The committee to review the St. John constitution and by-laws came about after a discussion involving Pastor Good, congregational chair Doug Pingel, and others because more than one of our recent pastoral candidates observed the documents were inconsistent and dated. These same concerns had been shared by our two previous pastors and leadership over the past several years.

The Covid lockdowns interfered with an initiative to review both documents. Once that disruption passed, other concerns diverted attention from our governing documents. This seems like an appropriate time to return to those concerns and renew the task of reading, reviewing, and suggesting changes in those documents for voting members to review and possibly ratify.

At the initial organizing meeting, it was decided to work with the group initially recruited by Doug Pingel to be representative of the concerns and needs of both church and school. That group includes representation from the elders, the school board, and the trustees as well as others.

The process will include inviting the input of each administrative board regarding sections relevant to those boards. At the organizational meeting, those in attendance elected Rick Reed to chair the committee. He will set the agenda for each meeting, manage communications between the board members, and publish to the congregation the work of the committee. The communication with the congregation will occur the same week as each meeting.

The timeline is not fixed, but the committee currently has a goal of finishing the review of the constitution before the end of July. With the approval of the church council, the committee will submit their proposals to the voters for their approval.

If you have any questions, please contact Rick Reed. 

Updates from the Constitution Review Committee: 

5/22 Update: The Constitution Review Committee met on Tuesday, May 22, and began a review of our constitution, considering the guidelines provided by the Indiana District office. 

5/30 Update: The decision to pass along the article regarding church membership to the Board of Elders for their input. They are requested to conclude that discussion in three months to ensure the language is theologically complete and sound in defining membership and in setting specific categories of membership as does the current constitution. Those categories include baptized, confirmed, communicant, and voting members. The committee also began its review of the article concerning called church workers. 

6/5 Update: The Constitution Review Committee met on Tuesday, June 5, and continued reviewing our constitution. We will continue our work on June 19, taking a break to accommodate VBS. At last night's meeting, we worked through the sections on Called Church Workers and the AUTHORITY OF AND WITHIN THE CONGREGATION, as well as getting a start on ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION. Work is progressing well.