Annual Congregation Meetings | Southwestern Minnesota Synod ELCA

On this page, you will find resources to help you plan for annual congregation meetings.

Congregational Annual Meeting

The purpose of the annual meeting is for church members to make decisions that affect their common life together and to conduct the official business for the year. The agenda is therefore structured like a business meeting. It is also a time to celebrate the congregation’s life. One way to do this is to separate the meeting into three segments: “Stating our purpose together as a congregation”; “Celebrating the life we have had together in the past year”; and “Looking ahead to how God is leading us into the future."

The ELCA Constitution for Congregations states that the powers of the congregation are vested in the congregational meeting called and conducted as provided in this constitution and bylaws. (C5.02.) Congregations hold annual meetings at a time specified in their bylaws.

Annual Reports

Congregations may request written reports from committees, president, treasurer, and financial secretary. These reports should reflect on the past year. The presiding bishop and the synod bishop will also provide annual reports to congregations/organizations. The presiding bishop’s report comes in the spring for synod assemblies.

Bishop's Message for Annual Meetings

THANK YOU for the privilege of walking with you in ministry this year. It is an honor to be entrusted with the stories of your greatest joys and hopes for the church, as well as your burdens and concerns. I “keep watch” with you as we look for what God is doing among us today and in the future. This verse from Romans 12 provides a vision of what this might look like as this synod lives as one body, in Christ, and as members one of another. Click here to view and download Bishop Dee Pederson annual report.

2024 Annual Report Covers

Churchwide provides an Annual Report Cover that includes:

The cover
A Message from Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
Litany & Hymn

Click here to download and print cover pages. (8.5x11)
Click here to download and print cover spread. (11x17 folded)

Rostered Leader Reports

Rostered leaders may write a report to share at their annual meeting. They also fill out an online form that gets submitted directly to the synod bishop. This is a report that reflects upon the past year and looks ahead to the next year. Go to the Rostered Leaders’ Report to the Bishop web page for forms and more information.

Meeting Resources

All of these documents are links; please click the titles below to view.

Last year’s compensation guidelines.

Annual Checklist

At the beginning of every year, the synod office asks each congregation to share the following information:

Mission Support Plan

As you consider your congregation’s Mission Support for 2025, will you prayerfully consider growing that Mission Support for the coming year? We are called to join in God’s work in the world using all the gifts God has entrusted to our care. We encourage your church to increase your percentage or level of Mission Support as you make your financial decisions for next year. Whatever amount you share, we are one in the Great Commission.

Congregation Leadership Data

ELCA Congregation Reports / Forms A (Parochial Reports)

Each year, every congregation, synod-authorized worshiping community (SAWC) and new start is asked to provide information about its people, finances, and resources through the Annual Congregation Report. This provides the churchwide organization and synods with a record of the congregations and worshiping communities that make up the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Form A provides crucial data that assist in assessing the success of existing programs and in preparation of new resources. This data is also shared on your congregation’s full trend report on the ELCA’s website. (To view a congregation’s trend report on the ELCA website, click Find a Congregation and type in the zip code, click on the congregation name.)

To fill out these forms you must have your congregation ID number and password. Your congregation should have received a packet in the mail mid-January 2024 from churchwide that includes the password. Passwords change from year to year.

Starting Mid-Jan. 2024 congregations can file electronically.

Click here to access your congregation's Form A online.

Newsletter

If you do not already subscribe to the SW MN Synod weekly e-newsletter, please sign up. Add all your new congregation council members to keep them up to date with synod news, events, resources, and special messages from the bishop.

We respect your privacy. Subscribers will not have their email addresses shared or redistributed in any way.

Stay connected to the ELCA – subscribe to one or more of the ELCA's e-newsletters. Looking for a place to start? We suggest Seeds Monthly, a monthly newsletter providing access to the latest resources, stories and events from around this church. Click here to subscribe.

Other Helpful Resources

Understanding our ministry together is important. Together we achieve things on a scale and scope that we could never do otherwise. Share these resources with your council and congregation/organization.

All of these titles are links; please click the titles below to view.