The special congregation meeting scheduled for September 17, 2023 is postponed to October 8, 2023. The meeting on October 8, will take place following the regular 9:00am worship service. The October 8 meeting will be to call The Rev. Patrick W. Poole. (Pastor Wes) to the Yoked parish between Good Shepherd Luther church, Wilkes Barre PA, and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Kingston PA.
An announcement was made on September 10, 2023 that there would be a resolution instead of a call vote. Good Shepherd’s leadership subsequently reached out to Bishop Christopher deForest to clarify what is required to remain in compliance with both Good Shepherd’s constitution and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod’s constitution. After review it has been determined that a call vote is required with 2/3 majority from each congregation on the yoked parish.
Members of Good Shepherd are eligible to vote at the meeting provided they have communed and have a contribution of record on or after January 1, 2022.
After the call vote is completed Pastor Wes will then need to resign his current call to accept the call to the yoked parish.
I know this process has been confusing for all. It is the first time the current Synod leadership and Good Shepherd’s leadership have been involved in creating a yoked parish. Bishop deForest has given his sincere apologies for the confusion and I apologize to the people of Good Shepherd. We all look forward to learning from this experience to improve it for others in the future.
Please be sure to join us and vote at this historic meeting.
Yours in Christ,
Daren Bernecker
Congregation President