# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S170 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 170 ADMINISTRATION AND PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION cutbacks of needed programs will not be required and the challenges for the ‘80s can be met.” If all District Presidents, the Board of Directors of the Synod, and the President of the Synod work together as a team they can help develop ‘“‘the new methods for joint planning of the work of the Synod and its Districts” called for in the 1979 convention resolution. Al] District and national officers and staffs must also work together in proposing plans and imple- menting approved plans. If the Board of Directors and the Council of Presidents convene annually as a Planning council, with appropriate District executives and the synodical senior staff as advisory members, they could propose three-year and ten-year plans to each synodical convention, propose the formula for allocation of District and synodical receipts to the related planning units, and establish District and synodical budgets within the convention approved plans. The following process would be utilized: Three- and Ten-Year Plan 1. Congregations indicate to District and national offices of the Synod what help the Synod should provide so that the mission of Christ can be strengthened through local, District, and national] ministries. 2. District and national leaders in related planning units (world missions, North American missions, professional education, congregational ministries, communications, program administration, finance and support services, and ecclesiastical administration, theology and church government) make recommendations to boards and con- ventions of the Synod and its Districts. 3. Synodical and District boards propose plans toa Planning Council (the Synod’s Board of Directors and Council of Presidents, with District staff and the senior staff to the national office as advisory members). 4. Planning Council requests related planning units to review plans and suggest a list of ministries to be adopted accord- ing to priority of importance and value. 5. Planning Council reviews proposals, agrees on plans, and proposes to the Synod in convention what ministries are to be undertaken and what funds (in dollar amounts and in percentage amounts of the total budget) are to be allocated to each related planning unit from the combined, District and national income. 6. The Synod in convention approves plans and the formula for allocating funds. Annual Plan and Budget 1. Each District's board of directors and each unit of the national offices of the Synod submits a proposed budget, classified according to the seven related planning units, to the Planning Council. 2. The related planning units meet to agree on current programs and a prioritized list of proposed new work by the District and national offices of theSynod to be submitted to the Planning Council. 3. District and national offices provide the Planning Council with estimates of income from District pledges and other sources. 4. The Planning Council meets annually to agree on the work to be done by the District and national offices of the Synod. Funding for programs is provided under the allocation formula for related planning units approved by the con- vention. A general contingency fund is included in the allocations. Adjustments may be necessary, utilizing the list of priorities developed by the District and national offices. A tentative budget is proposed for the work of each District office and the units of the national offices. 5. At the Planning Council meeting District Presidents will caucus with their staff and board representatives. If they believe adjustments are necessary, such adjustments may be requested and approved. 6. The Planning Council will make a final budget allocation to each District for work within the District and to the national office for the work of its boards, commissions, and departments. The difference between the income estimates for each District and the allocation for work within the District shall be the amount designated for national work. This will determine the effective ratio for each District's commitment. All unrestricted District receipts from con- gregations and others for the year shall be shared in this proportion. If District receipts are below budget, the Dis- tricts and the national office will share proportionally in the shortfall. If the District’s income exceeds the budget, the District may retain its proportionate share as a con- tingency reserve orit may apply it to designated District or national projects of the Synod. 7. As needed throughout the budget year, the Synod’s Board of Directors, in consultation with District boards of di- rectors may further adjust items within the allocation of the Planning Council. However, no change shall be made in the ratio of the District’s budget for work to be done in the District and through the national office. In emergencies Districts may make requests through the Council of Presi- dents, and national boards and commissions may make requests through the Council of Administrators to the Synod’s Board of Directors for allocations from the general contingency fund. 8. Members of the Synod’s congregations will regularly re- ceive reports on the work of the related planning units. Then congregations will become better acquainted with their work beyond the local area. They will also be better equipped to provide input to the planning process and to allocate a proportion of their resources to the work of the Synod through its District and national offices. 9. Three members each of the Synod’s Board of Directors and Council of Presidents, appointed by each group, together with a member of the Council of Administrators ora staff representative from each related planning unit as advisor, would serve as a coordinating committee of the Planning Council to assist in this process of planning and working together. If the above process is approved, Bylaw changes would be required establishing the Planning Council and authorizing it to make the planning and budgeting decisions for the national and District programs of the Synod. Option 6-Combine or simplify features from all the above options, or propose new options not yet considered. The manner of input from congregations into the master plan might be changed. Perhaps only new work should be included in the planning by the related units. The role of the Synod’s convention in establishing formulas might be changed. Plenary Meeting On February 22—23, 1983, the Synod’s Board of Directors, Council of Presidents, Council of Administrators, and senior staff at the national office met for the annual planning session. This plenary group indicated approval of the concept of an advisory planning council as a forum for planning together at the national and District levels of the Synod. The prevailing view was that such a council should discuss national and District needs and plans and then propose a national budget to help implement those plans. 7 The plenary group also indicated general approval of the related planning unit concept as a way, together with a planning council, to continue the planning initiated in these plenary sessions the past three years. The plenary group also agreed on the need fora graduated process by which the Synod in future conventions could develop a new method for program planning and budgeting. Most leaders attending the session felt that the Synod’s experience with the Forward in Remembrance regional groups has become a good foundation upon which to build future collegial planning activity. Toward the Future At the meeting of the Executive Coordinating Committee following the plenary planning session it was suggested that the following options be reported for discussion by the Synod to help make progress toward solving the challenges the Synod faces: 1. The Synod in convention decides to reexamine and evaluate the relationship between the Synod’s Board of Di-