Abeyance

Abeyance is a state of "inactivity" for SCA groups. A group in abeyance is not considered an official SCA group for various purposes -- it cannot hold events, cannot have a bank account (if it has one then it cannot access it), it cannot receive royal patronage, it is not listed in Pegasus, etc.

A group can be placed into abeyance for one of several reasons:

• It doesn't have sufficient members to continue. For example, most or all of the members have moved away from the area.
• It has failed to produce sufficient reports -- for example if the seneschal of a group has not reported for some time then the Kingdom Seneschal can put the group into abeyance.
• It has failed to produce end of year financial reports. In this case the group will be placed into abeyance by the SCA Treasurer. This form of abeyance lasts until the end of the next financial year.
• A group cannot find the appropriate officers. For example, a shire must have 3 officers, and a barony must have 6. Usually a group will not be placed into abeyance until continued efforts have failed to find people to do these offices.

Abeyance usually lasts until the situation has been resolved. For example, reports have started to arrive in a timely manner.

As opposed to abeyance, a college group can be made dormant if it does not have sufficient members. For example, the university students have left and/or graduated, and new students aren't found to run the club. A college group that is made dormant can be reactivated by any 5 new student members who wish to re-found the student club and re-start the college.