5Chapters

5.1 What a chapter is

5.1.1 A 墨社 chapter is the local unit of the Community. Everything you do day to day — the weekly meeting, your assignment, your care pair, the fund — happens in your chapter.

5.1.2 Chapters are drawn by home address. Every Mohist belongs to one chapter and only one. You do not choose your chapter any more than you choose your neighbors; that is part of impartial care.

5.1.3 A Mohist who cannot attend any in-person chapter may join an online chapter. Online chapters are drawn by time zone and main language, and every rule in this chapter applies to them.

5.2 Forming a chapter

5.2.1 A chapter forms when it has: at least eight Mohists; a chapter lead approved by the region lead (or by the Community Council where there is no region); and a fixed weekly meeting time and place (or link).

5.2.2 Until it meets those conditions, a group is a "chapter-in-formation" led by a Mohist the region names. Its members remain on the records of their existing chapter or region.

5.2.3 The region lead answers a formation request within 30 days. Once approved, the chapter is formally constituted at its first monthly meeting, and the records transfer then. (Test: precedent)

5.3 Size

5.3.1 The target size of a chapter is 25 to 45 Mohists. At that size the chapter lead knows everyone and everyone has a real assignment.

5.3.2 When active Mohists exceed 60, the chapter must split. "Active" means having attended at least four meetings in the past quarter. The chapter lead submits a split proposal to the region lead in the quarter the count passes 60.

5.3.3 A split proposal includes: the new address boundaries; at least eight Mohists and a proposed chapter lead for each resulting chapter; and a plan for reassigning 职 and care pairs. The resulting chapters are named by place.

5.3.4 If a chapter has fewer than eight active Mohists for two consecutive quarters, the region lead and chapter lead decide together whether to merge it into a neighboring chapter or return it to chapter-in-formation status. Merging is not failure; it is frugality.

5.4 The chapter council

5.4.1 Each chapter has a chapter council: the chapter lead, the treasurer, the reading lead, the care coordinator, and the youth lead.

5.4.2 The chapter council admits new Mohists, assigns 职 and care pairs, reviews fund spending, approves the quarterly report, and discusses chapter business.

5.4.3 The council meets monthly, preferably just before the monthly meeting. Minutes are kept in the member app and may be read by members, except parts concerning individuals.

5.4.4 A chapter with fewer than 15 Mohists may merge these roles under chapter 1, 1.4. The council is never fewer than three people.

5.4.5 Council members other than the chapter lead are proposed by the chapter lead and the sitting council using the assignment procedure in chapter 7, for one-year terms renewable once.

5.5 Regions

5.5.1 Where five or more chapters lie in one geographic area, a 墨区 region is formed with the approval of the Community Council.

5.5.2 A region has a region lead and a region council made up of the chapter leads of the region. How the region lead is chosen, and their duties, are in chapter 4.

5.5.3 A region is not a layer of management. It is the platform on which chapters work together: splits, transfers, the annual region conference, 非攻 Corps actions across chapters, and exchange of experience between chapter leads.

5.5.4 A chapter with no region reports directly to the Community Council, which names one Council member as its contact.

5.6 Naming

5.6.1 A chapter is named for its city or district: in Chinese, city plus district plus 墨社, as in 「上海徐汇墨社」 or 「东京新宿墨社」; in English, place name plus "Chapter", as in "Berlin Chapter" or "Toronto East Chapter".

5.6.2 Where a city has only one chapter, the district may be omitted, as in 「成都墨社」 or "Lyon Chapter". After a split, the district is added.

5.6.3 Online chapters are named by time zone and language, as in "UTC+8 中文线上墨社" or "UTC−5 English Online Chapter".

5.6.4 Regions are named for a province, state, or larger area, as in 「江苏墨区」 or "Bavaria Region".

5.6.5 Chapters and regions are never named after a person, a donor, or a chapter of the Mozi. (Test: precedent — the historical Mohist groups were also known by place.)

5.7 What a chapter owes

5.7.1 Every chapter: meets weekly; holds a monthly meeting; reports quarterly to its region; manages its fund under chapter 9; keeps its records under chapter 13.

5.7.2 A chapter may not make rules that conflict with this Handbook. It may make local arrangements on matters the Handbook does not cover — for example, rules for using the meeting space — and files them with the region.

5.7.3 Chapters are equals. There is no "head chapter" or "parent chapter"; a chapter formed by a split has the same standing as the one it came from.