Dear Pastor and Congregation Council President;

Thank you for your partnership in our mission and ministry together this past year. As you review your congregation’s year-end tasks and begin planning for the coming year, please review the following items at your next Congregation Council meeting:

Synod Assembly 2012

Please elect synod assembly voting members at your annual meeting or at an upcoming Congregation Council meeting in accord with your constitutional provisions. Each congregation may also elect a youth voting member who is to be a confirmed youth member, age 15 through 22. Our 2012 Synod Assembly will be held on May 4-6, 2012, at Disney’s Buena Vista Palace. The theme of this year’s assembly is God’s Radical Hospitality. We also celebrate the 25^th year of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You will receive event pre-mailing information in January providing greater detail about the assembly’s agenda and activities.

Annual Congregational Reports

Your Annual Congregational Report (sometimes referred to as Annual Parochial Report) should be filed with the ELCA’s Office of the Secretary by February 15, 2012. Completion of this report is vital to assure accurate information on congregations of the ELCA. Many congregations use the printed copy to complete the manual calculation of the information and then file those figures directly online at http://webapps.elca.org/secretary/FormAAndC/Login.aspx. You may still file a paper copy and mail it to the Synod House by February 15, 2012 if you choose to not complete the report online.

Annual Rostered Leader’s Report to the Bishop

Rostered leaders under active call, on leave from call, retired, or on disability are required to file the annual report to the bishop by February 15^th. You may complete the form online at http://bit.ly/9RpP81.

Mission Support and Congregational Covenants

• Present year, 2011: The synod’s fiscal year extends through January 31, 2012. Please ask your congregational treasurer to forward any outstanding 2011 mission support balances to the Synod House by January 31, 2012. Mission support received after that date will be applied to the congregation’s covenant for 2012.

Congregational Covenants for 2012: All congregations are asked to complete and return a covenant form for mission support for the coming year. This form should be filed after your budget has been prepared for the annual congregation meeting, or by January 31, 2012. You may file your covenant online at http://www.fbsynod.com/2012-mission-support-covenant-form Please prayerfully consider an increase in your mission support that supports the work that we do together as a synod and churchwide expression. Our synod is committed to annually increasing its mission support dollars to the churchwide expression of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Newly Elected Congregation Council Members

An administrative handbook for newly elected congregation councils is available online at the Florida-Bahamas Synod web site at http://bit.ly/ttfoxd. This document provides general guidelines for newly elected council members and may be adapted to suit your congregation’s bylaws and continuing resolutions.

Please contact me directly if our office can be of assistance in any other matters relating to our partnership in ministry.

Blessed Advent and Christmas.

Yours in Christ,
Ken F. Aicher
Assistant to the Bishop for Administration
January 6, 2012

http://www.fbsynod.com/downloads/Congregations/Year-End_Reminder_Letter_2011.docx