reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 15 › 290 - Application of Article.

§  290.  Application  of  article.  1.  This  article  applies  to all
  churches, congregations, societies, parishes, committees and other local
  organizations governed by jurisdictions, bishoprics, dioceses,  missions
  of  any  Orthodox Patriarchate, Synod or national church of the Orthodox
  Greek Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) Church, recognized  by  the  apostolic
  historic  Orthodox  Patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch, Moscow and
  Serbia (Jugoslavia), respectively, through their four  primary  Orthodox
  Greek  Catholic  jurisdictions  in  America as specified in subdivisions
  three and four of section fifteen of this chapter; also to any churches,
  parishes,  congregations,  societies  or  committees  of  the  Christian
  Orthodox  Catholic Churches of the Eastern Confession which are included
  under article five-a of said chapter and in  general  to  all  churches,
  parishes,  congregations,  committees or religious organizations founded
  or established with the intent and for the purpose of  adhering  to  and
  maintaining  the apostolic and historic communion, doctrine, discipline,
  canon law, tradition, worship and unity of the Eastern Confession  known
  as the Orthodox Greek Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) Church.
2.  This  article  does not apply to the following churches, which are
  autogenic, to  wit:  American  Catholic  Church,  Old  Catholic  Church,
  Western Orthodox Church, Orthodox Old Catholic Church, American Catholic
  Orthodox  Church,  Apostolic  Episcopal  Church, Holy Orthodox Church in
  America, American Patriarchal Orthodox Church, African  Orthodox  Church
  or  any other organization, church, society or establishment by whatever
  name,  title  or  description  designated,  whose   names,   titles   or
  descriptions allude, relate or refer to the said Orthodox Greek Catholic
  (Eastern  Orthodox)  Church  but which are not recognized or accepted by
  said apostolic and historic Orthodox Greek Catholic Patriarchates.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 15 › 291 - Application for Incorporation.

§  291. Application for incorporation. An unincorporated congregation,
  church, parish or society may apply to the appropriate hierarch,  bishop
  or administrator for permission to incorporate under this article.
When  such permission or sanction for incorporation has been given, in
  writing, over the seal and signature of the appropriate hierarch, bishop
  or administrator and has  been  certified  by  the  secretariat  of  the
  Federated  Orthodox  Greek Catholic Primary Jurisdictions in America, it
  shall  be  attached  to  a  certificate  of  incorporation;   and   said
  certificate  shall  be  executed, acknowledged and filed, as hereinafter
  provided, and thereupon such congregation, parish,  church,  society  or
  committee shall become a corporation under this article.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 15 › 292 - Notice of Meeting for Incorporation.

§  292.  Notice  of meeting for incorporation. Notice of a meeting for
  the purpose of incorporating  an  unincorporated  parish,  congregation,
  church,  society  or committee to which this article is applicable shall
  be given as follows:
1. The notice shall be in writing and shall state in substance that  a
  meeting  of the members of such church, congregation, parish, society or
  committee will be held at a stated place, date and hour for the  purpose
  of incorporating, electing trustees and selecting a corporate name.
2.  The  notice  shall  also state that the appropriate ecclesiastical
  authority  has  given  sanction  and  permission,  required  under  this
  article, for the incorporation.
3. The notice must be signed by at least six persons of legal age who,
  either  from the time of the formation of said church or for a period of
  at least one year have been communicants in  canonical  standing  within
  the  Eastern  Orthodox communion and are resident members of the parish,
  church, society or committee which proposes to incorporate.
4. Such notice shall be publicly read, by the minister  in  charge  of
  such church or by one of the members signing the same, at two successive
  regular  meetings  for  public  worship  or  at special meetings of said
  parish or society on the two Sundays immediately preceding  the  meeting
  for  incorporation;  and  at  least  fifteen days before the meeting for
  incorporation, a copy of such notice shall be posted  at  the  place  of
  worship or at the place where such special meetings are to be held.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 15 › 294 - Certificate of Incorporation.

§   294.   Certificate   of  incorporation.     1.  A  certificate  of
incorporation for a church, society, or committee, to which this article
is applicable shall be executed and acknowledged  by  the  trustees  who
sign the resolution for incorporation.
The said certificate of incorporation shall contain the following:
(a) the name by which the proposed corporation shall be known.
(b)  the  number  of  trustees thereof; the names and addresses of the
persons elected as trustees; and the term of office for which they  were
respectively elected.
(c)  the  name of county, town, city or village in which the principal
place of worship or office is or is intended to be located.
(d) the purpose and intent for which said corporation is  created,  to
be set forth as follows:
"The purpose and intent of this corporation is to maintain, propagate,
practice  and forever perpetuate religious worship, services, sacraments
and teaching in full accordance and unity  with  the  doctrine,  ritual,
canon law, faith, practice, discipline, and traditions and usages of the
Orthodox  Greek Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) Church; and for the carrying
out of said purpose  and  intent,  to  form  and  maintain  a  religious
organization   or   church   adherent   and  obedient  to  the  Orthodox
ecclesiastical jurisdiction and authority, and to the Orthodox hierarch,
bishop  or  administrator,  selected  by  the   members   applying   for
incorporation,  and  certified  by  the  Orthodox Greek Catholic Primary
Jurisdictions in America, through the secretariat thereof, as  canonical
and  appropriate  for  the  Orthodox communicant members comprising this
corporation."
(e) In the certificate of incorporation of societies or organizations,
other than parishes, special purposes, additional to the above,  may  be
set forth.
2. On filing such certificate in the office of the county clerk of the
county in which the place of worship or office of such corporation is or
is  intended to be located, such church, society or committee shall be a
corporation by the name  stated  in  the  certificate  and  the  persons
therein  declared  to  be trustees of such corporation shall be trustees
until their successors are elected.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 15 › 295 - Government: Powers and Duties of Trustees.

§  295.  Government:  powers  and duties of trustees. 1. Every church,
  parish,   congregation,   society,   or   committee   incorporated    or
  re-incorporated,  pursuant  to  this article, shall recognize and be and
  remain subject to the jurisdiction and authority of the  duly  appointed
  and canonical hierarch, bishop or other administrator, certified through
  the  secretariat  of  the  Federated  Orthodox  Greek  Catholic  Primary
  Jurisdictions in  America,  as  appropriate  for  its  members,  or  his
  successor in office whose authority is likewise certified; shall accept,
  secure  or receive the sacramental, pastoral, or ministerial services of
  such clergy only as are so certified  to  be  of  lawful  and  canonical
  status  or  authority  in the Orthodox Greek Catholic (Eastern Orthodox)
  Church; and shall retain or secure as pastors only such clergy as  have,
  in  addition,  the  permission  of the hierarch, bishop or administrator
  certified to be appropriate; and shall in all other respects conform to,
  maintain, and follow the faith, doctrine, ritual, communion, discipline,
  canon law, traditions and usages of the Orthodox Greek Catholic (Eastern
  Orthodox) Church.
2. Any action of the  trustees  or  parish  committees  regarding  the
  calling,  appointment, removal or compensation of parish clergy shall be
  subject  to  approval,  in  writing,  by  the  appropriate   bishop   or
  administrator exercising jurisdiction.
3.  The trustees of every such incorporated or re-incorporated church,
  society or committee shall have the  custody  and  control  of  all  the
  temporalities   and  property,  real  and  personal,  belonging  to  the
  corporation, and of all the revenues therefrom; and shall administer the
  same strictly in accordance with the by-laws of the corporation and  the
  rules,   regulations   and   usages  of  the  orthodox  jurisdiction  or
  ecclesiastical governing body to which such church, society or committee
  is subject.
4. The number  of  first  trustees  shall  be  a  multiple  of  three;
  one-third  of  such  first  trustees  to  hold  office  for three years;
  one-third thereof to hold office for two years; and one-third thereof to
  hold  office  for  one  year  from  the  first  election  following  the
  incorporation;  and  thereafter  at  each annual election there shall be
  elected for a term of three years one-third of the number of trustees.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 15 › 296 - Re-Incorporation of Existing Corporations.

§  296.  Re-incorporation  of  existing  corporations.  Any heretofore
  incorporated church, congregation, parish,  society,  or  committee,  to
  which   this   article  is  applicable,  may  re-incorporate  under  the
  provisions of this article by the same procedure hereinbefore set  forth
  for   incorporation   substituting,  at  appropriate  places,  the  word
  "re-incorporate"  for  "incorporate"  and  filing  the  certificate   of
  re-incorporation  in  the  office  of  the county clerk in the county in
  which its principal place of worship or office is  located.  Immediately
  upon  the  filing  of  such certificate all the right, title, equity and
  interest of such organization or corporation  in  any  estate,  real  or
  personal,  together  with  all  franchise  and  charter rights, shall be
  vested in the  corporation  so  created  under  this  article,  and  the
  original corporation shall be null and void.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 16 - Spiritualist Churches Connected With the National Spiritualist Association › 301 - Application for Incorporation.

§  301.  Application for incorporation. An unincorporated Spiritualist
  church may apply to the National Spiritualist Association for permission
  to incorporate under this article, which written permission  granted  by
  the  board of trustees of the National Spiritualist Association shall be
  attached to and become a part of the certificate of incorporation.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 16 - Spiritualist Churches Connected With the National Spiritualist Association › 302 - Notice of Meeting for Incorporation.

§  302.  Notice  of meeting for incorporation. A notice of meeting for
  the purpose of incorporating an unincorporated  Spiritualist  church  in
  connection  with the National Spiritualist Association shall be given as
  follows:
1. The notice shall be in writing and shall state in substance that  a
  meeting  of  the  members of such church will be held at a stated place,
  date and hour for the purpose of incorporating,  electing  officers  and
  trustees and selecting a corporate name.
2.  The  notice  shall  also  state  that  written permission has been
  granted  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the   National   Spiritualist
  Association.
3. The notice shall be signed by at least fifteen persons of legal age
  who  are in good and regular standing of such church, in accordance with
  the rules and regulations of such church, and who  have  in  good  faith
  expressed in open meeting their belief in the tenets and the declaration
  of principles adopted by the National Spiritualist Association.
4.  The  notice  shall  be  publicly read at a regular meeting of such
  unincorporated church for  public  worship  on  two  successive  Sundays
  immediately  preceding  the meeting by any person qualified to sign such
  notice.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 16 - Spiritualist Churches Connected With the National Spiritualist Association › 303 - Incorporation Meeting.

§ 303. Incorporation meeting. 1. At the incorporation meeting, held in
  pursuance  of  such notice, the qualified voters shall be all persons of
  legal age who are in  good  and  regular  standing  in  such  church  in
  accordance with the rules and regulations of such church and who have in
  good faith in open meeting expressed their belief in the tenets of faith
  and  the  declaration of principles adopted by the National Spiritualist
  Association. At such meeting the presence of a majority of the qualified
  voters, at least eight in number, shall be  necessary  to  constitute  a
  quorum,  and  all matters or questions shall be decided by a majority of
  the qualified voters voting thereon.
2. The meeting shall be called  to  order  by  the  minister  of  such
  church, or in his absence, by one of the signers of the notice and shall
  elect  from  the  qualified  voters,  a  chairman,  a  secretary and two
  inspectors of election. The chairman  and  the  inspectors  of  election
  shall  decide  the  qualifications  of  the voters and the result of the
  ballots cast on any matter.
3.  If  the  meeting  shall  decide  that  such  church  shall  become
  incorporated,  the  meeting  shall  also  decide  upon  the  name of the
  proposed corporation, the number and term of officers and trustees,  and
  the  name  of  the  county  and  the  city, town or village in which the
  principal place of worship is or is intended to be located. The  meeting
  shall  also  elect the officers and trustees. The meeting may also adopt
  by-laws for the government of the church.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 16 - Spiritualist Churches Connected With the National Spiritualist Association › 304 - Certificate of Incorporation.

§  304. Certificate of incorporation. The certificate of incorporation
  shall contain:
1. The name by which the proposed corporation shall be known.
2. The names and addresses of the officers and trustees elected at the
  incorporation meeting,  together  with  the  respective  terms  of  said
  officers and trustees.
3.  The  name of the county and the city, town or village in which the
  proposed place of worship is or is intended to be located.
4. The purpose and intent for which the corporation is created  to  be
  set forth as follows:
"The  purpose  and  intent of this religious corporation is to promote
  the science and promulgate the philosophy and religion of  Spiritualism,
  as adopted and practiced by the National Spiritualist Association.
This  corporation  is  subject  to the constitution and by-laws of the
  National Spiritualist Association, a religious body  incorporated  under
  the laws of the District of Columbia, to the extent that they may not be
  inconsistent with the laws of the United States or of this state."
The certificate shall be executed and acknowledged by the duly elected
  officers  and  trustees  and,  together  with  the written permission to
  incorporate  granted  by  the  board  of  trustees   of   the   National
  Spiritualist  Association,  shall  be  filed in the office of the county
  clerk of the county in which the place of worship is or is  intended  to
  be  located.  On  such  filing the church shall be a corporation and the
  persons so elected to be officers and trustees shall  be  such  officers
  and trustees.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 16 - Spiritualist Churches Connected With the National Spiritualist Association › 305 - Pastor.

§  305.  Pastor.  The pastor of the church shall be called, settled or
  removed and his or her salary fixed, only by the vote of a  majority  of
  the  members  of  the  corporation  duly  qualified to vote at elections
  present and voting at a meeting of  such  corporation  called  for  that
  purpose,  subject to the written consent of the board of trustees of the
  National Spiritualist Association.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 16 - Spiritualist Churches Connected With the National Spiritualist Association › 306 - Re-Incorporation.

§  306.  Re-incorporation.  Any  heretofore  incorporated Spiritualist
  church in connection with the  National  Spiritualist  Association,  may
  re-incorporate  under  the  provisions  of  this  article  by  the  same
  procedure hereinbefore set forth for incorporation, substituting at  the
  appropriate place the word "re-incorporate" for "incorporate" and filing
  the certificate of re-incorporation in the office of the county clerk in
  the county in which its principal place of worship is located.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 321 - Change of Name of Churches and Affiliated and Subsidiary Organizations.

§  321.  Change  of  name  of  churches  and affiliated and subsidiary
  organizations. 1. Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter  or  of
  any  general,  special  or  local  law, the three denominations formerly
  known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Protestant Church
  and the Methodist Episcopal Church South having united  into  one  under
  the name of The Methodist Church, all religious corporations or churches
  heretofore  authorized  to  use,  or  be  known  by the names "Methodist
  Episcopal  Church,"  "Methodist  Protestant   Church,"   or   "Methodist
  Episcopal   Church   South"  and  all  societies,  conferences,  boards,
  associations, corporations or  other  organizations  directly  connected
  therewith  or  subsidiary  thereto shall eliminate from their respective
  names the word or words "Episcopal," "Protestant"  or  "South,"  as  the
  case may be, and all such churches, corporations and other organizations
  shall  hereafter  be  known by such names as changed and amended by this
  section.
2. The changes in names provided for by this section shall not in  any
  respect  change the identity of or affect, abate, defeat, alter or annul
  any of the rights, privileges,  powers,  property  rights,  obligations,
  liabilities or duties of any of said churches or corporations aforesaid,
  all  of  which  shall  remain  in  full force and effect as though their
  respective names had not been so changed.
3. All churches or other  corporations  using  the  changed  names  as
  provided  in this section shall continue to have and be possessed of all
  of the interest, property and rights to which they  are  or  may  become
  entitled under their former corporate names.
4.  The  provisions  of this section shall be deemed continuous of the
  provisions of chapter three hundred twenty-seven of the laws of nineteen
  hundred forty, and laws amendatory thereof, and shall  be  construed  to
  have  been  in  existence since April tenth, nineteen hundred forty, the
  time of the enactment of such chapter.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 321-A - Use of Certain Names by Religious Corporations.

§   321-a.   Use  of  certain  names  by  religious  corporations.  1.
  Notwithstanding any provisions  of  this  chapter  or  of  any  general,
  special  or  local  law,  the  two  denominations  formerly known as The
  Methodist Church and  The  Evangelical  United  Brethren  Church  having
  united  into  one  under  the  name  of The United Methodist Church, all
  religious corporations or churches heretofore authorized to  use  or  be
  known  by  the  names  Methodist  Church  or Evangelical United Brethren
  Church,  and   all   societies,   conferences,   boards,   associations,
  corporations   or   other  organizations  duly  connected  therewith  or
  subsidiary thereto shall eliminate from their respective names the  word
  or  words The Methodist Church or Evangelical United Brethren or add The
  United Methodist Church, as the case  may  be  and  all  such  churches,
  corporations  and other organizations shall hereinafter be known by such
  names as changed and amended by this section.
2. The changes and names provided for by this section shall not in any
  respect change the identity or affect, abate, defeat, alter or annul any
  of the rights, privileges, property rights, obligations, liabilities  or
  duties  of  any of said churches or corporations aforesaid, all of which
  shall remain in full force and effect as though their  respective  names
  had not been so changed.
3.   All   churches,  corporations,  organizations  or  unincorporated
  associations using the changed names as provided in this  section  shall
  continue  to  have and be possessed of all of the interest, property and
  rights to which they are or  may  become  entitled  under  their  former
  corporate names or other respective designations.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 322 - Meeting for Incorporation.

§  322.  Meeting  for  incorporation.  1.  Notice of a meeting for the
  purpose of incorporating an unincorporated United Methodist church shall
  be in writing and shall state in  substance,  that  a  meeting  of  such
  unincorporated  church  will  be held at its usual place of worship at a
  specified day and hour, for the purpose of incorporating such  a  church
  and selecting a name therefor and electing trustees thereof.
2.  Such  notice  must  be  signed by at least six full members of the
  church who are all of full age and in good and  regular  standing.  This
  notice  shall be publicly read at each of the two next preceding regular
  meetings of such unincorporated church for public worship, at least  one
  week  apart,  at morning service, if such service be held, on Sunday, if
  Sunday be the day for such regular meetings by the pastor or by  one  of
  the signers thereof.
3.  At the meeting for incorporation held in pursuance of such notice,
  the following persons, and no others, shall be qualified voters, to wit:
  all persons of full age who are then full members in  good  and  regular
  standing  in such church. The presence of at least six persons qualified
  to vote thereat shall be necessary to constitute  a  quorum  of  such  a
  meeting. Each action of the meeting upon any matter or question shall be
  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  present and voting
  thereon. At such a meeting the district  superintendent  or  the  pastor
  shall  preside,  or  in the absence of both or in case of either or both
  declining to preside, any qualified voter may  be  elected  to  preside.
  The  presiding  officer  shall  be  the  judge  of the qualifications of
  voters, subject to appeal to the  vote  of  the  members  present  whose
  qualifications as voters are not challenged, and shall receive the votes
  cast and declare the result of the same.
4.  If  such  meeting  shall decide to incorporate such unincorporated
  church,  it  shall  also  decide  upon  the   name   of   the   proposed
  incorporation, the number of trustees thereof, which shall be three, six
  or  nine,  and  shall  determine  the date, not more than fifteen months
  thereafter, on which the first annual election of the  trustees  thereof
  after such meeting shall be held. Such meeting shall elect by ballot the
  number of trustees decided upon, which trustees shall be of full age and
  two-thirds  of  whom  shall  be  members of The United Methodist Church.
  One-third of these shall be elected  to  hold  office  until  the  first
  annual  election  of  trustees  thereafter,  one-third  until the second
  annual election, and one-third until the third annual election.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 323 - Certificate of Incorporation.

§  323.  Certificate of incorporation. The presiding officer of such a
  meeting and at least two other persons present and voting thereat  shall
  be  appointed  at  such a meeting to execute and acknowledge, before any
  person authorized to take acknowledgment  of  deeds,  a  certificate  of
  incorporation  which  shall  have been submitted to and approved by such
  meeting. Such certificate shall set forth: the place and  date  of  said
  meeting  for  incorporation;  the  name  of  said  church; the township,
  village or city, and the county in which said church shall  be  located;
  the  statement  that  there were six or more qualified voters present at
  the meeting where this act of incorporation was  authorized;  the  names
  and respective periods of office of the trustees elected; the signatures
  and  residences  of  those  authorized  to  execute  and acknowledge the
  certificate   of   incorporation;   the   approval   of   the   district
  superintendent  of  the  district  in which the church is located; and a
  statement that the corporation shall support the doctrine and  shall  be
  subject  to  the laws, usages and ministerial appointments of The United
  Methodist Church as from time to time established, made and declared  by
  the  lawful  authority of said church. On the filing of such certificate
  in the office of the county clerk of the county  in  which  such  church
  shall  be  located  the members of such church qualified to vote at such
  meeting and those who shall thereafter, from time to time, be  qualified
  voters, at the corporate meetings thereof, shall be a corporation by the
  name  stated  in  such certificate, and the persons therein stated to be
  elected trustees of such church shall be the trustees thereof,  for  the
  terms  for  which  they  were  respectively  elected,  and  until  their
  successors are elected.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 324 - Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation.

§  324.  Amendment of certificate of incorporation. It shall be lawful
  for any incorporated United Methodist church, by a  two-thirds  vote  of
  the  members  present  and  voting  at a regularly called meeting of the
  corporation, to alter or amend its certificate of incorporation  in  any
  manner  not  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of this chapter or the
  discipline of The  United  Methodist  church;  and  such  alteration  or
  amendment  shall  become  operative  when  the  amended  certificate  of
  incorporation shall  have  been  executed,  acknowledged  and  filed  as
  provided for in section three hundred twenty-three of this article.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 325 - Corporate Meetings.

§  325.  Corporate meetings. 1. The trustees of an incorporated United
  Methodist church shall be elected at the annual corporate meeting  which
  shall  be  held at the time and place fixed by the by-laws, if such time
  and place be so fixed, and otherwise at a time and place to be fixed  by
  its  trustees.  A  special  corporate  meeting of any such church may be
  called by the board of trustees thereof, on its own  motion  or  on  the
  written  request  of  at  least ten qualified voters of such church. The
  trustees shall cause  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  the  annual
  corporate  meeting  therein  specifying  the name of any trustees, whose
  successors are to  be  elected  thereat,  and,  if  a  special  meeting,
  specifying the business to be transacted thereat, to be given at each of
  the  two next preceding regular meetings of such incorporated church for
  public worship, at least one week apart, at  morning  service,  if  such
  service  be  held,  on  Sunday,  if  Sunday  be the day for such regular
  meetings, or if no such public worship be held during  such  period,  by
  conspicuously  posting such notice in writing upon the outer entrance to
  the principal place of worship of such  church.  Such  notice  shall  be
  given  by  the  district  superintendent,  the  pastor,  the officiating
  minister or an officer of the church.
2. At such a corporate meeting the following persons,  and  no  other,
  shall  be  qualified  voters  for the election of trustees, to wit:  all
  persons who are  full  members  of  such  church  in  good  and  regular
  standing.  The  members  present  at  any  duly  announced meeting shall
  constitute a quorum. Each action of  the  meeting  upon  any  matter  or
  question  shall be decided by a majority of the qualified voters present
  and voting thereon. At such a meeting the district superintendent or the
  pastor shall preside, or in the absence of both or in case of either  or
  both  declining  to  preside,  any  qualified  voter  may  be elected to
  preside. The presiding officer of the meeting shall receive  the  votes,
  be  the  judge of qualifications of voters subject to appeal to the vote
  of  the  members  present  whose  qualifications  as  voters   are   not
  challenged, and declare the result of the votes cast on any matter.
3.  Election  of  trustees at the annual corporate meeting shall be by
  written individual ballot and on a majority vote. Such trustees shall be
  of full age and each election shall provide that at least two-thirds  of
  the  board  of trustees shall be members of The United Methodist Church.
  The trustees shall be elected for a term of three years or  until  their
  successors  have  been  duly  elected,  provided that one-third shall be
  elected each year.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 326 - Changing Number of Trustees.

§  326.  Changing number of trustees. An incorporated United Methodist
  church may, at its annual corporate meeting where trustees are  elected,
  by  vote  change  the  number  of  its trustees to three, six or nine by
  adding more trustees, one-third of which  shall  be  elected  for  three
  years,  one-third for two years and one-third for one year; or by voting
  to discontinue the offices of certain specified trustees as they expire,
  one-third of said offices to be discontinued each year, until the number
  left is the number decided upon. Such changes in the board  of  trustees
  shall  always  provide that at least two-thirds of the trustees shall be
  members of The United Methodist church. No such changes shall affect the
  terms of the trustees then in office, but each shall hold  office  until
  his  full term has expired unless his office shall terminate as provided
  for elsewhere in this article.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 327 - Vacancies in Board of Trustees.

§  327.  Vacancies  in  board  of  trustees.  If  any  trustee of such
  incorporated United Methodist church declines to act, resigns, dies,  or
  has  his  trusteeship terminated by any other means, his office shall be
  vacant and the quarterly conference of the church in any  regular  or  a
  special  session  may  fill  the vacancy until the next annual corporate
  meeting when trustees are elected at which meeting the vacancy shall  be
  filled for the unexpired term.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 328 - Meetings of Trustees.

§   328.  Meetings  of  trustees.  Meetings  of  the  trustees  of  an
  incorporated United Methodist church may be held at stated intervals  or
  may  be  called  by  giving  at  least  twenty-four hours notice thereof
  personally or by mail to all trustees and such meeting may be called and
  such notice given by the pastor, the secretary of the board of trustees,
  or by any two of the trustees, but  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the
  trustees  a  meeting  may  be held without previous notice thereof. Some
  member of the board of  trustees  elected  for  that  purpose  shall  be
  president  or  chairman,  or  the  pastor  may  preside  without vote. A
  majority of the whole number of trustees shall constitute a  quorum  for
  the transaction of business at any meeting lawfully convened. In case of
  a  tie  vote at a meeting of the trustees, the presiding officer of such
  meeting, if he be a trustee, shall, notwithstanding he has  voted  once,
  have  an  additional  casting  vote, or, if the presiding officer be the
  pastor, the secretary of the board shall  have  the  additional  casting
  vote.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 329 - Change of Date of Annual Corporate Meetings.

§  329.  Change  of  date  of  annual  corporate  meetings.  An annual
  corporate meeting of an incorporated United Methodist church may  change
  the  date  of  its  annual meeting thereafter. If such a date shall next
  thereafter occur less than six months after the annual meeting at  which
  such change is made, the next annual meeting shall be held one year from
  such  next  recurring  date. For the purpose of determining the terms of
  office of trustees, the time between the annual meeting  at  which  such
  change  is made and the next annual meeting thereafter shall be reckoned
  as one year.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 330 - Powers and Duties of Trustees.

§  330.  Powers  and  duties  of  trustees.  1.  The  trustees  of  an
  incorporated United Methodist church shall have the custody and  control
  of  all  the temporalities and property belonging to the corporation and
  of the revenues from such property, and shall  administer  the  same  in
  accordance with the discipline, rules and usages of The United Methodist
  Church, and with the provisions of law relating thereto, for the support
  and maintenance of the corporation or providing the members thereof at a
  corporate  meeting  thereof  shall  so  authorize,  of  some  religious,
  charitable or benevolent object, conducted by such church, or  connected
  with  it,  or  with  The United Methodist Church, and they shall not use
  such property for any other purpose or divert the same from such uses.
2. The trustees shall be responsible to the charge conference  of  the
  church  in  a manner not inconsistent with any directions of a corporate
  meeting, and  shall  annually  make  a  written  report  to  the  charge
  conference  which  report  shall  include  the  items  required  by  the
  discipline of The United Methodist Church.
3. The trustees shall not prevent or  interfere  with  the  pastor  or
  other  duly  authorized  ministers of The United Methodist Church in the
  use of said property for religious services  or  other  proper  meetings
  recognized by the law and usage of The United Methodist Church.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 331 - Control of Trustees by Corporate Meetings.

§  331. Control of trustees by corporate meetings. A corporate meeting
  of an incorporated United Methodist church, whose trustees are  elective
  as  such,  may  give  directions,  not inconsistent with law or with the
  discipline of The United Methodist Church, as to the manner in which any
  of the temporal affairs of the  church  shall  be  administered  by  the
  trustees thereof; and such directions shall be followed by the trustees.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 332 - Conveyance of Property.

§  332. Conveyance of property. The trustees of an incorporated United
  Methodist church may sell, mortgage, lease or convey church property  by
  following  the  provisions  of  section  twelve  of  article two of this
  chapter except that in no case shall trustees mortgage or encumber  real
  estate on which a church or parsonage is located for the current expense
  of a charge, nor shall the principal of the proceeds of the sale of such
  property be so used.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 333 - Conveyance of Property for Church, School or Missionary Purposes.

§  333.  Conveyance  of  property  for  church,  school  or missionary
  purposes. Any church or society of The United Methodist  Church  created
  by  or  existing  under  the  laws  of the state of New York, having its
  principal office or place of worship in the state of New York, or  whose
  place  of worship was within the state of New York, is hereby authorized
  and empowered by the concurrent vote  of  two-thirds  of  its  qualified
  voters  present  and  voting therefor, at a meeting regularly called for
  that purpose, and of two-thirds of all its trustees and by  the  written
  consent  of  the  resident  bishop  and  the district superintendent, to
  direct the transfer and conveyance of  any  of  its  property,  real  or
  personal,  which  it now has or may hereafter acquire, to any religious,
  charitable or missionary corporation connected with The United Methodist
  denomination and incorporated by or organized under any law of the state
  of New York, either solely, or among other  purposes,  to  establish  or
  maintain,  or to assist in establishing or maintaining churches, schools
  or mission stations, or to erect or  assist  in  the  erection  of  such
  buildings as may be necessary for any such purposes, with or without the
  payment  of  any  money  or  other consideration therefor; and upon such
  concurrent votes being given, the trustees shall execute  such  transfer
  or  conveyance;  and  upon  the  same  being  made, the title to and the
  ownership and right of possession of the  property  so  transferred  and
  conveyed  shall  be  vested  in  and conveyed to such grantee; provided,
  however, that nothing herein contained shall impair or affect in any way
  any existing claim or  lien  against  any  property  so  transferred  or
  conveyed,  or  any  action at law or legal proceeding; and such transfer
  shall be subject, in respect to the amount of property the said  grantee
  may  take and hold, to the restrictions and limitations of all laws then
  in force.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 334 - Bequests.

§  334.  Bequests.  Any  bequest  of  real  or personal property to an
  unincorporated United Methodist church may be  taken  and  held  by  the
  incorporated  annual  conference which has jurisdiction over said church
  and administered for the benefit of said church.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 17 - Methodist Churches › 335 - Powers of Certain Existing Corporations to Conform Charter to Article.

§  335.  Powers of certain existing corporations to conform charter to
  article. A corporation heretofore created in this state by  special  act
  or under general law for purposes for which a corporation may be created
  under this article and other applicable provisions of this chapter, may,
  by  the  procedure  herein provided, amend its charter or certificate of
  incorporation to conform to the provisions of this article with the same
  corporate name and for the same corporate purposes  and  any  additional
  purposes  permitted by this article; but such amendment shall not affect
  then existing property rights or liabilities.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 18 - Churches of the Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in America › 336 - Definitions.

§  336. Definitions. 1. The "Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church
  in America," as that term is used anywhere in this  article,  refers  to
  the  churches,  cathedrals, chapels, congregations, societies, parishes,
  committees and other religious organizations  of  the  Eastern  Orthodox
  Church   which   are   subject   to  ecclesiastical  and  administrative
  jurisdiction and authority of the archbishop,  or  bishop,  who  is  the
  ecclesiastical administrator of the American diocese of the Byelorussian
  Autocephalic  Orthodox Church created pursuant to resolutions adopted at
  a diocesan convention (sobor) of said  diocese  held  at  Brooklyn,  New
  York,  on May twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred sixty and
  subject  to  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction   of   the   metropolitan
  archbishop,  or  other  primate, or the locum tenens acting in his place
  and the council of bishops of  the  Byelorussian  Autocephalic  Orthodox
  Church.
2.   Every   church,   parish,  congregation,  society,  or  committee
  incorporated or reincorporated, pursuant to this article, shall  in  all
  respects  conform  to, maintain, and follow the faith, doctrine, ritual,
  communion, discipline, canon law, traditions and usages of  the  Eastern
  Orthodox  Church  as such are determined by the governing ecclesiastical
  body  of  the  Byelorussian  Autocephalic  Orthodox  Church,  and  shall
  recognize and be and remain subject to the jurisdiction and authority of
  the  duly  appointed  archbishop,  bishop  or other administrator of the
  American Diocese  of  the  Byelorussian  Autocephalic  Orthodox  Church,
  hereinafter called Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in America,
  or  his  successor  in  office,  and shall accept, secure or receive the
  sacramental, pastoral, or ministerial services of such  clergy  only  as
  are  so  certified  to be of lawful and canonical status or authority in
  the Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in America, and retain  or
  secure  as pastors only such clergy as have, in addition, the permission
  of the said archbishop, bishop, or  administrator  of  the  Byelorussian
  Autocephalic Orthodox Church in America.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 18 - Churches of the Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in America › 337 - Application for Incorporation.

§  337.  Application  for incorporation. Any number of persons of full
  age, not less than ten,  who  are  communicants  in  canonical  standing
  within  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Church  may associate themselves for the
  purpose  of  founding  and  continuing  a  congregation   acknowledging,
  conforming  to  and  promoting  the  faith,  doctrine, discipline, rite,
  canons,  traditions,  usages  and  constitution  of   the   Byelorussian
  Autocephalic  Orthodox  Church in America and apply to the archbishop or
  bishop, who is the ecclesiastical  administrator  of  said  church,  for
  permission  and  sanction  to  incorporate  such congregation. When such
  permission aforesaid has been obtained in writing over the signature and
  seal of such archbishop or  bishop,  such  congregation  may  become  an
  incorporated church by executing, acknowledging and filing a certificate
  of incorporation as hereinafter provided.
Any  religious  order,  theological  seminary  for  the preparation of
  candidates  for  ministry,  or   religious   society   established   for
  evangelical  efforts  or  the  relief  of  the  poor and needy, which is
  intended  to  be  an  auxiliary   organization   of   the   Byelorussian
  Autocephalic  Orthodox Church in America, where a chapel for the conduct
  of worship is provided shall be deemed a congregation to all intents and
  purposes, and may be incorporated  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  this
  article.
2023 New York Laws › RCO - Religious Corporations › Article 18 - Churches of the Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in America › 338 - Notice of a Meeting for Incorporation.

§  338. Notice of a meeting for incorporation. Notice of a meeting for
  the purpose of incorporating a congregation, to which  this  article  is
  applicable, shall be given as follows:
1.  The notice shall be in writing and shall state in substance that a
  meeting of the members of such congregation will be  held  at  a  stated
  place, date and hour for the purpose of incorporating such congregation,
  electing laymen trustees thereof and selecting a corporate name thereof.
2.  The  notice  shall  also state that the appropriate ecclesiastical
  authority  has  given  sanction  and  permission,  required  under  this
  article, for the incorporation.
3.  The  notice must be signed by at least six persons of full age who
  are then members in good and regular standing of  such  congregation  by
  admission  into  full  communion and membership therewith, in accordance
  with  the  rules  and  regulations  thereof,  and   of   the   governing
  ecclesiastical body of the Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox Church and
  who  have  statedly worshipped with such congregation and have regularly
  contributed to its financial support, according to its  usages,  for  at
  least one year or since it was formed.
4.  Such  notice  shall  be  publicly  read  at two successive regular
  meetings for public worship or at special meetings of such  congregation
  on  the two Sundays immediately preceding the meeting for incorporation;
  and at least fifteen days before the meeting for incorporation,  by  the
  first  named  of  the  following persons who is present thereat, to wit:
  The minister  in  charge  of  such  congregation,  officiating  minister
  thereof,  or  one  of  the  persons qualified to sign such notice in the
  order of their age beginning with the oldest.
5. A copy of such notice shall be posted conspicuously on the  outside
  of  the  main  entrance  to  the usual place of worship, or at the place
  where the special meetings are to be held, at least fifteen days  before
  the meeting for incorporation.
6.  A  copy of such notice shall be sent by mail postpaid at least ten
  days prior to the date set for the meeting  for  incorporation  to  each
  member in good and regular standing by admission into full communion and
  membership  therewith,  in  accordance  with  the  rules and regulations
  thereof, and of the Byelorussian Autocephalic Orthodox  Church,  at  his
  last known address as same appears in the records of the congregation.