# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S167
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

APPENDIX

Merger of Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
with The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod

(The Detroit convention of the Synod invited the
Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches to merge with
the Missouri Synod. This matter was pursued by a joint
committee consisting of Dr. Roland Wiederaenders
{[LCMS], chairman; Rev. Andrew Brondos [SELC],
secretary; Rev. John Bajus, Mr. Joseph Cell, Rev. John
Kucera [SELC]; Dr. Fred Kramer, Dr. Herbert Mueller,
Dr. W. F. Wolbrecht [LCMS].

The work of the joint committee resulted in the
development and adoption of “An Agreement” with two
additional documents attached. This “Agreement,”
given below, was to be presented to the conventions of
both church bodies for affirmative action. In the Mis-
souri Synod convention it received a unanimous vote
of approval on July 12, 1969, 3:10 p.m.)

AN AGREEMENT

Be It Acreep by and between The Lutheran Church
— Missouri Synod (“Missouri Synod”), a Missouri not-
for-profit corporation, and the Synod of Evangelical
Lutheran Churches (“SELC”), a Pennsylvania non-
profit corporation, as follows:

1. This Agreement shall become effective upon the
later of the following dates (herein referred to as
“Initial Effective Date”):

a. The date when the President of the Missouri
Synod certifies to the President of the SELC that this
Agreement has been approved by the Missouri Synod;
and

b. The date when the President of the SELC certi-
fies to the President of the Missouri Synod that this
Agreement has been approved by the SELC.

2. As a part of its approval of this Agreement, ap-
propriate action shall be taken by the SELC to autho-
rize, promptly following the Initial Effective Date, such
appropriate steps under the laws of Pennsylvania as
may be necessary to accomplish the following:

a. A change in the corporate name of the SELC to
“SELC District of The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod” in accordance with the applicable laws of the
State of Pennsylvania.

b. An amendment of its Constitution to bring the
same into conformity with the provisions of paragraph 8
hereof. .

3. Upon the Initial Effective Date, the following
shall take place:

a. The SELC, as a body corporate, shall become
a nongeographical District of the Missouri Synod, to
be known as the “SELC District”; and

b. The congregations, pastors, and called male teach-
ers of the SELC shall become members of the Missouri
Synod and shall be assigned by the President of the
Missouri Synod to the SELC District.

167

4. A plan of merger, satisfying the requirements of
Missouri law applicable to the Missouri Synod and the
requirements of Pennsylvania law applicable to the
SELC, shall be prepared, in consultation with the Ad-
visory Commission herein provided for, which plan
of merger shall provide for the merger of the SELC
into the Missouri Synod, which shall be the surviving
corporation, and containing such provisions not incon-
sistent with this Agreement as may be required by law.
Such plan of merger shall be submitted to and ap-
proved by a convention of the SELC and a convention
of the Missouri Synod, prior to the opening day of the
1977 convention of the Missouri Synod with the view
and purpose that all requisite steps shall be taken under
the laws of Pennsylvania and Missouri in order to
make the plan of merger effective on or about the open-
ing day of said 1977 convention. With the consent of
each party, the effective date of the merger may be
advanced or postponed. For the purposes of this Agree-
ment, the effective date of the merger is herein referred
to as the Consummation Date.

5. Upon the Consummation Date the President of
the Missouri Synod shall assign the congregations, pas-
tors, and teachers of the SELC District to the proper
geographical Districts of the Missouri Synod.

6. At any time prior to the Consummation Date (as
herein set or as advanced or postponed) either the Mis-
souri Synod or the SELC shall be free to withdraw from
this Agreement, provided that notice of such withdrawal
shall have been given to the other at least one year
in advance of the withdrawal date. Upon such with-
drawal, the status prior to the Initial Effective Date
shall be restored. The SELC shall thereupon cease to
be a District of the Missouri Synod, shall amend its
articles of incorporation to resume its former name, and
shall function again as a separate church, but the Mis-
souri Synod and the SELC shall be in fellowship with
each other. Upon such withdrawal the congregations,
pastors, and teachers of the SELC shall cease to be
members of the Missouri Synod and shall thereafter
be members of the SELC.

7. The period between the Initial Effective Date and
the Consummation Date is herein referred to as the
Interim Period.

8. During the Interim Period, the SELC District
shall be governed by (i) the Constitution and Bylaws
of the Missouri Synod, (ii) additional District bylaws
adopted by the SELC District and approved by the
Commission on Constitutional Matters of the Missouri
Synod, and (iii) those provisions of the SELC’s historic
Constitution which are retained as a part thereof and
which are not in conflict with (i) and (ii). Notwith-
standing the foregoing provisions, no provision of the
Constitution or Bylaws of the Missouri Synod shall be