Esperanza Congregation Members:
At the 2025 Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA voted to amend the Model Constitution for Congregations. As a result of this vote, we now need to amend Esperanza’s constitution to reflect the required ELCA changes.
A copy of the required amendments as well as the rationale for the changes can be accessed here: Changes to Constitution 2026.
To access our 2024 ratified constitution for comparison, visit Current Constitution (June 2024).
With the exception of C1.02, all changes are required by the ELCA. The council’s recommendation would be to include the verbiage “and continuing resolutions…” under C1.02 in order to be consistent with the ELCA.
As respects Chapter 10. Congregation Meeting, C10.02, our 2024 constitution currently reflects “percent.” The designated percentage of voting members was previously approved at 10%. Therefore, there are no additional changes required to this particular highlighted portion of the constitution.
Your council voted unanimously to approve these changes on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, and recommends that the congregation approve the amendments to the Esperanza constitution at our Sunday, May 17, 2026, Annual Meeting.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact a council member.
Chris Armfield, President – Esperanza Church Council, March 2026