|
Question:
Why are the terms “voting member” and “assembly” used by the ELCA and the synod instead of “delegate” and “convention”?
Answer:
An excerpt from the introduction to the 2003 Pre-Assembly Report for the Churchwide Assembly outlines the crucial tasks of voting members and contrasts the term with the way delegate is used in many political contexts. The excerpt reads as follows:
In the ELCA's predecessor church bodies, the word "delegate" was used and meant people chosen to fulfill responsibilities in what then were then known as synod or district "conventions." Like those "delegates" in our predecessor churches, ELCA voting members in ELCA synodical assemblies are chosen to represent all of the members of all of the congregations in the synod.
In the case of the Churchwide Assembly, voting members carry out their duties on behalf of all members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Nourished by Word and Sacrament, they are called in assembly to seek the well-being of this whole church.
Voting members carry a heavy responsibility. They must study carefully the issues on the agenda of the assembly, listen thoughtfully to the debate throughout plenary sessions, examine wisely possible amendments to proposals, consider with insight resolutions or new business submitted by voting members, elect with care apt persons to serve on the churchwide council, boards, and committees, seek prayerfully the guidance of God's Spirit in all matters, and act conscientiously for the sake of the unity and well-being of this church and the whole Church.
Assembly Vocabulary No Accident
It is important to note and remember that no delegates will be present for the assembly. Voting members are not delegates, as that term is understood or used in some political contexts.
- The terminology related to the legislative process of this church is no accident.
- The words, "Synod Assembly" and "Churchwide Assembly," rather than convention, and "voting members," rather than delegates, were deliberately chosen for our governing documents.
These words not only fulfill certain legal requirements but also reflect an ecclesial (that is, churchly) understanding--an understanding grounded in Scripture, reflected in the Lutheran Confessional writings, and established as part of this church's polity upon the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Selection and Responsibilities of Voting Members
Within the ELCA, we find three primary expressions of this church--congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization. They exist and serve within this one church.
1. A congregation of the ELCA does not meet in convention; the members gather in worship, carry out service, and assemble occasionally and properly for governance decisions and elections.
2. The people of this church in each of the 65 synods are not sent as agents of a particular caucus; they are not gathered to act as politicized delegates to a regional party convention. Rather, they assemble as duly selected members of this church with voting responsibilities for governance and elections on behalf of the synod.
The Synod Assembly is just that, an assembly of the people of this church, some of whom have been chosen for the responsibility of being voting members of the Synod Assembly. They assemble together in worship and are nurtured in the faith through Word and Sacrament. Then, in their deliberations, they seek the wisdom and guidance of God's Spirit in the decisions and elections of the assembly.
3. The people of this church, when gathered as voting members of the Synod Assembly, have the responsibility of electing the voting members of the Churchwide Assembly. Persons so chosen are given the responsibility of doing the work of the Churchwide Assembly on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They are not sent to participate as politicized delegates from a regional or agenda-specific caucus at some national party convention. Rather, they assemble as members of this church.
Words Shape and Reflect Understanding
The vocabulary that we use within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America both shapes and reflects our understanding of this church. When we recognize and understand that our "congregations find their fulfillment in the universal community of the Church, and the universal Church exists in and through congregations" (ELCA churchwide constitutional provision 3.02.), then our awareness of the significance of being voting members in a given assembly may grow.
After all, as we declare in regard to the "Nature of the Church," the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America "derives its character and powers both from the sanction and representation of its congregations and from its inherent nature as an expression of the broader fellowship of the faith" (also ELCA churchwide constitutional provision 3.02.).
We Need Each Other as People of God’s Church
We do need to (a) understand more clearly and (b) embrace more completely the conviction that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America "shall seek to function as people of God through congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization, all of which shall be interdependent. Each part, while fully the church, recognizes that it is not the whole church and therefore lives in a partnership relationship with the others" (ELCA churchwide constitutional provision 8.11.).
Indeed, we together affirm and declare the primary principle of organization for our church, namely: "The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America shall be one church" (ELCA churchwide constitutional provision 5.01.).
Within this one church, we as voting members, advisory members, non-voting members, visitors, and staff will gather to carry out the work of the 2005 Churchwide Assembly.
Question:
What are the responsibilities of a Churchwide Voting Member at the Assembly?
Answer:
The nature and role of the Churchwide Assembly are defined by the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in this way:
The Churchwide Assembly shall be the highest legislative authority of the churchwide organization and shall deal with all matters which are necessary in pursuit of the purposes and functions of this church.
Further, ELCA churchwide constitutional provision 12.11.declares:
The powers of the Churchwide Assembly are limited only by the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation, this constitution and bylaws, and the assembly's own resolutions.
The Churchwide Assembly, according to ELCA churchwide constitutional provision 12.21., must:
a. Review the work of the churchwide officers, and for this purpose require and receive reports from them and act on business proposed by them.
b. Review the work of the churchwide units, and for this purpose require and receive reports from them and act on business proposed by them.
c. Receive and consider proposals from synod assemblies.
d. Establish churchwide policy.
e. Adopt a budget for the churchwide organization.
f. Elect officers, board members, and other persons as provided in the constitution and bylaws.
g. Establish churchwide units to carry out the functions of the churchwide organization.
h. Have the sole authority to amend the constitution and bylaws.
i. Fulfill other functions as required in the constitution and bylaws.
j. Conduct such other business as necessary to further the purposes and functions of the churchwide organization.
Question:
What does the Northwestern Ohio Synod Constitution say about the Synod Assembly?
Answer:
The Northwestern Ohio Synod constitutional provisions covering the synod assembly are included below:
Chapter 7. Synod Assembly
S7.01. This synod shall have a Synod Assembly, which shall be its highest legislative authority. The powers of the Synod Assembly are limited only by the provisions in the Articles of Incorporation, this constitution and bylaws; the assembly's own resolutions, and the constitutions and bylaws of this church.
S7.01.01. Each member of the Synod Assembly, or of a board or committee of this synod, with the exception of the youth member of the Synod Council, shall be a voting member of a congregation of this synod.
Question:
How often do we need to have synod assemblies?
Answer:
S7.11. A regular meeting of the Synod Assembly shall be held at least biennially.
S7.11.01. Regular meetings of the Synod Assembly shall be held annually.
S7.12. Special meetings of the Synod Assembly.
a. Special meetings of the Synod Assembly may be called by the bishop with the consent of the Synod Council, and shall be called by the bishop at the request of two-thirds of the Synod Council or at the request of one-fifth of the voting members of the Synod Assembly. The notice of each special meeting shall define the purpose for which it is to be held. The scope of the actions taken at such special meeting shall be limited to the subject matter(s) described in the notice.
b. If the special meeting of the Synod Assembly is for the purpose of electing a successor bishop because of death, resignation, or inability to serve, the special meeting shall be called by the presiding bishop of the ELCA in cooperation with the Synod Council.
Question:
How many people need to be present for the assembly and why does there have to be a mix of lay and clergy? Do all clergy and those on the roster need to attend? And how are the number of voting members determined?
Answer:
S7.14. One-half of the members of the Synod Assembly shall constitute a quorum.
S7.21. The membership of the Synod Assembly, of which at least 60% of the voting membership shall be composed of laypersons, shall be constituted as follows:
a. All ordained ministers under call on the roster of this Synod in attendance at the Synod Assembly shall be voting members.
b. All associates in ministry, deaconesses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and diaconal ministers, under call, on the official lay rosters of this synod shall have both voice and vote as lay voting members in the Synod Assembly, in addition to the voting membership of lay members of congregations provided in item S7.21.c.
c. A minimum of one lay member elected by each congregation with fewer than 175 baptized members and a minimum of two lay members elected by congregations with more than 175 baptized members related to this synod, normally one of whom shall be male and one of whom shall be female, shall be voting members. The Synod Council shall establish a formula to provide additional lay representation from congregations on the basis of the number of baptized members in the congregation. The Synod Council shall seek to ensure that, as nearly as possible, 50% of the assembly shall be female and 50% shall be male. Additional members from each congregation normally shall be equally divided between male and female.
d. Voting membership shall include the officers of this synod.
S7.21.01. The method by which the lay members shall be elected by each congregation to the Synod Assembly shall be at the discretion of each congregation. "Elected" in S7.21.c. above may include either action by the congregation council (the congregation's governing body) or a meeting of the congregation.
S7.22. All retired ministers and all retired associates in ministry on the roster of this synod who have pre-registered for the Synod Assembly shall be voting members of the Synod Assembly, consistent with S7.21.c. above.
S7.23.
a. All ordained ministers on leave from call and all associates in ministry, on leave from call or retired who are not elected as members, all of whose names appear on the roster of this synod, shall have the privilege of voice but not vote at all meetings of the Synod Assembly, and, if pre-registered for the Synod Assembly, shall be voting members of the Synod Assembly.
b. The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and such other official representatives of this church as may be designated from time to time by the Church Council shall also have voice but not vote in the meetings of the Synod Assembly. Like privileges shall be accorded to those additional persons whom the Synod Assembly or the Synod Council shall from time to time designate.
S7.24. Ordained ministers under call on the roster of this synod shall remain as members of the Synod Assembly so long as they remain under call and so long as their names appear on the roster of ordained ministers of this synod. Associates in ministry, deaconesses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and diaconal ministers of this church serving under call on the roster of this synod shall remain as members of the Synod Assembly so long as they remain under call and so long as their names appear on the official lay roster of this synod. Lay members of the Synod Assembly representing congregations shall continue as such until replaced by the election of new members or until they have been disqualified by termination of membership. Normally, congregations will hold elections prior to each regular meeting of the Synod Assembly.
S7.25. Except as otherwise provided in this constitution or in the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, each voting member of the Synod Assembly shall be a voting member of a congregation of this synod.
Question:
Can we vote with an absentee ballot or by proxy at the assembly?
Answer:
S7.31. Proxy and absentee voting shall not be permitted in the transaction of any business of this synod.
S7.32. Robert's Rules of Order, latest edition, shall govern parliamentary procedure of the Synod Assembly, unless otherwise ordered by the assembly.
|
