of Unity Palo Alto
Section II of the bylaws define the purpose of Unity Palo Alto. The board recommends updating that language to more closely align with the recommendation from Unity Worldwide Ministries.
Click here for Motion 3 bylaw changes
Motion 4. Other governance changes
The remaining changes are proposed to make the bylaws consistent with current best practice. This includes: (1) clarifying when higher expenses require approval by the membership (2) adding a 15-day notification period before any subject is brought before the membership for a vote (3) removing the requirement to disclose salary ranges at the annual meeting, and (4) removing the requirement for an independent audit of church finances. Change #3 is proposed because the board is responsible for overseeing salaries, not the membership. Change #4 is proposed because our current financial review processes provide adequate oversight for an organization of our size.