Hello St. Paul’s,
This week you may have received an important packet in the mail from St. Paul’s. It was mailed to everyone who we believe is qualified to vote in the Chapter election. The packet contains a letter from me, a ballot sheet, summary profiles of our six Chapter candidates, and a return envelope. We are conducting our Chapter election by mail this year because we cannot have an in-person annual meeting. My letter details the changes we made to the cathedral bylaws in order to permit this procedure. You can find all the details, including full nominating materials for each candidate, on the new Annual Meeting page on our website, stpaulcathedral.org/annual-meeting.
I’m not going to repeat everything in my letter, but I want to stress a couple of things:
First, please make sure that you qualify as a voter according to our bylaws: age 16 or older, baptized with water and in the name of the Holy Trinity, have made a pledge no later than June 28 2020, have made a good faith effort to pay on that pledge, and would have received Communion regularly at the cathedral had the pandemic not made that impossible.
We are operating on the honor system, and I hope that if you have any doubts about any of these criteria, you will either refrain from returning your ballot or ask for clarification.
- If you’re not sure about your baptism, send an email to Kathleen Burgess at burgessk@stpaulcathedral.org so that she can check our register.
- If you joined the cathedral too recently to have made a pledge by last June, you should not have received a ballot. I want to highlight the question of making a good faith effort to pay on your pledge. Pledges apply to the general operating fund.
- If you have made designated gifts but have not yet paid anything on your 2020 pledge, please remedy that before returning your ballot.
If you think you should have received a ballot, but didn’t, send an email to Kathleen Burgess and she will check records. Please do not photocopy someone else’s ballot: each ballot is uniquely numbered.
It’s important that we receive completed ballots in good time for the judges to complete the count before the annual meeting on the 24th, so please get it in the mail by January 18.
If you’d like to get to know our Chapter candidates better, please plan to attend the adult forum via Zoom this Sunday at 9 am. A recording of the forum will also be available for on-demand viewing by next Tuesday.
Finally, please mark your calendar to attend the annual meeting via Zoom on the 24th at noon. We have allowed for a lower quorum, but I really hope that won’t be an issue. We have much to celebrate, including the annual awarding of the Robinson Cross. The election result will be announced at the end of the meeting.
See you on Sunday!
Your sister in Christ,
Penny
