Documents & Forms

Members of Immanuel,

In accordance with C16.04 and C17.03 of the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Congregation Council offers their positive recommendation of changes to several constitutional amendments and bylaws. You can find the full document, including the proposed changes, by clicking HERE. Paper copies will be available in the church office and the narthex.

Regarding the proposed constitutional amendment changes:

• All proposed amendment changes will bring our constitution in alignment with the Model Constitution for Congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

• Changes to the Model Constitution are approved every three years by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

• Proposed changes highlighted in yellow were made by the Churchwide Assembly in 2022 and those highlighted in green were made in 2025.

• These proposed amendment changes will come before the congregation in an en bloc (meaning “as a whole”) motion. This means that they will be voted on together as a package. This vote will require a simple majority of those present and voting.

Regarding the proposed bylaw changes:

• Two bylaw changes are proposed, both relating to Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery.

• These bylaw changes are highlighted in purple and can be found on page 19.

• Changes to C13.06.02 more clearly define the number of persons, length of terms, and term limits of the Cemetery Committee. You may recall that the lack of clarity in this amendment led to some confusion at the Annual Meeting in January 2025. This change addresses those concerns.

• A change to C13.06.08 removes a requirement for the Cemetery Committee to seek approval from the Congregation Council every time they seek to use the income of the Immanuel Cemetery Endowment Fund. This cemetery endowment fund (separate from the Immanuel Endowment Fund) is relatively new, and after a few years of living into this procedure, both the Congregation Council and the Cemetery Committee have found this step to be unnecessary.

• These proposed bylaw changes will come before the congregation in an en bloc (meaning “as a whole”) motion. This means that the two bylaws will be voted on together as a package. This vote will require a two-thirds vote of those present and voting.

All of these proposed changes were first presented to the Congregation Council at their meeting on November 20, 2025. They received unanimous recommendation by council members present and voting on Thursday, December 18, 2025.

Questions can be directed to Director of Congregational Life Trevor Thom or Congregation President DeWayne Roberson.

All voting members are encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting of the Congregation on Sunday, January 25, 2026 following the 10:30am worship service.