The highest legislative body of the synod is the Synod Assembly. Voting members from each congregation and all rostered leaders gather annually for this meeting.
The 2012 Synod Assembly will be held May 17-19 at the Westchester Marriott.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Our 2012 Synod Assembly will be held at the Westchester Marriott (670 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591). The assembly will begin at 1:00pm on Thursday, May 17 and end Saturday afternoon, May 19. Registration starts at 10:00am on Thursday.
All information will be posted here. For the latest Synod Assembly information, please stay tuned to the synod’s weekly e-letter.
We will continue our six-year journey through the Small Catechism; Bishop Rimbo will be our Bible study leader. Forums will be held Thursday evening.
Please note that this event will be photographed; the images may be used in synod communication materials.
HOTEL ROOMS
We have reserved a block of rooms at the Westchester Marriott; single or double rooms will be available for the nights of May 17 and 18 for $154 per room per night. (Retired pastors and lay Synod Council members, please call Mary Tennermann at 212-870-2383 to register for the assembly and the hotel.) The cut-off date for the special room rate is April 26. Driving directions are at www.westchestermarriott.com.Tarrytown (Hudson Line) is the closest MetroNorth station; taxicabs are available.
To receive the discounted room rate, please call 800-228-9290 (or call the Westchester Marriott at 914-631-2200) and say that you are in the Metropolitan Synod group. You can also register at www.westchestermarriott.com; if you do this, please enter the group code mnymnya. If you are tax-exempt, you will need to bring a copy of your church’s tax-exempt certificate and pay for the room(s) with a church check (not a personal check or credit card). Check-in time is 3pm and check-out is 11am; the hotel will hold baggage for you if necessary. To cancel a reservation without incurring a charge, call 800-228-9290 by 4pm on the scheduled arrival day.
MEALS
This year, voting members and visitors may choose whether or not to buy the meal package. However, the $150 meal package is “all or none”—you cannot purchase individual meals. If you do not buy the meal package, you must dine out a local restaurant. You may NOT bring food from an outside source into the hotel during the assembly.
ASSEMBLY REGISTRATION
Register online here.
Download the hard-copy registration form here. Please use one form per congregation/ministry; add extra pages if your congregation is eligible to send more than two lay voting members. (Churches with 700-999 baptized members may send three lay voting members, and those with 1000 baptized members may send four.) Pastors and ELCA-rostered lay leaders are expected to attend or ask to be excused; they should register on the same form with their congregation’s lay voting members and visitors. Synodically-rostered deacons are NOT automatically voting members of the assembly; they may be elected as lay voting members, or they may attend as visitors with voice but not vote.) Early advance registration ends April 13; late advance registration is April 14-26. After April 26, you MUST register on-site (no meals available). Fees:
|
Early registration (now-4/13)
|
Late registration (4/14-4/26)
|
w/ Meal package ($150)
|
OR
|
No meals
|
|
Clergy/lay voter—$100
|
|
$250
|
|
$100
|
|
Visitor—$50
|
|
$200
|
|
$ 50
|
|
----
|
Clergy/lay voter—$150
|
$300
|
|
$150
|
|
----
|
Visitor—$75
|
$225
|
|
$ 75
|
|
After 4/26, voter—$175
|
|
----
|
|
$175
|
|
After 4/26, visitor-—$75
|
|
----
|
|
$ 75
|
The per-person cost for the assembly (including the meals) is actually about $325; our synod absorbs the cost not covered by the registration fees. If you wish to register online and pay by check, you may do so; if you choose this option, the check must be made payable to the Metro New York Synod with “2012 assembly” written in the memo line; please mail the check to Mary Tennermann at the synod office to arrive by April 26. Please provide an e-mail address (this can be your church’s e-mail address if you don’t use e-mail); your registration will be confirmed by e-mail. After April 26, you must register on-site and no meals will be available.
REPORTS AND OTHER PRE-ASSEMBLY INFORMATION
The minutes for the 2011 assembly and all pre-assembly reports will be posted online as they become available. Please view and/or download these PDFs and print only the pages you want to keep. Paper copies of items to be voted on (nominations, resolutions, budget for 2013, etc.) will be distributed to voting members at the assembly.
RESOLUTIONS
The Reference and Counsel committee will be chaired by Ms. Renee Wicklund. If you have a resolution for the assembly, please mail it to the synod office or e-mail it to Ms. Renee Wicklund with copies to Pr. Gary Mills and Pr. Robert Schoepflin. All resolutions must be received by March 23; after that date, you must bring 500 copies to the assembly and make the resolution from the assembly floor.
NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS
Here is the list of open offices. Download the nomination form here; all nomination forms must be returned to Pr. Gary Mills at the synod office by April 1. Please contact the synod secretary, Pr. Robert Schoepflin, with questions.
FORUMS
Forums at the assembly will be held after dinner on Thursday, May 17. Space for forums is quite limited. Download the application form to present a forum here; please return the completed form to Pr. Gary Mills at the synod office by February 17. You will receive a response by March 5. Payment is due by April 1.
DISPLAYS
Space for displays is limited, so it is best to apply early. Download the display application here; completed applications and checks must be returned by April 1. Displays may be set up as early as 7am on Thursday. Please do not send any display materials to the synod office.
PACKETS
If you have an item to be included in the packets, please send a sample of the item to Synod Secretary Pr. Robert Schoepflin (Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, 4 Trescott Path, Fort Salonga, NY 11768) by April 1. Following the secretary’s approval, please send 500 copies to Emanuel Lutheran Church, 197 Manville Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570 so that items arrive after April 8 but before May 1.
AGENDA TIME
Requests for agenda time must be submitted to Pr. Gary Mills by February 17; you will receive a response to your request by March 5. When you request agenda time, please indicate whether or not you will be using AV for your presentation; if so, the presentation must be submitted in DVD format by April 13. Please note: No DVDs will be accepted after April 13. You will have to make your presentation without AV if you miss this deadline.
DVDS FOR AGENDA PRESENTATIONS
If you have been granted time on the agenda and wish to make an AV presentation, you must submit a DVD of your presentation to Pr. Gary Mills at the synod office by April 13.
DEADLINES
February 17: Requests for agenda time due
February 17: Forum applications due
March 23: Resolutions due
April 1: Nominations due
April 1: Sample packet items due to Pr. Schoepflin
April 1: Forum fees (if granted) due
April 1: Display table application forms (with payment, if any) due
April 13: Early advance registration ends for assembly voting members and visitors
April 13: DVDs of all AV presentations due
April 14: Late advance registration begins
April 26: Special hotel room rate ends
April 26: Late advance registration ends
Access the archive of previous assemblies.