B/450. 1. The Board of Administration shall consist of the U.S. bishops, sufficient additional elders to give a total of twelve clergy (equal representation from each U.S. bishop's area), twelve lay persons (equal representation from each U.S. bishop's area) two representatives from the conferences of mission origin elected in the manner prescribed in Paragraph A/444, Section 2. The Board of Administration will select a secretary of the General Conference from outside the membership of the Board of Administration. This person shall also serve as the secretary of the Board of Administration. The secretary shall serve with voice but no vote, unless his/her vote is needed to establish lay-clergy membership balance. Termination of membership in the Free Methodist Church shall automatically terminate membership on the Board of Administration. No General Conference officer other than the bishops and the secretary shall be a member of the Board of Administration. The Board of Administration shall elect its chair and vice chair from among the members.

2. The Board shall provide rules and regulations for the conduct of its business. Robert's Rules of Order in the latest edition shall be the standard of parliamentary procedure in the sessions of the Board of Administration.

B/451. 1. The Board of Administration shall have general organizational, promotional, policy making, and supervisory powers over all the activities of the church during the interim between General Conference sessions. It shall meet at least annually and whenever the bishops or one-third of the members shall deem it necessary. A majority of the members elected shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

2. The Board of Administration shall have power to accept resignations, fill vacancies, and remove for cause any of its members during the interim between General Conference sessions, subject to the provisions of the Book of Discipline.

3. The Board of Administration shall meet immediately at the close of the General Conference and shall have power to organize itself, including the election of its chair, vice chair, and a nominating committee.

A nominating committee of not less than eight persons, consisting of equal number of ministers and laypersons, shall be elected by the Board of Administration to subsequently nominate the members and chairs of the committees of the Board. The committee may consult the Board of Bishops.

The members of the Board of Administration owe their primary duty to the Board and their secondary duty to the committees to which they have been elected.

4. The Board of Administration shall elect the Board of Directors of The Free Methodist Foundation. Directors shall be laypersons and ministers who are active in the life and work of the Free Methodist Church and who are qualified to administer the business of the Foundation. The Board of Directors of the Foundation may suggest names to the nominating committee of the Board of Administration. The number of members, directors, terms, and provisions for staggered terms shall be as provided for in the bylaws of the Foundation.

A written statement of philosophy of operations shall be prepared by The Free Methodist Foundation for periodic review and approval by the Board of Administration.

• a. The Foundation shall act as trustee for all trusts in which either the Free Methodist Church of North America, or any of its conferences, local churches, ministries, agencies, or departments are designated either as fiduciary or as a beneficiary, as assigned to it from time to time by the Board of Administration, and shall act as trustee of the Pooled Income Fund and all charitable remainder trusts where so designated by the trustor. With respect to all existing trust relationships, the Foundation shall act as the agent for the denomination, and in its place and stead, as trustee, to the extent authorized by the Board of Administration and the Board of Directors of the Free Methodist Church of North America.
• b. Subject to its approved philosophy of operations, the Foundation shall control, carry out, and manage all activities of the denomination relating to estate planning, wills, trusts, estates, and other types of deferred gifts. In this connection, and to the extent permitted by law, it shall have the power to issue charitable annuities.
• c. The Foundation directors shall manage, control, and supervise all investments of the denomination, its departments, subsidiaries, and related agencies, all pension funds, and all other funds which are entrusted to its control for investment and management.
• d. The Foundation shall be the issuer and manager of the Free Methodist Loan Fund. No treasurer of these church funds shall be a member of the Foundation Board of Directors. No member of the Board of Directors shall be eligible to borrow directly or indirectly or to participate in the benefits of any money borrowed from this loan fund. The Free Methodist Foundation shall not invest these funds in any investments except such as are lawful for the investment of trust funds in the state in which the Free Methodist Foundation may be incorporated.
• e. The Foundation shall report annually to the Board of Administration.

5. The secretary of the Board of Administration shall be nominated by the nominating committee of the Board of Administration. This person shall be the custodian of the General Conference records and journals, and shall keep a record of conscientious objectors reported by the annual conference secretaries. (See Par. A/332, Sec. 3.) It shall be the secretary's duty to make a full report of the proceedings of the Board of Administration to the General Conference.
When the Board of Administration deems it feasible, it shall employ a general church secretary as a denominational executive who shall then assume all the responsibilities and authority of the secretary of the General Conference and other duties as may be assigned by the Board.

6. The Central Area Bishop will serve as the World Ministries Center overseer and as chair of the Operating Committee. This person will give general oversight to the World Ministries Center and other responsibilities as assigned by the Board of Administration, and shall report to the Board.

Executive Directors shall be employed by the church and shall work under the supervision of the World Ministries Center overseer. They shall report to the Board of Administration as to their official duties and shall meet with the committees to which their work has been assigned by the Board of Administration.
The Executive Director of Administration and Finance shall serve as the general church treasurer to administer the finances of the church. This person shall be bonded.

7. The Board of Administration shall employ a certified public accountant firm to audit annually the accounts of the general church treasurer. The auditor will make an annual report in writing to the Board of Administration with recommendations, if any.

8. The proper officers shall publish in the Yearbook annually full and detailed statements of the assets, liabilities, net worth, and financial standing of the various general church boards and corporations.

9. Women's Ministries International and Men's Ministries International auxiliaries shall make and file annually their financial statements with the secretary of the Board of Administration.

10. The Board of Administration shall be the Board of Directors of the Free Methodist Publishing House.

11. The Board of Administration shall have advisory supervision of all church property.

12. The Board of Administration shall, if needed, elect a Court of Appeals, whose decision shall be final. Should any member of this court be absent or disqualified to sit, the place shall be filled pro tem by the Board of Administration from its members, or, if they are disqualified, from a list of members of the church at large approved by counsel for both sides; so that no appeal shall be heard except before a full court. The Court of Appeals shall, if necessary, hold a session once a year, for the purpose of trying all appeals that may be taken thereto by any traveling minister from the decisions of an annual conference. The chair of the Board of Administration shall ordinarily preside over the court; but if absent or disqualified, the Board of Administration shall elect another of its members to preside.

13. The Board of Administration shall have the power to decide all questions of law referred to it in the interim of the General Conference. In case of any alleged legal irregularities in a trial court, wherein the court has delivered a verdict against the church, the prosecution may, upon a written recital of the irregularities, apply to the Board of Administration or to the General Conference for a writ of review, and it shall be the province of that body receiving the application to review the proceedings of the lower court as recited, and if the reviewing body finds the alleged irregularities to exist, the case may be remanded, but only once, for a new trial.

14. The Board of Administration shall have power to make such preliminary arrangements for the General Conference as it may deem necessary.

15. The Board of Administration shall set the salaries of the bishops and the executive directors, considering the recommendations from the Budget and Finance Committee.

16. The Board of Administration shall, as needed, elect a Board of Industrial Relations, the duty of which is to furnish information and render decisions upon all matters of industrial relations. To this Board shall be committed all questions, communications, and papers relating to labor unions or membership in them. This Board shall, wherever practicable, constitute a collective bargaining agency on behalf of the members of our church.

17. The Board of Administration shall be responsible for the general direction of the ministries of the church.

18. The Board of Administration, in consultation with the Board of Bishops, shall see that graded materials are prepared or chosen dealing with the biblical view of human sexuality, preparation for marriage, and marriage. These materials shall be periodically reviewed.