During its October meeting, the Conference of Presidents (COP) acted on a synod convention resolution and the need to reduce costs to balance the budget by adopting a number of changes to Parish Services.

The Board for Parish Services, established in the 1980s, has functioned in a variety of ways throughout synod history. Recently, Parish Services has taken the form of six commissions—Evangelism, Parish Schools, Special Ministries, Worship, Youth Discipleship, and Adult Discipleship—and the area of Parish Assistance. Each of these areas has been coordinated by a full-time administrator, along with support staff. Volunteer members of the individual commissions, along with members of the Board for Parish Services, provided grassroots input and oversight for this work.

The 2009 synod in convention, acting on recommendations by the Ad Hoc Commission, resolved that direct responsibility for the ministries of Parish Services should be moved from its board to the Conference of Presidents. The rationale was that this move "would give the COP a more direct working relationship with Parish Services as it carries out its work of strengthening congregations of WELS" (2009 Proceedings, p. 65).

Among the changes made by the COP is renaming Parish Services to the Congregation and Ministry Support Group. Under this new group,