Memorials and resolutions enable our Churchwide Organization to address broad policy issues or issues important to God’s mission in the world.
Memorials
address broad policy issues, while
resolutions
have a narrower focus, requesting consideration or action by individual offices, units, or the Church Council. A Memorials Committee, appointed by the ELCA Church Council, receives memorials from synod assemblies and makes appropriate recommendations for assembly action. The Memorials Committee meets after all synod assemblies are over and approximately six to eight weeks before a
Churchwide Assembly
.
In 2020, the Southwest California and Pacifica Synods will hold a joint assembly on the campus of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, expressing that "we are church together for the sake of the world."
In that spirit, both synods will accept memorials for consideration at a joint business session.
The assembly will be held on the campus of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks from May 28 to May 30, 2020.
Resolutions will not be considered at the 2020 Joint Assembly, but may be submitted to the SWCA or Pacifica Synod Councils as allowed by each synod's respective constitutions. Submission of resolutions for consideration as assembly business will resume with the assembly following 2020's Joint Assembly.
Memorials for consideration at synod assembly are due no later than
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.
, and should be emailed to shenderson@socalsynod.org
AND
mailed to the Joint Committee on Reference and Counsel, c/o Samantha Henderson, at the SWCA Synod office at 1300 East Colorado Street, Glendale, CA 91205.
Memorials may come from any institution, agency, synod ministry board, coalition, or congregation, and must bear the signatures of at least five people who are members of the Southwest California Synod or Pacifica Synod.
All memorials not received by the Joint Committee on Reference and Counsel by the due date shall be placed on the assembly agenda as new business, requiring a two-thirds vote of voting members to put the resolution before the assembly for consideration.
The Joint Reference and Counsel Committee will take the following under consideration as it reviews and makes recommendations regarding submitted memorials.
- The committee should review each memorial to make sure that it is presented in correct grammatical form, so that the intent of the memorial is clear, and so that the joint assembly can consider the memorial on the grounds of its merits and not get side-tracked in issues of grammar.
- The committee should review the whereases of the memorial so that they offer correct information and support the memorial, and are not prejudicial, unnecessarily pejorative or factually incorrect.
- The committee should determine whether or not the memorial is consistent with the Constitutions of the ELCA and the SWCA and Pacifica Synods.
- The committee should determine to the best of its ability what financial impact, if any, adoption of the memorial would have on both synods.
- The committee may make a recommendation to the assembly regarding the memorial. The recommendation should be based in part on whether or not the memorial meets the above four guidelines.
Interested parties should begin with the guidelines linked below for assistance in writing memorials for consideration. For general information or clarification about resolutions and memorials, contact either the Churchwide Office of the Secretary or the assistant to the presiding bishop for governance at (800) 638-3522.
