WMLT — They’ll Be In the Mail

Found on the Witness, Mercy, Life Together blog:

 


 


As conventions season approaches, we are faced with a bit of a Synod-wide dilemma. How shall our congregations become informed in a timely manner of convention- and election-related changes made by the 2010 convention, some of which are very significant?

Usual Channels of Information

District presidents surely will want to share some of this information at Fall Professional Workers Conferences, which will then be shared with congregations by the pastors and teachers. And circuit counselors surely will want to keep pastors and congregations informed in their circuits.

To facilitate this sharing of information, the Council of Presidents has set aside a bloc of time during its September 2011 meeting to review the changes that have taken place. District presidents will want to provide this information to their circuit counselors for distribution on the congregation level.

But will this provide enough notice? And will it be timely enough to enable all 6,000-plus congregations of our Synod to actively participate, especially since some of the changes have almost immediate consequences as 2012 district conventions approach?

Unusual Channel of Information

As Secretary of the Synod, I hope to lend my hand to this communication effort. With the help of my staff and others, I am putting together a mailing campaign that hopefully will provide timely information directly to congregations to help make certain that no congregation is left unaware.

On September 1, the first in a series of 18 5 ½ x 8 ½ postcard mailings (clearly labeled as official business) will be mailed to all congregations, circuit counselors, and district presidents. These mailings will provide the information they need to know at the time they will need to know it. An article in the September Reporter will alert the Synod to the receipt of these mailings over the next 20 months.

The first postcard, calling congregations’ attention to “District Convention Delegate/Alternate Delegate Elections,” will describe the change in the manner in which the President of the Synod will be elected beginning in 2013—by direct participation by the congregations of the Synod. The postcard will call attention to the important rules for participation.

The second postcard, calling attention to congregations’ need to elect their representatives to their circuit forums (which must take place prior to their 2012 district conventions) is scheduled to be mailed on September 15. The third, scheduled for September 30, will address the new process by which the 2012 circuit counselor nominations and elections must take place.

Becoming-the-Usual Channel of Information

The recognition behind the mailings is that the U.S. Mail is still the most dependable method at this time to make certain that every congregation is reached. However, recognizing that the Internet is the preferred source of information for increasing numbers of people, the content of the postcards will be posted on the Synod’s Website at www.lcms.org/convention/procedureupdates following each mailing.

Raymond Hartwig
Secretary, LCMS

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