Weekend #1 Updates
Weekend #1 is just one week away! Please be in prayer for all involved.
The weekend page has all the information you should need, including: weekender and team lists, applications, and food still needed.
Other secretariats have 24 hour prayer vigils going on outside the weekend by the 4th day community not serving on the weekend. This not only increases prayer palanca, but also gets others involved that may not otherwise have the opportunity to help in other ways for the weekend. It also shows the guests just one more way that they are being supported and loved on. Rectora, LoRi Morrissey, wanted to try this form of palanca for weekend #1. Please consider signing up for one or multiple hour long slots. Wouldn’t it be amazing to get this full?
Council Positions
The Kindling Committee was started purely to get the ball rolling for Ignite, but now we need YOU! Ignite is looking to fill council positions, both chair and committee positions. Please consider helping in this way. There are many voting chair positions to fill, each with a committee of people needed to help them. Read the Council Structure document to find out more about these positions and pray if God places one of these jobs on your heart. This February, all chair positions are open and will be voted on. For this ballot only, half of the positions will be a one year term and half will be a two year term. All following ballots will be two year terms.
Every year, Ignite will have an annual meeting. At these meetings, there will be new council members voted in and any business discussions done at that time. There will also be an absentee ballot sent out to Ignite members that will be sent out for those who cannot make the meeting.
Deadlines for Annual Meeting
This year, the deadlines are as follows:
- November 1 – Notification to community to which positions are open and will be voted on
- December 30 – Nominations must be in to get your name on the absentee ballot
- January 10 – Absentee ballots sent out via email and postal mail to those that specify
- 2 weeks after annual meeting – online voting will end and all postal mail ballots must be returned. Nominations will be taken from the floor at the meeting. This way, absentee ballots can make a “write-in” vote after these nominations are taken at the meeting.
Reminder of Membership Transfer
Up until recently, Ignite had not officially separated its members from Lutheran Via de Cristo of Minnesota. We have been working as our own non-profit, raising and using our own funds. However, the membership list had not been transferred yet because the Kindling Committee wanted to make sure all of the legal parts were in order first, including the trailer, insurance, and our first weekend. In September, the VdC of MN board voted to graciously donate the trailer and all of its contents to Ignite. Without this donation, we would not be where we are today, planning our first weekend in just a week.
On October 21, 2019, Matt Morrissey, as a representative of Ignite, sent a letter to the VdC of MN board informing them of our official membership separation. We would like to thank you all for supporting this new journey on which God has sent our community. Please continue to be in prayer for Ignite to flourish and for VdC of MN as they now focus on where God is leading them without the Southern District.
If you haven’t done so already, please choose which secretariat you want as your family, your community, your “home base”. You can serve on weekends in any secretariat, but you have voting rights in only one secretariat – the secretariat you choose. Currently, we have all been listed as members of Lutheran Via de Cristo of Minnesota. At this time, Northern and Metro MN will continue with this name now that our transition is complete.
To continue as a member of the same Southern MN community, you need to request to move your membership to the Ignite Community. According to NLS rules, in order for current 4th day community members to be listed as an Ignite member, they must signify they wish to transfer membership to this new community. If you do not switch your membership, know that VdC of MN will keep you on their membership list, which means they will spend time and money getting information about their community to you. Plus, you will not be on the Ignite membership list, which may leave you out of getting pertinent information about the Ignite community.
You remain “family” in our hearts, no matter which community you choose to hold your membership. Whichever secretariat you choose at this time, please follow the membership form link and fill out the membership form. Every individual interested will need to fill out their own form, so multiple members of the same family will need to fill out the form separately. If you would like assistance with this form, please call Marian Mallory at 319-493-0301. There is a team to help you with this process.
New weekenders will automatically become part of the Ignite community, just as you joined the current community as a 4th Day member at the end of your weekend. They will not need to choose their membership.
ignitevdc.org 
Is there a reason for the annual meeting being in February? I understand absentee ballots are being sent out but with a number is snow birds in our community there actual voice to discuss items relating to our life as Ignite will be missing. It seems like we may be unintentionally silencing a voice of a significant chunk of our community. Let alone the potential weather challenges.
LikeLike
We know there is concern is this area. The Kindling Committee wanted to get the community involved in the new council as soon as possible now that we are officially our own secretariat. This was our quickest option seeing we have 2 weekends starting planning and training soon after the new year. We knew it had to be February or wait until probably May, which runs into graduations and such, which may put us out even farther into summer. We know no matter what time of year, there will be complications with getting everyone there, whether it be snow birds, farming, summer vacations, holidays, etc. With 4% of current Ignite members being known snow birds, we took the chance that we can make it work for the majority of the community. We plan to address this as one of the business items at this year’s meeting to try to figure out the best option for the entire community for future meetings. Please know we are trying our hardest to involve everyone as much as possible. If you are a snow bird or cannot make the meeting for any other reason, please reach out with anything you would like discussed at the meeting.
LikeLike