Dear JWHA Friends,
Last Spring, the Board undertook an important initiative to revise and streamline our Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. Board member Ryan Sargent, an attorney in Idaho, drafted the revisions, and Jonathan Whitehead, an attorney licensed with the Missouri Bar, carefully reviewed them for compliance with Missouri requirements.
While you can review the restated bylaws, I want to highlight just a few of the changes we made. We added a fundraising/finance chair that wasn’t articulated in our previous bylaws and we created an updated draft to share with membership for feedback. As for the Articles of Incorporation, we moved the board size from 9-15 (previously fixed at 12) and we made changes to the language of the Internal Revenue Code to ensure full compliance with Missouri state law. In addition, we updated the institutional name from “Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” to the “Community of Christ.”
I encourage you to review the remaining changes at your convenience. I am pleased to share that members officially approved these changes at our September 24, 2026, Business Meeting in Council Bluffs, and I want to thank Ryan and Cheryle for bringing these essential changes to fruition.
And finally, I want to say a word about our financial health: our investment portfolio grew by 13.5% in 2026, surpassing the $1 million mark for the first time—a landmark milestone for JWHA.
While navigating an ever-changing financial landscape presents ongoing challenges, our finances remain sound and our strategy clear.
Thank you for your continued dedication and support to the JWHA.
Best wishes,
Matt Harris
Outgoing JWHA President
