We invite you to a special meeting of the Congregation that will be held on Wednesday, July 16, 2014, at 7:30 p.m. at Beth Emet. The special meeting will serve three significant purposes.

First, the Congregation will vote on certain proposed revisions to our "Constitution and By-Laws" that have been endorsed and approved by the Board of Trustees. The proposed revisions are shown in a "tracked changes" version of the proposed amended Constitution, a copy of which is available online. (A clean version is also available.) There is also a brief memo online discussing the rationales behind the various proposed changes.

Second, given that a special meeting is being convened, we are going to use this opportunity to provide additional details on the important topic of the Synagogue's budget and finances, including a discussion of longer term trends and plans. We believe that these are matters that congregants may be interested in knowing more about, or as to which they may have inquiries. Third, we will also be providing an update on the nature of and timelines for our upcoming capital campaign. There will, of course, be time set aside for questions and comments regarding each of these topics.

The latter two purposes are fairly self-explanatory but let me briefly address the proposed revisions to Beth Emet's Constitution. The Constitution provides mechanisms for its own amendment, including requiring that any amendment be approved by "the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the Congregation in good standing who are present" at a meeting called for the purpose of approving amendments. The quorum required for action at any such meeting is a minimum of forty (40) members.

It has been many years since there have been any significant revisions to the Constitution. As a result, there is much in our current Constitution that is outdated or no longer observed for a variety of reasons. The purpose of the proposed amendments is to begin the process of updating the Constitution by first addressing issues that are more administrative than philosophical.

Accordingly, while the proposed revisions include some changes of substance, for example, synchronizing the potential term for the president with the three-year limits already provided for the other officers, the revisions are largely intended to serve two functions. First, they are intended as a "clean-up," particularly in those instances where our practices frequently deviate from the current Constitution. Second, the revisions are intended to create a document that is more consistent with good fiduciary practices.

There are a variety of larger, potential issues which this set of proposed revisions does not attempt to address at present because they require more time to consider and much greater input from members. But the timing and processes necessary for such a thoughtful reexamination would not be consistent with that for accomplishing these more technical revisions promptly.

We look forward to your joining us at this important special meeting.

L'Shalom,

David Graham

President