ELCA Church Council recommends 2007 Churchwide Assembly rules

News & Events: Index

April 26, 2007

ELCA Church Council recommends 2007 Churchwide Assembly rules

Below you will find the official release from the ELCA News Service regarding the standing rules which will be recommended to the Churchwide Assembly (CWA) in August. It deserves a very careful reading and demonstrates an important and encouraging shift from the run up to CWA 2005.

In 2005 a special rule was added by the council and approved by the churchwide assembly to require a 2/3 majority for amendments or substitute motions for task force recommendations which would lead to policy change. At the April 2007 Church Council meeting, that rule was deleted from the proposed standing rules for CWA 2007.

Also at the April meeting, statements by Secretary Lowell Almen confirmed that "unless the ELCA constitution and bylaws prescribe a 2/3 vote on a question or the adopted rules of procedure specify such a 2/3 vote, 'the margin required for passage of resolutions or other actions is majority vote.'"

ELCA Council Recommends 2007 Churchwide Assembly Rules 07-071-JB
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
April 24, 2007

CHICAGO (ELCA) – The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recommended to the 2007 Churchwide Assembly a series of rules to help guide the decision-making process of the voting members. The assembly, the ELCA's highest legislative authority, will be held, Aug. 6–11 here at Navy Pier.

The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here April 14–16.

Prior to each churchwide assembly, the council recommends the rules of organization and procedure for the assembly.

Assembly voting members must approve the agenda and the rules when the assembly opens.

After significant discussion, the council submitted rules that were the same as in 2005, removing one paragraph that referenced recommendations from a task force report. The rules also proposed provision for a series of questions, as determined by the Executive Committee of the council, when there are elections of secretaries and vice presidents. The previous rules already had specified the question-and-answer step in the election of the presiding bishop.

Richard L Wahl, council member, Millersville, Md., asked the Rev Lowell G Almen, ELCA secretary, about what rules apply to memorials at the churchwide assembly and what options are open to the assembly regarding possible changes in "Vision and Expectations," the church's policy document for professional leaders.

Both Almen and the Rev Mark S Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, expressed reservations about answering questions about possible resolutions that had not been submitted. Hanson, who will chair the assembly, said his role is to help the assembly do its work. He also said discussions about "theoretical" resolutions are complex and expressed concern about how this would be interpreted to the ELCA.

"We didn't expect in 2007 that we would be possibly be revisiting actions of the 2005 assembly," Hanson said. This church, he said, is aware of the possibility of synod assembly memorials that may call for changes in clergy standards. Hanson abstained from voting on the proposed rules to avoid a conflict of interest with his role as assembly chair.

In an interview with the ELCA News Service, Almen explained that unless the ELCA constitution and bylaws prescribe a two-thirds vote on a question or the adopted rules of procedure specify such a two-thirds vote, "the margin required for passage of resolutions or other actions is majority vote," he said.

Amendments to the constitution and bylaws require a two- thirds vote for approval, Almen said. A two-thirds vote is prescribed for adoption of the text of social statements and approval of any full-communion relationship with another church body. A two-thirds vote also is needed to amend, suspend or remove an action that required a two-thirds vote in a previous assembly to approve, he said. An assembly can ask for a two-thirds or "supermajority" on other issues if it wishes, Almen said.

"It's very difficult to provide a definitive answer on a margin of vote on a theoretical issue, because the exact language of a resolution and its implications can have an impact on that margin of vote," Almen said. "One can give a general response like 'it takes a majority vote to approve a response to a memorial of a synod.' But there might be certain circumstances in which the text of a response may elevate the matter to two- thirds. It's impossible to really give an answer definitively … and some questions seem to be seeking that kind of definitive response related to a theoretical issue."

The item the council dropped from the rules it recommended was put into the rules for the 2005 assembly and approved by the assembly. "That particular item related to a margin of vote on recommendations of a task force that might have some implication for policy of this church," Almen said. The Rev Jennifer J Thomas, council member, Milwaukee, proposed dropping the rule.