Holiday Inn - Riverside, Minot, ND
We invite you to attend the WND Synod assembly. It will begin Friday, June 6th at 8:30am and continue through Saturday, June 7th. Early registration will take place from 7:00 pm. to 9:00 pm on Thursday evening at the Holiday Inn-Riverside Coliseum. You are invited to attend an appreciation reception on Thursday, June 5th from 7pm to 9pm to honor Bishop Duane Danielson. This will be in the Mediterranean/Rhodes Rooms at the Holiday Inn-Riverside. Registration will begin again at 7:45 am on Friday morning at the Holiday Inn-Riverside. Festival worship will be Friday morning at 8:30am. The assembly offering will be divided between WND Rural Plunge and our companion synod -Central African Republic.
The registration fee is $100.00 each for voting members and visitors. This fee includes: coffee breaks, lunch Friday and Saturday and the banquet Friday evening. All voting members and visitors must pay the registration fee, no matter how long they plan on staying for the Assembly. Because there are fixed costs in a Synod Assembly that must be covered through registration costs, there will be no refunds. The registration form, map, tentative agenda, resolutions, lodging guide and pre-assembly workshop information is included in this mailing.
YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN MOTEL RESERVATIONS. A block of rooms is available at the Holiday Inn-Riverside. (701-852-2504) PLEASE request a room from the block reserved for the WND Synod by May 21 to receive a special rate of $60.00 plus tax. Enclosed is a list of motels that also may have rooms available. PLEASE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
The WND Synod assembly will elect a new bishop as this year marks the end of our current Bishop Duane Danielson’s term. All ordained ministers of the ELCA are eligible to be nominated and serve as synod bishop. Elections take place by ecclesiastical ballot, which means that no one “runs” for the position of bishop, rather candidates are nominated during the first ballot by members of the assembly. After the second ballot, nominees are narrowed to seven candidates. Candidates will be notified if not present and biographical information will be available before the third ballot. Questions will be asked of the top seven candidates on Friday evening. After the third ballot, it is narrowed to the top three candidates. If it proceeds to the fifth ballot, the top two candidates will be voted on. Requirements to serve as Bishop of the WND Synod are listed in the Constitution and Bylaws of the WND Synod under Chapter 8, S8.11 – S8.13.
ASSEMBLY OFFERING:
Rural Plunge: What is rural ministry like, especially in Western North Dakota? Those questions get explored as students from Wartburg Theological Seminary and Luther Seminary spend a week living with families scattered through out North Central North Dakota. For about 10 years, students have come to take part in the Rural Plunge. As they stay with families, they build relationships and explore issues of faith in Jesus Christ. This fund pays for the seminary students’ train fare to WND.
CAR Projects: Our companion synod is Central African Republic. The offering will be used to continue the Village Education Project and start a fund for a health clinic at Gallo. The Village Education project is training local people to be teachers for the schools. The funds buy school supplies and train the teachers. We hope to continue supporting this project. A health clinic is needed in Gallo. We are trying to help raise funds to build a clinic.
EACH YEAR SOME ASK - HOW MANY VOTING MEMBERS?
All ordained clergy under call on the roster in attendance shall be voting members. All retired pastors who register and attend have voice and vote. Retired pastors may not serve as a lay voting member from a congregation. All associates in ministry, deaconesses, and diaconal ministers under call on the roster who register and attend shall be voting members.
Lay voting members as follows: A minimum of one lay member elected by each congregation with fewer than 175 baptized members and a minimum of two lay members elected by each congregation with 175 or more baptized members, normally one of whom shall be male and one of whom shall be a female. If a congregation has over 500 baptized members, congregations may elect one voting member of either gender for each additional 500 baptized members or greater fraction thereof. In keeping with the spirit of inclusiveness, 50% of a church's voting members should be female and 50% of the voting members should be male.
*** Child Care – Call LSS of ND Child Care Referral at 1-888-223-1510 for information about drop-in child-care in Minot.
***Every effort will be made to accommodate your dietary restrictions. Please indicate your restrictions on the registration form and then inform your server at meals.
*** Extra tickets for Friday evening's banquet will be available for the cost of $20.00 per ticket.
*** Please register for the Pre-Assembly Workshop on the registration form. Cost is $5.00.
BISHOP ELECTION PROCESS
s9.04 The bishop shall be elected by the
Synod Assembly by ecclesiastical ballot.
Three-fourths of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election on the
first ballot. If no one is elected, the first ballot shall be considered
the nominating ballot. Three-fourths of the legal votes cast on the second
ballot shall be necessary for election. the third ballot shall be limited to the
seven persons (plus ties) who received the greatest number of legal votes on
the second ballot, and two-thirds of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for
election. The fourth ballot shall be limited to the three persons ( plus
ties) who received the greatest number of legal votes on the third ballot, and
60 percent of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election. On
subsequent ballots a majority of legal votes cast shall be necessary for
election. These ballots shall be limited to the two persons ( plus ties)
who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the previous ballot.