# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S230 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 230 STRUCTURE AND CONSTITUTION shall convene the Committee on or before February 15 of the same Year. ur . That the chairman of this Nominating Committee be desig- nated to serve as an advisory member to the subsequent Nominating Committee. 6. That forms used in the nominating process be revised and then proposed to the next Committee for Convention Nomi- nations. . That the subcommittee be empowered to create a pool o. names to fill positions on boards or commissions which may be authorized by the Synod in convention, and that special consideration should be given to candidates nominated but not elected. Committee for Convention Nominations E. H. Zimmermann, Chairman 5-64 To Limit Membership on Synodical Nominations Committee WHEREAS, Res. 2-12 of the 1981 St. Louis convention: ‘To Provide District Representation in the Nominating Process” has almost tripled the size of the Committee for Convention Nominations; and WHEREAS, A committee now comprised of 38 members (one from each District) is impractical, unwieldy, and an excessive burden on the Synod's already strained treasury; therefore be it Resolved, That the Michigan District petition the Synod at its coming convention to limit the Committee for Convention Nominations to 14 members: 2 teachers, 5 pastors, and 7 laymen; to be elected by the Synod beginning with the 1983 convention. Michigan District Eldor F. Bickel, Secretary 5-65A To Change Method of Electing the Committee for Convention Nominations WHEREAS, The 1981 convention of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod adopted a resolution which provides for the election of the members of the Synod’s Committee for Conven- tion Nominations by the Districts, each District electing one member of the committee; and WHEREAS, This increases the number of committee members from 15 to39, making meetings of the committee more cumber- some than in the past; and WHEREAS, This structure gives an inordinate amount of representation to Districts with small populations; and WHEREAS, The entire membership of this committee that serves a synodical convention should be elected by the dele- gates assembled in synodical convention rather than by individual District conventions electing only one member of this committee; and WHEREAS, The provision that one-half of the Districts elect professional church workers and the other one-half elect laypersons to serve on the committee could lead to a situation in which only a few clergymen or noclergymen at all would be members of the committee, thus destroying the balance between clergy and laymen that the Synod has maintained in the past, or to a situation in which no teachers would be members of the committee; therefore be it Resolved, That the 1982 convention of the Central Illinois District memorialize the 1983 convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to amend the Synod’s Handbook, using the wording of Bylaws 2.139, 2.141, 2.143, 2.145, and 2. 147 as found in the 1979 Handbook, to provide for the election of the Committee for Convention Nominations by the Synod’s convention itself. Central Illinois District Arthur T. Kuehnert, President J. Robert Cunningham, Secretary Identical or similar: 5-65B to 5-65J Beautiful Savior, Broomfield, Colo. Messiah, Grand Junction, Colo. Harlan Harnapp John W. Meyer Redeemer, Delta, Colo. Alvin Hahn Immanuel, Paonia, Colo. Gary Ford St. James, University City, Mo. Ken Pranschke Mount Hope, Casper, Wyo J.B. Brown Carl Tetzloff Bernard E. Staake Paul Schmidt Mt. Calvary, Minneapolis, Minn. Redeemer, Jackson, Wvo. St. John’s, Algoma, Wis. 5-66 To Restructure Nominating Committee WHEREAS, The 1981 convention altered both the numbers and the method of electing the Committee for Convention Nominations; and WHEREAS, The election of a committee of the Synod in the Districts would be more appropriate in a synod composed of autonomous districts than in a synod which is subdivided into districts; and WHEREAS, A committee of some 40 people is essentially unworkable as well as unnecessarily costly in its meeting a number of times in St. Louis; and WHEREAS, Practical considerations cause a considerable amount of preliminary work and most of the search for candidates to fall to the office of the Secretary of Synod; and WHEREAS, A committee elected so late with respect to the deadline for its work may be more rushed in decisions than seems appropriate; and WHEREAS, The committees of previous conventions were of a more appropriate size and had a more comfortable time frame in which to make decisions; therefore be it Resolved, That a nominating committee composed of seven pastors, five laypersons, and three teachers be hereafter utilized; and be it further Resolved, That these individuals be elected by the Synod in convention; and be it finally Resolved, That Bylaw 2.941 be appropriately revised so that the change will cover the committee for the 1985 convention. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Warren, Ohio Vincent C. Braun, President Michael Mason, Secretary Norman H. Schinkel, Pastor 5-67 To Change the Nominating Process WHEREAS, The people of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod desire nationwide representation on the boards and commissions of the Synod; and WHEREAS, The nominating system which was adopted at the 1981 convention of the LCMS fails to give ‘“‘cone man, one vote” consideration to the members of the LCMS, because Districts with fewer Lutherans have the same representation as those with large concentrations of Lutherans; and WHEREAS, The size of the present committee has increased the cost of nominating our board and commission members; and WHEREAS, It is impossible to elect people to the boards and commissions of the Synod from every District; and WHEREAS, Bylaw 2.941a calls for the election of laymen and “churchworkers” rather than laymen, pastors, and teachers to the Committee for Convention Nominations, thereby allowing a possible disproportionate representation by either pastors or teachers on the Committee for Convention Nominations (the previous system called for 20% teacher representation); and