The Letter For the Special Congregational Meeting for the Vote to Dissolve the Congregation

This is the letter sent out this morning. As my secretary stuffed the 46 envelopes I had tears in my eyes. When he left the office to drop the letters in the mail box I had to leave the office as well. I was glad I had text study to go to so I could be with colleagues. This was a hard morning.

The Letter:

At a special congregational meeting on December 4^th following the 10 a.m. worship service the voting members of Our Congregation will vote on a resolution which will include the following:

RESOLVED that upon the recommendation of the Church Council, The Legal Name of the Congregation shall disband as a worshiping community, completing its ministry on June 10, 2012, and sell its real and personal property located at Legal Address.  Property assets will be distributed in a way that is consistent with the principles and values articulated in the constitution of the congregation and the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA. 

RESOLVED that the sale be conducted by REMAX XXXXXX with Mr. XXXXXX as its Designated Agent.

The complete wording of the resolution will be distributed at the December 4 meeting.

From the Constitution of Our Congregation regarding Congregational Meetings:

C10.04             Ten percent of the voting members shall constitute a quorum.

C10.05             Voting by proxy or by absentee ballot shall not be permitted.

Regarding dissolving a congregation:

C6.04               Affiliation with the ELCA may be terminated as follows:
                        a.         This congregation takes action to dissolve.

Regarding membership:

C8.02               Members shall be classified as follows:

                        c.    Voting members are confirmed members.  Such confirmed members shall have communed and made a contribution of record during the current or previous year.  Any age requirement shall be specified in the  bylaws.  (There is none in the bylaws of this congregation). 

An updated list of voting membership is included with the mailing.  This will be the list used at the meeting.

It takes a two-thirds majority vote of the cast ballots of voting members present to pass the resolution.