# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S737
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Report of the
Handbook Revision Committee

1. Synod in 1938 passed the following resolution:
*“That a committee of eleven competent men shall be
appointed which shall prepare, after due study and
consideration, a new, complete, and authoritative edi-
tion of the Synodical Handbook, containing all the
synodical regulations, properly arranged, co-ordinated, -
indexed, and in idiomatic English form, in which all
antiquated rulings are eliminated, all ambiguous and
contradictory regulations are adjusted, the duties and
responsibilities of all officials and boards and, faculties
are carefully outlined, and all overlapping and conflict-
ing of authority are removed.”

2. When the Handbook Revision Committee sub-
mitted only a partial revision in 1941, it was resolyed
“that this partial revision be assigned to this or another
Handbook Revision Committee with the instruction to
complete the work of revision and to submit a copy
of the revision of the Handbook at least one year
before the next General Convention to every pastor
and teacher in order to permit a thorough discussion
in pastors’ and teachers’ conferences, congregational
and circuit meetings.”

3. We are herewith respectfully submitting our
draft of the By-Laws of Synod, into which we have
merged the former so-called “Regulations” which had
been drawn up from time to time to govern various
officers, boards, and committees. We did not include
the Constitution itself in our revision since that was
not within our province or power. However, the
Constitution with Article XIV as it,was amended by
the last Synod and ratified by a large majority of
the congregations of Synod, as well as the various
synodical charters, the revised Constitution of the
Synodical Conference, and other important docu-
ments should be printed in the next edition of the
Handbook.

4, We ask all to study the By-Laws in their present
form as submitted by your Committee. You will find
little that is new, but a study of the table of contents
will immediately show that we have tried to re-
arrange the provisions of the old Handbook in such
a way that you will readily find things where you
are looking for them or where they belong. Later
on, before this new edition is put on the market after
its adoption by Synod, a complete index should be
added.

5. We have adopted the system used in many law
books of numbering the sections consecutively but in
such a way that insertions can be made without dis-
turbing the numbering. To this end we have used
only odd numbers. Every section is to have and retain
a certain number by which it will always be known
and can readily be found. New sections can be given
-even numbers and inserted in their proper places.

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