Preparing for the 2012 District Convention (by Pr. Charles Henrickson)

Now is the time to prepare for your 2012 District Convention. The first step is to find out the dates for your District Convention and then work backward from that, because there are a number of deadlines to be met far in advance of the convention. Those deadlines vary by district, but in all cases they are coming up fast, and most of them require action by congregational voters’ assemblies beforehand. Contact your pastor or circuit counselor, or your district office, newsletter, or website, to find out the deadlines for these actions:

Nominations for District President
Nominations for First Vice-President
Election of Lay Delegate and Alternate
Nominations for other district offices
Election of Circuit Forum Representative (prior to Circuit Forum)
Nominations for Circuit Counselor (prior to Circuit Forum)
Election of Circuit Counselor (at Circuit Forum)
Submission of overtures

The following rules (e.g., number of nominations) are based on what is in place in the Missouri District. While those details may also be true in most other districts, they could vary somewhat. Check with your pastor, circuit counselor, or district office for the specifics in your district.

Nominations for District President: Your congregation may nominate two ordained ministers.

Nominations for First Vice-President: Your congregation may nominate two ordained ministers.

Election of Lay Delegate and Alternate: Your congregation should elect a layperson who can attend the District Convention. That lay delegate, by attending the District Convention, will then be eligible, as one of your congregation’s two representatives, to vote electronically for Synod President, four weeks prior to the LCMS national convention in July of 2013.

Nominations for other district offices (e.g., Secretary, Treasurer, Board of Directors, and Committee on Nominations): This does not require congregational action. Individual members of congregations may submit recommendations for these various offices to the Committee on Nominations.

Election of Circuit Forum Representative: Your congregation should elect a layperson who can attend the Circuit Forum. This need not be the same person elected as your lay delegate to the District Convention, although it could be. The name of the circuit forum representative should be reported to your circuit counselor prior to the Circuit Forum (date set by circuit counselor).

Nominations for Circuit Counselor: Your congregation may nominate two ordained ministers. The form should be submitted to your circuit counselor prior to the Circuit Forum.

Election of Circuit Counselor: From the pool of the nominated pastors, the Circuit Forum shall elect a circuit counselor. That election will then need to be ratified at the District Convention.

Submission of overtures: Overtures may be submitted by congregations or by the Circuit Forum.

Each congregation and pastor should have a copy of the LCMS 2010 Handbook, which may also be found at the LCMS website (lcms.org). District Convention information, and perhaps also the District Bylaws, may be found at your district website.

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