Governing Documents

Page Contents Governing documents Synod Assembly Officers Synod Council Boards appointed by Synod Council or Executive Committee Executive Committee Candidacy Committee Commission for Synodical Lay Worship Leadership Standing committees appointed by Synod Council or Executive Committee Nominating Committee Finance Committee Audit Mutual Ministry Committee Bylaws Committee Standing committees elected by Synod Assembly Consultation Committee Discipline Committee Conferences & deans Other Entities and Appointees

The current governing documents of the WV-WMD Synod can be downloaded here. N.B., both the Constitution of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod and the Bylaws West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod were amended at Synod Assembly 2023. The amended constitution and bylaws are posted here.

• WV-WMD Synod Articles of Incorporation (1 March 1993)
• WV-WMD Synod Constitution (19 August 2024)
• WV-WMD Synod Bylaws (10 June 2024)
• WV-WMD Synod Continuing Resolutions (17 September 2024)
• Synod Council Special Rules of Order (17 September 2024)
  

• Proposed Constitutional Amendments for Consideration by Synod Assembly 2025 (17 September 2024)
  

Synod Assembly

If you want to find out about Synod Assembly in general, visit the new Synod Assembly page. From there, you can access information about specific synod assemblies.

Officers

Terms begin for officers, synod councilors, and members of the Consultation Committee and the Discipline Committee on the first day of the third month following election. This lists below will be updated to reflect the change in seats at that time.

Synod Council

Boards appointed by Synod Council or Executive Committee

Executive Committee of the Synod Council

Candidacy Committee

The Candidacy Committee oversees candidates for the ministry, including reinstatements and reception of ministers from churches with whom the ELCA does not have a full-communion agreement. WV-WMD shares a joint candidacy committee with Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, the committee being called the Bisynodical Candidacy Committee. Both synods appoint their own members according to an agreement confected that the beginning of the ELCA. The current membership is The Rt. Rev. Matthew Riegel, The Rev. Sean Smith, The Rev. Ruth Bullwinkle, Tamara Riegel, Jerry Bouquot, and Michael Grimm, and Julie Sandolfini.

Commission on Synodical Lay Worship Leadership

Standing Committees Appointed by Synod Council or Executive Committee

Nominating Committee

Finance Committee

Members: Rick Losh, Phil Brown, Brian Crawford, with the synod treasurer serving ex officio.

Audit Committee

Members: Bruce Dalton, Paul Wangerin, and Janis Smith.

Synod Mutual Ministry Committee

Appointed by the Executive Committee, the Synod Mutual Ministry Committee (SMMC) is described in nebulous terms in the required provision in the CBCR/WV-WD. In meetings over the past year, SMMC worked out a plan to make its work more effective and relevant to the life and ministry of the synod. Synod Council took action to request the Churchwide Assembly to amend the required provision of the Constitution for Synods to allow the changes sought by this synod.

Members: Paul Wangerin, The Rev. Ruth Bullwinkle, the The Rev. Sean Smith, The Rev. Patrice Weirick, and Paula Mitchell.

Bylaws Committee

Standing Committees Elected by Synod Assembly

Consultation Committee

To learn what the Consultation Committee does, click here.

Discipline Committee

To learn what the Discipline Committee does, click here.

Conferences & Deans

The WV-WMD Synod has four conferences, three of them further divided into two clusters each:

• Mon Valley-Mountain Conference (MVMC): The Rev. Ruth Bullwinkle, Dean
  
• Ohio-Kanawha Valley Conference (OKVC): The Rev. Randy Richardson, Dean
• Potomac Conference (PC): The Sally Bartling, Dean
• Upper Ohio Valley Conference (UOVC): The Rev. Sean Smith, Dean
  

A full listing of the congregations of each conference can be found here and in B12.01 of the Synod Bylaws.

A new protocol for deans was adopted by Synod Council at its January 2020 meeting. It is currently under review for codification by the Ad Hoc Committee on Governing Documents. It will be posted upon completion of codification. In the meantime, you may request a copy of the Provisional Guidance Related to Deans from the bishop.

Other Entities & Appointees

Various church-related entities have boards or other positions which are filled through the appointment of the Synod Council or the bishop.