2022 Special Meeting of the Synod Assembly Fees

A WORD ABOUT REGISTRATION-CONFIRMATION FEES

Dear Friends in Christ,

In many places throughout our synod, church and family budgets are strained, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The MNYS Office of the Bishop and the Synod Council are aware of these financial realities. We take seriously the responsibility of planning synodical events that are within an appropriate financial level. The Office of the Bishop staff carefully gathers multiple quotes from vendors and weighs the options available for contracted services. We also take seriously the evaluations and feedback we receive from voting members, visitors and guests at previous events, striving to make continual improvements. This year, the registration-confirmation fees for the special meeting of the current synod assembly (voting members of the 2021 synod assembly) will cover less than 40 percent of the total cost, reducing the remaining costs that will be absorbed by the synod.

These fees are a symbol of our partnership in the Gospel TOGETHER, and will allow us to:

• Contract with an audio-visual company that provides:
  • Advanced digital conference services
  • Voting and voice capabilities for parliamentary procedures
  • Voice capabilities for our participating voting members
  • Sound Systems
  • Digital Scheduling
• Provide transparency to our legislative processes by contracting professional and reliable external companies.
• Contract with an expert parliamentarian to ensure our business is conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.
• Enable the Worship Committee — with its unique task of transforming our traditions into meaningful digital worship experiences — to work closely with partners to provide an enriching journey, while lowering costs.
• Provide video content, which is an integral part of an online assembly and comprises the majority of this digital assembly.
• Address several administrative costs associated with the event.

While we are saddened by not having a digital or in-person assembly this year, this is a necessary step in maintaining the financial health of our synod. We appreciate the work of all those who made past assemblies possible and recognize all those behind the scenes making this year's special meeting of the current synod assembly equally successful.

We value our time together, and are expecting to create the same sense of community in our newly digital world.

We want to ensure that our congregations and leaders are not restricted from participating due to financial limitations. If a voting member from your congregation is in need of financial assistance to cover registration fees, please contact Edgar Guerrero at [email protected], about available funding.