# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S533
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

522 WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN THE CHURCH

Here we must keep in mind that both Synod and the
individual congregations of Synod are to be thought of
as instruments of service rather than as means of ex-
ercising power over others. While, of course, a measure
of authority is exercised by anyone who holds an office,
such power is always circumscribed by the prior con-
siderations of both the service to be rendered and the
act of delegation inherent in either appointment or elec-
tion. After all, the church is the people of God, among
whom the structures of organization exist as means of
ministering to others (cf. Eph. 4:12; Luke 22:25). In this
understanding of the church, the exercise of the fran-
chise offers the privilege of service to the body of Christ

rather than the prerogative of power over a political
entity.

All of this is meant to say that neither the exercise
of the franchise nor the act of holding office in and of
themselves provide the occasion to engage in what the
apostle prohibits. The franchise is part of a method of
delegating authority, not usurping it. Much the same
may be said of holding those offices in the church which
do not directly relate to the exercise of authority over
others. Offices exist for the purpose of serving the
people of God with that particular measure of authority
which is entrusted to each officeholder by the exercise
of the franchise on the part of church members.