Nominating Committee 2026 Pr. Ruth Bullwinkle, Chair (MVMC) Rick Losh (PC) Cindy Murphy (MVMC) Pr. Devin Ames (UOVC) Pr. Patrice Weirick (OKVC) Pr. Sally Bartling (PC) Jim Sheatsley (OKVC) Vacant (UOVC)

These names may change in response to vacancies that may arise. The vacancy for the laity member from UOVC will be filled by Synod Council at its 21 February 2026 meeting.

To contact the Nominating Committee, email NomComm@WV-WMD.org.

Nominating Process

The Synod Nominating Committee, having been appointed by the Synod Council, is charged, under our governing documents, with nominating two people for every position to be elected by the Synod Assembly (with some exceptions as outlined in those same governing documents). The list of positions to be elected is published 120 days prior to the Synod Assembly. The Nominating Committee, by publishing this list, solicits nominees in a public input phase for various positions to be elected by the Synod Assembly. 30 days after said publication, this public input phase closes, and the Nominating Committee begins its work in earnest. 10 days prior to the Synod Assembly, a list of nominees (those nominated by the Nominating Committee) is published. Additional nominations may be made from the floor of the assembly at the appropriate time during the proceedings and according to certain rules.

A technical clarification: officially, the Nominating Committee nominates during the assembly proceedings. The public input phase is not, technically, a time when nominations are made. In fact, what the public does during the public input phase is not nominate but rather recommend to the Nominating Committee folks to be considered for nomination by the committee. This is important from a parliamentary standpoint although we will admit that we have colloquially called this submission for consideration a nomination.

There are a few exceptions:

• Since the bishop election process, as governed by our constitution, employs an ecclesiastical ballot, there are no advance nominations for bishop. The first ballot is considered the nominating ballot if the the lead candidate does not secure 75% of the vote (q.v., S9.04).
• The synod secretary is nominated by Synod Council, but additional nominations may be made from the floor (q.v., S9.07).
• The synod treasurer is nominated by Synod Council, but additional nominations may be made from the floor (q.v., S9.07).

Important Dates Closure of the public input phase 7 March 2026 Report of the Nominating Committee 26 May 2026 Floor nominations at Synod Assembly 5 June 2026

Your recommendations are important! It's hard for the Nominating Committee to do its work without your input, and the synod is healthier when it has input from across the synod. Sadly, there have been years in which the Nominating Committee has received no recommendations during the public input phase for some offices. When this happens, the Nominating Committee has to generate potential nominees from scratch—problematic to say the least, assuming we want the church to be a participatory democracy in its polity.

The standard "Nomination Public Input Form" is accessible from this page. Please think about folks who would do a good job in any of the positions to be elected and nominate them. You may nominate yourself. Some special instructions on completing the form are to be found toward the bottom of this page.

You may download this bulletin insert in either PDF or MS-Word.

The list of positions to be elected was officially posted on 5 February 2026, and the online input form went active at posting, notice of this information being publicized with a posting on the web (here), an announcement and direction to this page via the Synod Facebook page, The Bishop's Roadshow, and emails to clergy (with instruction to disseminate to their respective congregation councils), leadership of vacant congregations, and conference deans on the same day. Conferences, congregation councils, and voting members will be invited to submit recommendations to the Nominating Committee during this public input phase that closes 7 March 2026.

Congregations are invited to assist in publicizing the positions to be elected and the directions for submitting recommendations to the Nominating Committee. This webpage may be shared.

The report of the Nominating Committee will be published 26 May 2026, 10 days before Synod Assembly. It will list all the nominations that will be formally made by the Nominating Committee at Synod Assembly.

The publication of the list of nominees by the Nominating Committee is not the end of the nominating process. Voting members of the Synod Assembly have the right, under our rules, to nominate from the floor (for all elections except that of the bishop in which an ecclesiastical ballot is used). Again, there is no rule preventing a person from nominating him/herself. Per our bylaws, nominations from the floor are to be accompanied at the time the nomination is made with a completed bio sheet and enough copies for distribution to all voting members (125 copies will suffice). A blank form will be provided on the website with the publication of the Nominating Committee Report 10 days prior to the Synod Assembly. Finally, the first general ballot has provision for write-in votes for each position to be elected.

To Be Elected Synod Secretary Synod Council Laity | At-Large Youth Discipline Committee Clergy Recommend someone (or yourself) for one (or more) of these elected positions Deadline: 7 March 2026

Positions To Be Elected

We will be electing 4 positions this year. The Nominating Committee is responsible for nominating for all these positions except for that of synod secretary. Under our rules, that is a total 5 nominees.

Scroll down for details such as duties, term, term limits, and special eligibility criteria.

Special note on eligibility: the minimum eligibility criterion (as defined in the Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA) for all elected positions is to be a voting member of a congregation of this synod or to be clergy on the roster of this synod. Unless noted otherwise, all voting members are eligible for all positions to be elected. For example, just because there is a designated youth member to be elected to synod council, nothing prevents someone else who is a youth by ELCA definition to be elected to any of the other position for which the individual is otherwise qualified. Likewise, just because there is a clergy person to be elected for the designated slot for Churchwide Assembly, nothing prevents another clergy person from being elected to the young adult slot, assuming that person is under the age of thirty-one, or to the person of color and/or primary language of then English, assuming that person meets that criterion.

Synod Secretary

Per our governing documents,

†S8.32.  The secretary shall:
    a. Keep the minutes of all meetings of the Synod Assembly and Synod Council, be responsible for distribution of such minutes, and perform such other duties as this synod may from time to time direct.
    b. Be authorized and empowered, in the name of this synod, to attest all instruments which require the same, and which are signed and sealed by the bishop.
    c. In consultation with the bishop, classify and arrange all important papers and documents and deposit them in the archives of this synod.
   d. Submit to the secretary of this church at least nine months before each regular Churchwide Assembly a certified list of the voting members elected by the Synod Assembly.

The secretary sits as a member of the Synod Council, therefore the duties outlined under Synod Council (see infra) also pertain. The secretary also sits as a member of the Synod Executive Committee. In addition, there are items scattered throughout the constitution, bylaws, and continuing resolutions related to the work of the synod secretary. It is important that the secretary have internet access and email. Since our constitution states, "The Synod Council shall nominate at least one person for secretary; additional nominations may be made from the floor" (S9.06), the Nominating Committee does not offer a nomination for this position. Floor nominations for this position may be offered.

Synod Council

Per our governing documents,

†S10.02.   The Synod Council shall be the board of directors of this synod and shall serve as its interim legislative authority between meetings of the Synod Assembly. It may make decisions that are not in conflict with actions taken by the Synod Assembly or that are not precluded by provisions of this constitution or the constitution and bylaws of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

S10.03.  The functions of the Synod Council shall be to:
    a. Exercise trusteeship responsibilities on behalf of this synod.
    b. Recommend program goals and budgets to the regular meetings of the Synod Assembly.
    c. Carry out the resolutions of the Synod Assembly.
    d. Provide for an annual review of the roster of Ministers of Word and Sacrament and the roster of Ministers of Word and Service, receive and act upon appropriate recommendations regarding those persons whose status is subject to reconsideration and action under the constitution and bylaws of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and make a report to the Synod Assembly of the Synod Council’s actions in this regard.
    e. Issue letters of call to rostered ministers as authorized by Chapter 7 of the constitution and bylaws of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
    f.  Fill vacancies until the next regular meeting of the Synod Assembly, except as may otherwise be provided in the constitution or bylaws of this synod, and determine the fact of the incapacity of an officer of this synod.
    g. Report its actions to the regular meeting of the Synod Assembly.
    h. Perform such other functions as are set forth in the bylaws of this synod, or as may be delegated to it by the Synod Assembly.

In practice, Synod Council meets face-to-face four times a year. Special meetings are frequently handled by teleconference, or, though unlikely, face-to-face. The face-to-face meetings are typically held on Saturdays and usually on the I-79 corridor between Morgantown and Clarksburg. We have been known to hold the periodic Friday-Saturday retreat and meet in other places. It is incumbent upon Synod Council members to study materials prepared for the meetings and to be in attendance unless good cause may shown for the absence. It is helpful to have access to email and a teleconferencing platform (e.g., Zoom or a phone). The Synod Council Handbook helpfully explains some of the expectations for Synod Council members.

Discipline Committee

The Discipline Committee has never been activated in this synod, but, should it be, it will serve as judge and jury in matters of alleged misconduct by clergy, laity, and congregations of this synod. The work is challenging, demanding good listening and observational skills, analytic ability, a commitment to justice and equity, prudence, the ability to maintain discretion and confidentiality, and an understanding of human nature. To learn more, visit the Discipline Committee page.

Submission of Nomination Public Input Form

In accordance with B9.01 and B9.02 of the Bylaws of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod, the public input phase will open officially 5 February 2026. It will close 7 March 2026.

If you would like to receive notice of the opening of the public input phase, subscribe to The Bishop's Roadshow.

The Nomination Public Input Form is now live. Click here to access the Nomination Public Input Form or click on the image of the form (at right).

Some special instructions related to required fields: There are several "required" fields on the form. If you do not know the information for any of the alphanumeric fields (e.g., address), you may enter, "IDK" (for "I don't know").

About privacy: Contact information will not appear in the Nominating Committee's report to Synod Assembly (or printed in the Pre-Assembly Bulletin of Reports). Contact information will be used by Nominating Committee members in the course of their work.