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VOTING BEGINS

Voting begins at Christ Episcopal Church

Agreement would remove parish from the Episcopal Church

Volunteers from Hillcrest Covenant Church sort ballots cast by members of Christ Episcopal Church, Overland Park on whether or not to separate from the Episcopal Church. The first rounds of voting took place April 3 and 10. Ballots also will be cast on April 17. The result of the votes will be announced that evening. photo by Melodie Woerman

By Melodie Woerman

Diocesan director of communications

The first two Sundays of voting has taken place at Christ Episcopal Church, Overland Park, as the parish membership decides whether or not to accept a proposed agreement that will sever the church’s ties to the Episcopal Church.

Voting took place after worship services on April 3 and 10 and will continue after services on April 17. Official election observers from the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas and the parish were present for the balloting.

Volunteers from nearby Hillcrest Covenant Church staffed the ballot boxes, clad in identifiable bright blue T-shirts. They also separated ballots into stacks of those who already were on a list of eligible voters and those who were not on the list but identified themselves as meeting the election criteria. (To see the criteria to be eligible, click here.)

Screening began April 10 of the ballots from those who were not on the initial voter list, which was based on members who have contributed financially to Christ Church. Diocesan officials said they understood the presumption was to count these ballots unless there is evidence to the contrary. That screening process will continue the afternoon of April 17.

The custody of all ballots is being maintained by Hillcrest Covenant volunteers, and completed ballots are being kept under lock in their church building.

There were 670 ballots cast on the first day, with an additional 291 on the second day of voting. The total number needed to ratify the agreement is not known yet, since adoption requires a majority of all members eligible to vote – and that number grows as individuals identify themselves as meeting voting criteria. No ballots will be counted until the afternoon of April 17.

An announcement of the final vote results is planned for late that evening, after all ballots have been screened and counted. Results wll be posted on the diocesan web site as quickly as possible.

For more information on the proposed agreement, click here.