Role of the Secretary

The secretary is elected by ecclesiastical ballot by the Churchwide Assembly to a six-year term. The person elected to serve must be a voting member of an ELCA congregation, but may be either an ordained minister of this church or a lay person.

While the ELCA presiding bishop has responsibility for preparing the agenda of the Churchwide Assembly, the Church Council, and other groups, the secretary of this church supervises the arrangements for and the management of these meetings. This includes making the physical arrangements for the Churchwide Assembly and preparing the printed materials distributed prior to and during the assembly. In addition, the secretary provides staff services to the Nominating Committee of the Churchwide Assembly and the election process for members of the Church Council and churchwide boards and committees.

The primary definition of the office in the governing documents, however, is that the secretary fulfills the normal functions of the secretary of a corporation, although in many ways the secretary is also this church’s chief historian. Consequently, among the secretary’s primary functions is the preparation of the minutes of the Churchwide Assembly, the Church Council, the Conference of Bishops, and the Cabinet of Executives, and the oversight of this church’s archives. In the archives one will discover not only the official minutes of this church and its predecessor church bodies, but also the private papers and other memorabilia of church leaders from the last 250 years. The secretary also is responsible for receiving and maintaining the minutes of all boards and advisory and program committees for the churchwide organization, as well as for implementing and operating a records management system and a library.

Reports of all the parochial statistics related to this church’s rostered leaders (both clergy and lay), congregations, and synods are coordinated by the secretary of this church. The secretary provides for the publication of these records through the annual Yearbook of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and through a variety of other means. The publication of the official texts of documents approved by the Churchwide Assembly, as well as all other assembly actions, also is the responsibility of the secretary, who likewise is responsible for attesting documents and affixing this church’s seal when necessary. The secretary also coordinates the use of legal and risk management services by the churchwide organization.

The secretary is responsible as well for the preparation and research of amendments to the governing documents of this church, including the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA, Constitution for Synods, and the Model Constitution for Congregations, for action by the Churchwide Assembly. When necessary, the secretary also serves as the primary interpreter of this church’s governing documents. The secretary, as the keeper of the rosters of this church, also serves as the primary interpreter of the policies and guidelines governing the management of those rosters.

Report of the Secretary

Return to the Preparation Materials Page

© Evangelical Lutheran Church in America  800/638-3522 | Mailing Address  | Site Map | Privacy Policy |  Terms of Use |