Edina Morningside Church is a congregational church. Our community is governed by our Constitution, the Preamble of which reads in part:
We, the Congregation of Edina Morningside Community Church United Church of Christ, acknowledge Jesus Christ as the head of our Church, and find in the Holy Scriptures (interpreted by the Divine Spirit through human conscience, faith and reason) our guide in spiritual discipline, fellowship and outreach. …We embrace our purpose as Edina Morningside Church through sharing the joy of Christ’s love by welcoming and serving.
Our governing documents are provided here:
EMC Constitution (as adopted May 20, 2018)
EMC Bylaws (as amended June 14, 2020)
General Leadership Documents
Most church boards and committees (except for Preschool Board and Trustees) meet simultaneously on the second Sunday of the month after worship, so they can more easily collaborate with each other across ministry areas. These monthly meetings share a common agenda, which can be accessed and edited as a Google Doc here:
Ministry Meetups Agenda
Go to the EMC SharePoint home site at https://edinamorningsidec.sharepoint.com/sites/EMCHome.
These are the most recent financial statements that the Trustees have received to date from our Treasurer, Mark Lorenzen:
March 2022 Balance Sheet
March 2022 MTD Income Stmt
March 2022 YTD Income Stmt
2022 Budget
Download the approved 2022 EMC Budget.
Please use these expense forms to request reimbursement for expenses from the church budget in the given categories. Once you have filled out the expense form, please forward in paper or electronic form to those who need to sign off on it next, then submit to the Church Administrator via emcucc@emcucc.org:
Expense Form Vision Council
Expense Form Trustees
Expense Form Staff Expenses
Expense Form Spiritual Life.Faith Formation
Expense Form Spiritual Life. Worship
Expense Form Spiritual Life. Music
Expense Form Preschool
Expense Form Generous Hospitality
Expense Form Faithful Service
Expense Form Building
Expense Form Administrative
If you are working on the church website, here’s a convenient User Guide for our website, created by webmaster Steve Ray in 2016:
Website User Guide
The PDF booklet “Changes Congregations Face” provides an accessible overview of the ways that church life has changed in recent decades. The Vision Council has used it to consider how we might be called to keep adapting congregational life in the coming years. Read it for yourself here:
Changes-Congregations-Face-2020
As described in the Bylaws, the Vision Council is led by the Church Moderator. The Moderator and Pastor are ex-officio members without vote of all boards and committees.
EMC 2021-2022 Vision Council Members
Moderator – Bob Beyerl
Associate Moderator – Lisa Lally
Clerk – Leah Lamon
Pastor – Oby Ballinger
Trustee Rep. – Robin Ray
Generous Hospitality Rep. – Denise Cochran
Spiritual Life Rep. – Sonja Martens
Faithful Service Rep. – Roger Fitzgerald
Preschool Rep. – Lollie Eidsness
Morningside Theatre Rep. – Laura Simonson
2021-2022 Elected Ministry Board Members (2021-22 Elected Leaders PDF here)
Trustees: Robin Ray (Chair), Larry Johnson, Janet Preston, Chuck Clay, Barb Green, Thom Miller, Jeff Strickler
Generous Hospitality: Denise Cochran, Jan Christiansen, Darlene Clay
Spiritual Life: Sonja Martens, Jill Mironer, Larry Williams
Faithful Service: Bruce Fisher, Alan Eidsness, Roger Fitzgerald
Preschool: Gina DeLong (Chair), Lollie Eidsness, Laurie Cory, Kristen Peterson, Joyce Fitzgerald
Morningside Theatre: Mark Mironer (Chair), Elaine Kirkland, Constance Fantin, Sarah Gednalske, Laura Simonson