Section 3 of the Ad Hoc Commission’s report was entitled “Strengthening congregations and their members.” The three recommendations from that section were assigned to the Strengthening Congregations Floor Committee for study and reaction. Pastor Joel Jenswold, the committee’s chairman, and the other committee members arrived early and began meeting on Sunday evening.

The committee’s resolutions resulted in changes to the way in which Parish Services carries out its ministry and in improvements to the circuit pastor system.

Redistricting proposal denied

The Ad Hoc Commission recommended that the 2009 convention authorize a group to study and prepare a comprehensive redistricting recommendation to the 2011 convention. The commission felt that reducing the size of the larger districts would make it easier for district presidents and circuit pastors to give proactive attention to their congregations. The convention, however, followed the direction of the floor committee and the Synodical Council by not pursuing redistricting at this time.

Circuit pastor role improvement

The second recommendation of the Ad Hoc Commission was to improve the circuit pastor system so that congregations could better be strengthened and supported. The convention adopted the recommendation. The resolution encouraged the Conference of Presidents (COP) to finish the work of revamping the duties and responsibilities of the circuit pastors, limited the size of circuits so that they would normally be eight congregations, and asked circuit pastors to be in close personal contact with their congregations and called workers on a regular basis.

Redeploy and reconfigure Parish Services

The third resolution received the most attention from delegates. The Ad Hoc Commission recommended that the synod redeploy and reconfigure the functions of Parish Services. The Strengthening Congregations Floor Committee agreed and presented a resolution on Wednesday. The discussion that followed ended by recommitting the resolution back to the committee for further study.

After consulting with Parish Services personnel, district presidents, and members of the Ad Hoc Commission, a new resolution was presented on Thursday. The resolution altered the role of Parish Services.