Four important dates on which procedural steps for the Lay Congress (May 20, 21, 22) will be taken have been announced by James Callison, congress chairman.

The dates are:

March 18 - the date on which ad hoc committees will mail their reports to all delegates and alternates. Meetings of the expanded committees will be called shortly thereafter. Delegates and alternates should call meetings in their parishes to obtain a consensus concerning the reports as explained above; this must be done prior to April 5.

April 5 - the final date for parishes to mail written, proposed modifications of the ad hoc committee reports to the Chairman of each of the three committees. Soon after April 5, the three expanded committees will meet to consider the parish proposals, adopting, rejecting or revising them as the committee memberships decide.

April 19 - Each of the three committees will mail revised reports to all delegates and alternates, embodying such parish suggestions as were adopted by the committees and such revisions as the committee members themselves have agreed upon (or an indication that no revisions were made.) As soon as possible after the revised reports are received, further meetings should be scheduled in each parish to obtain a consensus among the laity of the parish concerning new matter, if any, in the revised reports.

May 3 - the final date for parishes to mail written, proposed revisions concerning new matter contained in the revised committee reports. These are again to be sent to the chairman of the committees. The committees will meet and adopt, reject or revise the various proposed amendments. The committees’ decision will be reflected in their reports on the floor of the Congress. If substantial changes are made, further revised reports may be printed and mailed prior to the legislative session.

Procedural rules for the three days of the Congress itself will be established in the future.

Form Of Reports -- It is hoped that committee reports will be in two parts -- (a) proposed rules, regulations or policy statements for the laity to suggest for adoption by the Synod; and (b) accompanying reports of the committees, which will explain and amplify the proposed rules, regulations or policy statements. It has tentatively been decided that actual discussion, proposed amendments, and voting on the floor of Congress in May will be confined to the first part of these reports, which will leave the second part as the consensus of thinking and explanation by the committees, much as reports by committees are treated in Congress and in state legislature. (The final action by the Lay Congress will also be explained by the record to be made of all debate on the floor of the Congress.)