At the Friday evening session, delegates agreed to deal with 13 related motions as one block (Motions 1-13 in the National Church Council Report). After some discussion seeking clarification on a few items, the motions were approved. The changes to the constitution were the Second Reading of amendments that had been approved at a First Reading by the 2011 ELCIC National Convention.

The changes will help the ELCIC to function more efficiently and effectively. The constitution now becomes a streamlined document that provides “who and what” the ELCIC is while the “how to” details have been moved to a bulked up set of bylaws. The intent is to allow the church to adapt more quickly to our changing environment and landscape since bylaws are easier to amend.

The quick passage of the changes meant that the meeting could end early but instead the convention used the time for prayer as people sat in silent prayer or went to microphones and led the group in prayer for a considerable length time.