Dear Fellow St. Philippians:
This letter is to inform you of a Congregational Meeting, which Council has schedule for Sunday, September 27, after the 9:30AM “parking lot” worship service.
The meeting will take place in the parking lot.
The purpose of this meeting is to vote on Council’s recommendation for changes to the St. Philips Constitution. This will be the sole item on the agenda, and approval of the recommendation will require a majority of the voters present at this meeting.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that we have a quorum present for this meeting, so PLEASE make every effort to attend.
The changes being proposed are mostly to align our Constitution with the Congregational Constitution currently in effect in the Virginia Synod of the ELCA. The Virginia Synod Constitution has had seven (7) updates since St. Philip last updated its Constitution in April 2013, so we need to get current. The most important provision in the update to us right now would allow St. Philip to conduct Congregational Voter meetings digitally, without having an “in person” gathering. The lack of this provision in our Constitution is beginning to hamper Council’s ability to effectively manage the affairs of our congregation.
It is NOT Council’s intent to adopt digital voter’s meetings as a preferred practice. I think most would agree that in-person gatherings remain the preferred practice because it allows effective communication and important exchanges of ideas and viewpoints in a meeting. However, we have learned that the ability to conduct a digital voter’s meeting is indeed an important option to insure effective management of congregational business in extreme circumstances.
A copy of the recommended updates can be found below. Please review prior to our meeting on the 27.
God’s Peace to all of you,
Gary Sahm, Council President