Notes on Revised Constitution 2026
As a Charitable organisation, we, as a Society, are required by the Charities Commission to review our Constitution or Rules (as laid down in the Trust Deed) every 3 years to ensure that they are still “fit for purpose”.
The Committee has spent several meetings looking over our existing Rules and have come up with suggestions for improvements which were further improved at a Consultation Meeting on 4 July.
I will try to explain the reasons for change, using the clause numbers.
1.1 The name of the Society was long and cumbersome – 11 words and 68 characters. This was brought to our attention when the banks introduced checks that a bank account number was correctly linked with the name of the owner of the account. We feel that “Anthroposophy Hawkes Bay” provides the essential information, and it is the name we use in our weekly Newsletters.
2.4 The Branch Society in the original Rules is effectively a “grandchild” – the Parent being the ASNZ, and the Grandparent being the GAS (General Anthroposophical Society) which was formed over a hundred years ago, originally as an organisation formed to build the Goetheanum. Rule 2.4 states that a Member of the AHB must be a Member of the GAS. Grandchildren tend to grow up and seek some independence. So, we, as a grandchild society, would like to introduce a Clause 2.5 whereby people who have not yet made the international commitment required for membership of the GAS can register their interest in the AHB activities by becoming a “Friend”.
3.1 The Objects and Purposes mention neither Hawke’s Bay nor the provision and maintenance of a Centre or Rooms for members to meet, which is a major element of what we currently do.
4.1 The power to ‘rent rooms’ (allowed as an ancillary non-charitable activity [Charities Act 2005]) is specifically added as this has been a practice for quite a few years now.
5.1 Replaced the word “deemed” with “eligible” from the membership conditions, as this formulation does not require a person to take any action to become a member (that is, it is an entirely passive / mechanical process – which is not our idea of “anthroposophical”).
Indeed, the tenor of recent NZ legislation regarding incorporated societies is that intending members actually specifically apply for membership, not be automatically ‘deemed’ to be a member according to some ‘condition’ e.g. being a member of another organisation.
On perusing the Constitution/Rules, it seems that the main right conferred on members [Clause 6.8] is the right to vote at General Meetings of the Society. There is no financial benefit for Members, so all contributions to the Society are charitable and thus eligible for IRD tax relief. Virtually all meetings and events organised by the Committee or AHB members is open to the public.
5.4 Despite the requirement in 5.1, the Committee is able to expel a “deemed” member from the AHB – this does not make sense – are we “un-deeming” them?
Membership of the GAS is acknowledged with a signed, dated and numbered pink Card. Do we take this card from them or ask it to be returned somewhere?
Anyway, we feel that such drastic action should be taken only by a General Meeting.
Conversely, under current Rules it would seem that IF a Member is excluded from the ASNZ, then they are automatically excluded from the AHB. This is a current problem. It needs to be resolved a.s.a.p.
There is considerable confusion about the difference between being a member of a Society and being an ‘anthroposophist’ (spiritual scientist) – that is being part of a movement. [Society and Movement are different.]
People can acknowledge to themselves [know thyself] their interest and spiritual engagement with Anthroposophy – this is purely personal, as an individual! [Ethical Individualism]. But it is not the same as becoming a member of a Society – that requires worldly action – the action of joining with others for a particular purpose, which may be “cultivating a community of human beings who desire to further the life of soul” – see Clause 3.1
This joining involves communicating and contributing by deed and financially to meet the needs of the Society.
It seems to us that currently our list of members contains the names of a number of people who, we believe, consider themselves to be Anthroposophists [having pink cards], but who do not contribute to or communicate with either ASNZ or AHB – who therefore do not act as members of either Society.
5.6; 5.7 This rule requires us to have the residential/postal address of members. For quite a while now our only means of contact has not been by post nor residential delivery but by email, so this is the data we collect, as this is all we need. There are only a few on our list who do not have an email address. A few years ago, AHB used to circulate a list of members and friends with Address, Email and Phone. More recently, some members have been concerned with privacy and have not wanted their details circulated. So, there is a question about how members can get to know who other members of AHB are and how they may contact them? Perhaps, of more relevance would be a requirement for Members of the GAS, who apply to become a member of “Anthroposophy Hawkes Bay”, to provide the information on their pink Membership card, namely their Membership number and the date of acceptance.
5.8 There is an interesting principle behind this proposal for change. It regards the process of asking members to make a set annual financial contribution as agreed at the Society’s Annual General Meeting. Certainly, the AGM needs to agree on a financial Budget for the coming year for the guidance of the Committee.
We would like to see a change of emphasis more in line with the anthroposophical striving for true, personal, spiritual freedom. This freedom can be described as ‘the cultivation of inner moral autonomy through conscious, self-aware thinking and understanding one’s own motives, leading to actions guided by spiritual insight rather than unconscious impulses or external compulsion, a process termed ethical individualism where individuals develop their unique spiritual paths to benefit humanity.’ We see this being achieved by the Treasurer informing all members and Friends (who may not have attended the AGM, of the foreseen or budgeted financial needs of the Society for the coming year. Each member could exercise their “freedom” by making a financial pledge or offer of support for the Society within, say, 3 months of the AGM.
5.9 (c) *new* The Membership of any member who neither contributes or communicates with an officer of the Society over a period of 24 months will be terminated. They may rejoin by re-applying for membership and making a donation.
Modifications in the remainder of the document are related to electronic and digital communication and record keeping.
Notes compiled by Robin Bacchus