Standing Committee takes on extra business at Annual Conference meetings.

At its meetings at Annual Conference, alongside the usual agenda items such as reports from districts, sharing counsel with the moderator, and making recommendations on new business coming to the Conference delegates, the Standing Committee of district delegates considered two items added from the floor: discussions of hurts in the denomination, and how to receive concerns that come in ways other than through established channels.

After hearing an explanation of the rules that Conference officers follow in accepting new business for Standing Committee to consider, the group adopted a motion made by James Myer of Atlantic Northeast District to "encourage its officers to relax their rigid rules of not sharing anything they have received." The motion encouraged the use of meeting time to share concerns heard by the officers and to allow the committee to decide if there are items of business to consider.

A second action later in the Conference week created an Envisioning Committee to coordinate and plan a time during Standing Committee business specifically for envisioning, in consultation with Conference officers. The content of the envisioning time will be gathered with input from Standing Committee members, who will be responsible to conduct a session at their district conference or other venue to listen to concerns, ideas, and dreams for the church. Elected to the new committee were Kathryn Ludwick, Nathan Polzin, David Rittenhouse, and David Wysong.

Source: Newsline 7/30/2004
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