The following letter was submitted to Bishop Dillahunt by the Southern Ohio Synod Constitution Task Force. The letter includes a timeline for revisions, which was presented to and approved by the Southern Ohio Synod Council on September 20, 2014. Bishop Dillahunt and the Synod Council feel the content of the letter and the timeline are important for every member of our synod to know so everyone understands the process that has and is taking place prior to the Synod Assembly voting on the adoption of the revised constitution in 2015. Please share this with your congregation.
Dear Bishop Dillahunt,
As the Constitution Task Force, which you appointed in November 2013, reported Monday, September 15, 2014 to the Southern Ohio Synod Council Executive Committee, we are nearing completion of our work together and are moving to transition the suggested revisions to the Executive Committee and Synod Council for action on required and recommended changes to the Southern Ohio Synod’s Governing Documents. The required and recommended changes to be submitted by this task force remain faithful to three core principles given to us at the outset of our work together.
1) The revised constitution needs foremost to be missionally-focused and missionally-driven.
2) The changes should provide maximum operational flexibility and empower the entire synod to work creatively and effectively.
3) The revisions should clear up any inconsistencies internally within the Southern Ohio Synod’s constitution and externally with relation to the ELCA’s governing documents.
With that in mind, the Constitution Task Force has worked diligently over the past ten months to present a document faithful to those principles.
The first three months of our work together, the task force read the constitution line-by-line, addressed errors and typos in the Southern Ohio Synod’s Governing Documents and identified the required changes outlined in the 2013 ELCA Model Constitution for Synods. After that, the task force redirected its attention to other revisions that were recommended in the 2013 ELCA Model Constitution for Synods and to other sections that needed reworking to simplify our governing documents and empower the Southern Ohio Synod in its mission. The revisions that the Task Force is preparing to present are thorough in nature and are required to go through a specific process for their adoption.
The Constitution Task Force therefore recommends that the Executive Committee and the Synod Council approve adoption of the following timeline for release of this work. Approval of this timeline and process is important because it will allow the Constitution Task Force to support its suggested changes with strong reasoning and equip the Synod Council as it communicates the revisions to the synod in preparation for the June 5-6, 2015 Synod Assembly.
Therefore, our suggested timeline that we ask for the Executive Committee to recommend to the Synod Council and ask for the Synod Council to approve at the September 20, 2014 meeting is as follows:
Proposed Timeline for Revisions
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 Proposed embargoed (information is confidential until approval and release according to constitutional procedure) revisions are submitted to the Executive Committee for review.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014 Executive Committee submits their request to the Vice President to remove any changes from EnBloc (all similar procedural matters are voted for in one vote) for discussion.
Monday, October 13, 2014 Synod Council Executive Committee holds special session to review and recommend the Task Force recommendations to Synod Council.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Proposed embargoed (information is confidential until approval and release according to constitutional procedure) revisions recommended by Executive Committee remain embargoed and released to the Synod Council.
Sunday, October 26, 2014 Synod Council submits their requests to the Vice President to remove any changes from EnBloc (all similar procedural manners are voted for in one vote) to the Executive Committee for discussion.
Monday, October 27, 2014 Synod Council Executive Committee meets to construct the agenda for the November Synod Council meeting.
Saturday, November 1, 2014 The Synod Council meets to review and recommend revisions to the Southern Ohio Synod Governing Documents in preparation for the 2015 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly.
Monday, November 24, 2014 Vice President of the Synod Council attaches a letter to the recommended revisions and the recommended revisions to the Southern Ohio Synod’s Governing Documents are sent out via electronic means.
Monday, December 1, 2014 Vice President of Synod Council’s Letter and the recommended changes are sent out by hard copy to all congregational presidents of the Southern Ohio Synod.
February 2015 and/or March 2015 The Southern Ohio Synod Council will sponsor a meeting in the Eastern Part of the Southern Ohio Synod and the Western Part of the Southern Ohio Synod to discuss the recommended revisions to the Southern Ohio Synod Governing Documents.
Monday, March 29, 2015 Voting Members of the Southern Ohio Synod Assembly notify the Secretary of Synod Council the recommended revisions to the Southern Ohio Synod Governing Documents that they wish to remove from EnBloc (all similar procedural manners are voted for in one vote) consideration at the June 5 & 6, 2015 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly.
While this timeline is comprehensive and exact, constitutional provisions +S18.13, +S18.21, and +S18.31 require this precision. Working within the framework of this timeline will insure successful completions of our work together at the 2015 Synod Assembly.
As the work together of the Constitution Task Forces nears its completion, the Task Force thanks you for
the trust that you have given us and the support that you have provided through your staff. Most of all, we thank you for our leadership as the Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod. We pray fervently for you as you lead us into God’s future for us all.
Working together as Christ’s Church,
Pastor Craig Richter
Task Force Recorder
Cc: Linda Cregan, Task Force Chairperson
Linda Schnittke, Task Force Member
Pastor Craig Fourman, Task Force Member
Pastor Bob Abrams, Task Force Member and Synod Staff Relator
Pastor Jeff Wick, Synod Staff Relator
Download a PDF of the letter to share: Constitution Task Force Letter 9 14