RESOLUTIONS SECTION INDEX page Synod Council Recommendations Compensation Guidelines for Rostered Leaders 6 3 Changes to Pacifica Synod Bylaws 6 4 Resolutions Process 6 5 Resolutions Submitted Resolution to Confront Racism and White Privilege 6 7 6-1
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Compensation Guidelines for Rostered Leaders of the Pacifica Synod The Pacifica Synod Council recommends to the 2016 Synod Assembly for approval a one and one-half percent (1.5%) increase in the Baseline Salary for Rostered Leaders (Pastors, Diaconal Ministers and Associates in Ministry) of the Pacifica Synod for the year 2017. This action would bring the current baseline salary (including salary and housing allowance) to $62,741 for pastors. The Synod Council encourages congregations to use the Compensation Worksheets available online at www.pacificasynod.org. 6-3
PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE PACIFICA SYNOD CONSTITUTION 3-11-16 DRAFT S10.07. S10.07.01 The composition of the Synod Council, the number of its members, and the manner of their selection, as well as the organization of the Synod Council, its additional duties and responsibilities, and the number of meetings to be held each year shall be as set forth in the bylaws. The Synod Council shall consist of the officers of the synod, and additional members elected by the Synod Assembly (one representative per conference, four lay-at-large and two clergy-at-large representatives) and one youth representative elected as provided in the bylaws. S10.07.02. All geographic areas of the synod shall be represented on the Synod Council as provided herein. Ten Synod Council members, called "conference representatives," shall be elected by Synod Assembly members from geographic areas, called "conferences." The conference representative from each conference shall be either an ordained minister affiliated with a congregation, agency, institution located within the conference or shall be a layperson who is a voting member of a congregation of this synod which is located within the conference. The Synod Council will establish a formula designating clergy/lay, male/female to each conference. In the event a conference representative to the Synod Council, if an ordained minister, ceases to be an ordained minister affiliated with a congregation, agency, institution located within the conference from which s/he was elected or, if a layperson ceases to be a voting member of a congregation of this synod located within the conference from which s/he was elected, then the term of such a conference representative shall automatically terminate upon the termination of his/her status or affiliation. 6-4
Resolutions Process and Background Information The resolutions process enables individuals or groups within the synod to bring a request for action to the Synod Assembly, which is the Synod s highest legislative authority. The Synod Council has established a 90-day deadline, prior to the beginning of the annual Synod Assembly, for resolutions to be submitted to the synod office. The Synod Council appoints a Resolutions Committee which meets prior to the Assembly in order to review the resolutions received. It is the responsibility of the Resolutions Committee to: ensure that resolutions comply with the constitution of the synod ensure that resolutions are submitted in proper form review the appropriateness of the subject and desired action make sure there is a plan for implementation seek to eliminate duplication of resolutions submitted on the same subject matter The Resolutions Committee works with individuals or groups who are submitting resolutions to assist them in presenting their resolutions in the best form possible. The Resolutions Committee reports its work to the Synod Council and to those who have submitted resolutions. If the Resolutions Committee rules that a resolution is unconstitutional or inappropriate, the individual or group submitting the resolution may appeal that decision to the Synod Council. It is not the job of the Resolutions Committee to offer its opinions on a particular resolution. The work of the committee is to ensure that resolutions conform to the requirements set for them and then to place those resolutions before the assembly in a clear manner, so that the Synod Assembly as a whole may debate and decide the issues that are before them. If the Secretary of the Synod receives any resolutions after the 90-day deadline, they will also be reviewed by the Resolutions Committee. These resolutions will be brought before the Synod Assembly, but will be placed on the agenda only with the consent of the Assembly. Any resolutions which are not considered by the Synod Assembly due to lack of time, are referred to the Synod Council for action. 6-5
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16-01 Resolution to Confront Racism and White Privilege Whereas the ELCA overwhelmingly approved the Social Statement, Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture 1, stating that we expect our leadership to name the sin of racism, lead us in our repentance of it, and challenge us to be in mission and ministry in a multicultural society; and, whereas, racism is not merely a problem of individual prejudice but structural sin that depends on pervasive complicity, conscious and unconscious, in perpetrating the misuse of prejudice, power and privilege to confer disadvantages onto certain groups and advantages onto other groups, falsely separating them by physical, cultural or other personal attributes; and, whereas, There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. and [Christ] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 2 and, whereas, whiteness and other deceptive racial categories are inherently false barriers artificially drawn to separate people in order to confer privileges to some groups and disadvantages on other groups. White privilege opposes the witness of Christ to the oneness and equal dignity of the human family in God s domination-free reign of grace; and, whereas, racism depends on pervasive complicity of the church as well as other institutions, including conscious and unconscious racial and economic segregation; Therefore, be it resolved, that the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA hereby expresses its gratitude for the leadership of Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton in advancing conversations about racism and white privilege across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and, be it further resolved, the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA commits itself to constitute a synodical anti-racism task force to identify and share high quality educational tools and events to raise awareness of racism, white privilege, and Christ-centered paths to liberation of oneself, church and society; and be it further resolved that the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA will dedicate a Day of Theological Reflection on the issue of Racism and White Privilege, and be it further resolved that the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA will offer support for multicultural and multilingual ministry to engage and integrate congregations and leaders with nearby populations, will commit itself to provide accessible and affordable synod assembly and education events to less affluent leaders and congregations, and finally, be it further resolved that the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA bear persistent public witness in solidarity with oppressed people in this and other countries for the transformation of society toward the domination-free reign of God in Christ. 1 Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Division for Church in Society, September 1993, p. 3-4. [Adopted by a more than two-thirds majority vote as a social statement of the ELCA by the third Churchwide Assembly on August 31, 1993, at Kansas City, Missouri.] 2 Galatians 3.28; Ephesians 2.14 6-7
Resolution brought by: The Rev. Darin Johnson, Agape House Lutheran-Episcopal Campus Ministry, San Diego, CA The Rev. David Nagler, Christ Lutheran Church, San Diego, CA Co-signed by: The Rev. Mark Allert, Peace Lutheran Church, Corona, CA Ms. Linda Barkman, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Claremont, CA Mr. Allen Easely, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Claremont, CA Mr. Dave Herrig, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Claremont, CA The Rev. George Johnson, San Marcos Lutheran Church, San Marcos, CA The Rev. Lara Martin, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Claremont, CA Mr. Ron Reinsch, Christ Lutheran Church, San Diego, CA The Rev. Daniel Roschke, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, La Mesa, CA Mr. John C. Wheeler, Christ Lutheran Church, San Diego, CA The Rev. Laura Ziehl, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Encinitas, CA 6-8