If we were angels, we would need no laws. If those who governed were angels, we would need fear no laws. — ✠Riegel

Properly managing your congregation's roll of voting members is vital to protecting the prerogatives of the congregation. When the voting members roll is not properly maintained and certified, some who should be legitimately enfranchised can be directly disenfranchised and those who should not be enfranchised can indirectly disenfranchise legitimate voting members. Voting members have certain rights within ELCA polity, and part of protecting those rights is ensuring that those who are not voting members do not exercise powers or share in the protections that belong only to voting members.

Example: A candidate for call interviews with a congregation. At the special Congregation Meeting, 60 people show up and vote. 39 votes are cast in favor of the candidate, 21 votes against. The candidate does not get the call because a ⅔-vote is required to issue the call. Later, it is learned that of the 60 people who voted in the meeting, 20 had not communed in the congregation for more than two years (some fifteen years), meaning they were not voting members. It is further learned that all those who were not voting members voting against the candidate, meaning the candidate would have been elected pastor.

Example: A member of a congregation contacts the bishop under *C15.11, initiating a consultation process. It is later asserted that the member who invoked *C15.11 had not attended worship for several years (at least five). As no communing records had been maintained by the pastor, the communing criterion for voting membership could not be applied. The consultation would have been terminated immediately upon learning that the member was not a voting member and therefore had no standing to invoke *C15.11, but it could not be dismissed because no record was maintained for any member.

In the first example, the will of those who were legitimate voting members was thwarted by those who were not, and those who were regularly attendees were denied a pastor of their choosing by those who had not seen fit to attend for more than two years. In the second example, several days of the bishop's time and that of support personnel, not to mentioned the time of congregational members and leaders, were consumed in response to a complaint lodged by a person who did not have the right to lodge the complaint.

Many think concern over proper management of the roll of the voting members is unnecessary and even counterproductive to being a welcoming and friendly church, but they do not consider the ways in which bad actors can hijack the congregation and otherwise cause unnecessary trouble. Seeing that calls can be issued and terminated, buildings bought and sold, and ecclesiastical affiliations confected and divorced on the narrowest of margins it is a salutary concern.

A voting member in the ELCA is defined in the constitution:

*C8.02(c). Voting members are confirmed members. Such confirmed members, during the current or preceding calendar year, shall have communed in this congregation and shall have made a contribution of record to this congregation. Members of this congregation who have satisfied these basic standards shall have the privilege of voice and vote at every regular and special meeting of this congregation as well as the other rights and privileges ascribed to voting members by the provisions of this constitution and its bylaws. They shall not have voted as a seasonal member of another congregation of this church in the previous two calendar months.

N.B., this is a required provision. Congregations do not have the right to deviate from the language provided. In other words, a congregation may not set a higher or a lower bar.

Properly applying *C8.02(b) is significantly complicated if the congregation has seasonal members:

*C8.2(e). Seasonal members are voting members of other congregations of this church who wish to retain such membership but desire to participate in the life and mission of this congregation, including exercising limited voting rights in this congregation. The Congregation Council may grant seasonal membership to such persons provided that this congregation is a member of a synod where the Synod Council has approved seasonal member voting on its territory. Such seasonal members shall have all the privileges and duties of voting members except that: … (2) they shall not have the right to vote on any matter concerning or affecting the call or termination of call of any minister of this congregation; (3) they shall not have the right to vote on any matter concerning or affecting the affiliation of this congregation with this church; … (5) they shall not, even if otherwise permitted by this congregation, vote by proxy or by absentee ballot; and (6) they shall not, within any two calendar month period, exercise voting rights in this congregation and in the congregation where they remain voting members.

• contributions of record to the congregation and
• communing in the congregation.

Regarding contributions of record to the congregation, the Secretary of the ELCA has said that these need not be monetary contributions. This statement, however, should be taken as a permissive for congregations who want to define contribution of record more broadly than has traditionally been the case. Traditionally, a contribution of record has been considered a monetary donation. Obviously, the gifting of stock, securities, real estate fell under umbrella of monetary donation. Volunteer service and chattel, however, has been generally excluded. A congregation can by bylaw defined what will be accepted as a contribution of record. Whether the scope is narrow or broad, the first must be something that can be recorded. If the congregation sees fit to employ a broad definition, including, for example, volunteer service, it should in its governing documents (e.g., its continuing resolutions) encode directly or through policy adoption, how that gift is to be recorded. The recording of contributions of record is usually done by a financial secretary or some other person assigned responsibility for recording contributions. It should be noted that a congregation cannot record (i.e., account to any member) anonymous donations. If deemed useful, a congregation may adopt a rule stipulating the cooperation of the donor in self-identification.

Regarding communing in the congregation, there is an obvious first level of understanding. Has the member actually received the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Attendance at the mass is not sufficient in itself—there have been cases of those who have attended worship while refusing to receive the sacrament (for a variety of reasons). Some congregations have adopted rules that define in the congregation to include communing at other churches, campus chapels, in deployed military settings, etc. If these extensions are allowed, they should be codified in the bylaws. The pastor is responsible for recording communions (*C9.12(a). The pastor of this congregation: (a) shall keep accurate records of all … communicants …."). The pastor may enlist others to assist in this task (or the congregation may assign others to assist), but the pastor retains responsibility. As *C8.02(c) stipulates that such communion in the congregation is calculated on the calendar year, it is not necessary as a matter of polity to record every communion made by a member during the course of a calendar year—though it may be a good idea to do so as a tool in pastoral care. It is sufficient to record the first communion made in any given calendar year. Many congregations use communion cards to assist in recording. A congregation may, if it wishes, adopt a rule that requires submission of a completed and legible communion card as part of the recording process.

When congregations communed infrequently, there was little issue related to the requirements of voting membership and knowing who among the attendees of a Congregational Meeting were voting members. Holding a Congregation Meeting on a communion Sunday was very uncommon. Thus, it was possible for the pastor and the financial secretary to validate the list of voting members in advance of the Congregation Meeting. When the Congregation Meeting is held immediately after a communion service, there is insufficient time for the either pastor or financial secretary to go over the list. While it would be possible to produce a validated list in advance and simply accession those who had not bothered to communion and contribute in the previous or current calendar year until the morning of the meeting, that procedure would have to include the processing of a contribution of record, and such processing takes time.

The bishop recommends that congregations adopt a bylaw that allows for appropriate processing of communing and contributing records and validation of the list of voting members for any given Congregational Meeting. The following is a sample bylaw:

B10.03. The roll of voting and enfranchised seasonal members shall be closed at the conclusion of the worship service at which first notice is given under C10.03 and remain closed until the conclusion of the session unless revised by the [secretary][Congregation Council][Membership Committee] or successfully amended in accordance with the parliamentary authority[; publication of the roll of voting members shall be included in the notice given by mail or electronic means under C10.03].

N.B., the sample bylaw assumes certain things, things that may need to be adjusted to align with your congregation's constitution.

• Firstly, there is an assumption about the rule for giving notice for a Congregation Meeting. C10.03 in the Model Constitution for Congregations of the ELCA provides recommended wording, but any given congregation may have adopted its own rule (as this is a recommended and not a required provision). If your congregation's rule for notice for a Congregation Meeting deviates from the recommended provision in the Model Constitution, think how you might want or need to adapt the sample bylaw provided.
• Secondly, there is an assumption that someone prepares the roll of voting members for any given meeting. Who that is may vary from congregation to congregation. Three options are presented in the sample bylaw: the secretary, the Congregation Council, and the Membership Committee. One and only one of these should be selected if the sample bylaw is employed. Not all congregations have a membership committee, but the utility of having one should not be underestimated.
• Thirdly, there is an assumption that a member may want to contest the roll of voting members. This may be because a person is not included on the list who has met the basic requirements outlined in *C8.02(c), or it may be because some is included who has not. Mistakes happen, and there should be a mechanism to correct mistakes. A member who believes they have been improperly excluded should go to the designated authority in advance of the meeting in an attempt to work the matter out. The final appeal is to the Congregation Meeting itself. A member who believes that they have been improperly excluded from the roll of voting members cannot, however, make the appeal themselves as they have not been seated. Any voting member who has been seated can move that the contesting individual be recognized as a voting member. This motion is debatable. The Congregation Meeting decides the matter. For reference, see RONR §59.
  

Returning to the matter of the membership committee, if a membership committee is employed, a bylaw or continuing resolution detailing the duties of the membership committee should include this duty.

CR13.05(e). [The Membership Committee shall] certify the rosters of voting members and enfranchised seasonal members prior to a Congregation Meeting.

As always, you can consult the bishop or the synod parliamentarian if you have questions.