Convention Procedure Updates

Mailing #7: 03/15/12
Presidential Election Voters List

With the beginning of the district convention year cycle, the creation of the voters list for the 2013 election of the President of the Synod has begun. The voters will be the voting delegates attending district conventions. A delegate representation and certification process has been developed to assure fair and equal participation synodwide.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VOTERS LIST is created when district convention voting delegates register on-site for their district conventions. Special registration forms are being used to obtain contact and security information essential to the voting process. This confidential list will continue to grow over the next four months. It will also be necessary to keep the list updated until the time of the presidential vote in June, 2013.

MAINTAINING AN ACCURATE LIST OF UP TO 10,000 VOTERS, including current mail and email addresses, will be a challenge that will be facilitated by official forms provided by the Secretary’s Office.

• Because substitute voters will be necessary when district convention voting delegates become unavailable, a form is being provided for use by congregations to notify the Synod of official substitutions.
• Because mail and email addresses change from time to time, a form is being provided to voters to provide to the Synod updated contact information.
• These forms are already available electronically at www.lcms.org/convention/presidentialelection. Printed forms may be requested from the office of the Secretary at LCMSSecretary@lcms.org.

THE VOTERS LIST WILL BE TESTED via email following each district convention and periodically thereafter to make certain that contact is maintained with every voter. Early notice of changes to the list will be helpful.

 

Raymond L. Hartwig
LCMS Secretary

Mailing #6: 01/15/12
Congregation Statistics Report

Very soon every congregation of the Synod will receive its 2011 “Congregation Statistics Report” form, to be filled out and returned to the Synod as promptly as possible. This report form has been simplified over the years to make certain that only essential information is being requested.

WHILE ALWAYS IMPORTANT AND HELPFUL, every congregation’s submission of its 2011 report is especially important this year, for two reasons in particular:

The information provided will be necessary for determining delegate representation at the 2013 Synod convention. Synod Bylaw 3.1.2 (a) specifies that an electoral circuit “shall consist either of one or two adjacent visitation circuits, as shall be determined by each district on the basis of the following requirements: each pair of delegates shall represent from 7 to 20 member congregations, involving an aggregate communicant membership ranging from 1,500 to 10,000.”

The 2010 convention amended Synod Bylaw 1.3.4 to make clear that the provision of statistical reports is an expectation of membership in the Synod. Congregations, “compelled by love for each other, accept the responsibility to support financially the work of the Synod and provide annual statistical information to enable the Synod to plan current and future ministry efforts ...”

OUR GOAL for the return of the 2011 Congregation Statistics Report forms must therefore be a 100 percent return. Please watch for the report form in your congregation’s mailbox, complete it, and return it promptly.

 

Raymond L. Hartwig
LCMS Secretary

Mailing #5: 10/31/11
“Grass-Roots” Participation

One stated objective of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance was “to broaden and amplify the participation and voice of the congregations” in the life and work of the Synod (The Final Report of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance, p. 22). The convention agreed with this objective by adopting several bylaw changes that advance such “grass-roots” participation of congregations, as already detailed in earlier postcard mailings.

BY WAY OF REVIEW:
The following can serve as a checklist of old and new opportunities for such “grass-roots” involvement by congregations in the mission and ministry of the Synod:

• Congregations designate representatives to attend circuit forums prior to their district conventions.
• Congregations discuss and nominate candidates for circuit counselor for the following triennium, submitting names and required information regarding the candidates to the current circuit counselor.
• Congregations discuss and then submit through their representatives to the circuit forum suggestions for mission and ministry emphases for the next triennium of the Synod.
• Congregations consider submitting other overtures for circuit forum (or district convention) consideration.
• Congregations elect their delegates to their district conventions, who will also serve as their voters in the election of President of the Synod prior to the Synod convention.

WHAT SHOULD CONGREGATIONS MAKE OF THIS? Some congregations may be inclined to participate minimally, but this list provides a very positive agenda for a regular or specially called voters meeting, an opportunity to pursue that greater sense of ownership, that “grass-roots” involvement advocated by the Blue Ribbon Task Force and the Bylaws of the Synod.

 

Raymond L. Hartwig
LCMS Secretary

Mailing #4: 10/15/11
Participation in Mission and Ministry Emphases Process

Prior to the 2010 LCMS convention, no synodwide approach existed for determining goals and emphases. This has changed. The 2010 convention provided a process for congregations, circuit forums, districts and the national convention to participate in determining triennial mission and ministry emphases for the Synod.

WHAT HAS CHANGED:
Beginning now, as congregations have voters meetings to select their representatives to their circuit forums and make their nominations for circuit counselors, they also have an opportunity to discuss and suggest mission and ministry emphases for the Synod, to be considered by their circuit forums and submitted to their district conventions. As stated in Synod Bylaw 4.2.1 (d):

The district convention is the instrument to receive overtures . . . including
overtures and recommendations for synodwide mission and ministry emphases
submitted by member congregations and adopted by a circuit forum. [Emphasis added]

UPCOMING CIRCUIT FORUMS JUST BECAME MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER!
Congregations must prepare now by scheduling voters meetings to:

• designate a pastor and one member of the congregation to attend the circuit forum as the congregation’s official representatives (Bylaw 5.3.2);
• nominate pastors for the office of circuit counselor from pastors serving congregations and emeriti pastors (Bylaw 5.2.2 [b]);
• determine mission and ministry emphases (areas in which the Synod should concentrate its efforts during the next triennium) for consideration and action by the circuit forum (Bylaw 5.3.1 [b] [5]).

Raymond L. Hartwig
LCMS Secretary

Mailing #3: 09/30/11
Election of Circuit Counselors by Circuit Forums

Prior to the 2010 LCMS convention, the congregations of a circuit selected their circuit counselor using a ballot process largely carried out by the secretary of the district. This has changed.

WHAT HAS CHANGED:
The congregations of a circuit must now select their circuit counselor during a circuit forum prior to their 2012 district convention. According to Synod Bylaw 5.2.2:

The circuit counselor shall hold his position by virtue of his selection
by the circuit forum and ratification by the district convention.

WITH DISTRICT CONVENTIONS BEGINNING AS EARLY AS JANUARY 2012, congregations must prepare now for theircircuits’ forums. Every congregation must schedule a voters’ meeting to

• designate a pastor and one member of the congregation to attend the circuit forum as the congregation’s official representatives (Bylaw 5.3.2); and
• nominate pastors for the office of circuit counselor from pastors serving congregations and emeriti pastors (Bylaw 5.2.2 [b]).

FOLLOWING THE VOTERS’ MEETING AND PRIOR TO THE CIRCUIT FORUM, congregations must submit to their circuit counselors (1) the names and biographical information of their nominee(s) and (2) each nominee’s consent to serve if elected.

 

Raymond L. Hartwig
LCMS Secretary

Mailing #2: 09/15/11
Election of Delegates to Circuit Forums

Prior to the 2010 LCMS convention, Circuit Forums (official gatherings of representatives of the congregations of a circuit) were required to meet prior to national Synod conventions to conduct essential convention-related business. This has not changed.

WHAT HAS CHANGED:
Circuit forums now must also meet prior to district conventions to handle two essential items of business:

• Selection of a circuit counselor for the 2012-2015 triennium (for ratification by the convention)
• Adoption of overtures for district convention consideration, including recommendations for synodwide mission and ministry emphases for the 2013-2016 Synod triennium

WITH DISTRICT CONVENTIONS BEGINNING AS EARLY AS JANUARY 2012, congregations must plan now to elect their circuit forum representatives (Synod Bylaw 5.3.2):

The circuit forum consists of a pastor of each congregation [of the circuit] and one member of each congregation designated by the congregation

IT IS TIME FOR CONGREGATIONS TO SCHEDULE VOTERS MEETINGS to elect official circuit forum representatives.  Specific information regarding the business to be addressed by these circuit forums will be provided in future mailings.

 

Raymond L. Hartwig
LCMS Secretary