# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2010_S31
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

Res . 8-39, “To Appoint the Vice-President–Finance—
Treasurer” (TB, p . 470), was introduced by the committee .
During discussion that followed, an early motion to terminate debate failed [Yes: 644; No: 500] before a motion was
introduced to amend line 16 by deleting the words “and with
the concurrence of .” After brief discussion of the proposed
amendment, a motion to terminate debate carried [Yes: 972;
No: 134], and the motion to amend was defeated [Yes: 489;
No: 625] . Time for discussion having elapsed, the chair asked
the assembly whether it was ready to vote on the main motion .
Debate was ended [Yes: 925; No: 216], and Res . 8-39 was
adopted without amendment [Yes: 576; No: 534] .
Res . 8-02, “To Restore Circuits to Their Primary Purpose”
(TB, pp . 133f .), was introduced by the committee . Before discussion was begun, the committee made several changes to
the proposed resolution . Bylaw “5 .2” on line 31 (p . 134) was
changed to “5 .2 .1”; lines 27–29 were deleted; and the words
“and all changes to ‘ministers of religion–ordained’ and ‘ministers of religion–commissioned’ terminology throughout the
Handbook” were deleted from the final resolve . During discussion, an amendment to delete the numbers “5 .1” and “5 .3”
was introduced and discussed . The Orders of the Day were
called by the chair, who asked the committee to return with
this resolution with proposed changes to address concerns
raised during its discussion .
Bible Study Essay 3

Under the theme “ONE People—Forgiven through Christ
to Forgive in the Family,” Bible study leader Ted Kober
pointed out that Jesus forgave specifically, directly, and personally, as He demonstrated with the woman who entered
Simon’s house to anoint His head and feet (Luke 7:40–48) . So
also is our forgiveness from God and should be the forgiveness
we offer to the members of our families, not to be taken for
granted, but offered specifically, directly, and personally . This
lesson was reinforced by video presentations and small-group
discussions of Psalm 32:3–5; Proverbs 28:13; and James 5:16 .
“God Forgives You, and So Do I” are important words to share
with our family members, specifically, directly, and personally, for “Reconciliation Is Urgent Business!”
Committee 8: Synod Structure and Governance

Res . 8-30A, “To Amend Article VI” (TB, pp . 389f .), was
introduced by the committee after deleting the word “substitute” in the title and deleting the words “the amending of
Article VI for the sake of clarification and affirmation be postponed until” in line 22 (p . 390) and inserting new wording,
“the results of the study and any recommendations be presented to .” An amendment was proposed to add the words
“and our two seminaries” in line 10 after the word “Matters,”
accepted by the committee as a friendly amendment . Overture
8-16 (CW, p . 227) was offered as a substitute motion, questioned by the chair because it addresses a number of Articles
of the Constitution yet to be addressed by resolutions of the
floor committee . When the chair suggested continuing with
Res . 8-30A, the maker of the substitute motion did not agree .

31

The convention was asked if it wished to consider the substitute motion, and the convention declined [Yes: 527; No:
573] . As discussion of Res . 8-30A resumed, an amendment
was proposed to delete the second-last resolve on lines 25–27
(p . 390) . During the discussion that followed, the committee
suggested adding the words “if such clarifying amendment
be deemed appropriate” at the end of the resolve as a solution . The amendment proposal was withdrawn . During further
discussion, an amendment was proposed to line 14, deleting “of Article VI” and inserting the words “all the proposed
changes to the Preamble and any articles of our Synod’s
Constitution” after the words “study of .” The chair proposed
that the Commission on Constitutional Matters look at this
proposal to determine whether it would indeed impact the right
of the convention to look at further constitutional amendment
proposals . The matter was laid on the table without objection
from the assembly .
Res . 8-07, “To Study Future District Function and
Configuration” (TB, pp . 137ff .), was introduced by the committee after making a change to line 19 on page 139, deleting
the word “individual” and replacing it with “rostered .” An
immediate motion introduced to end debate was defeated [Yes:
468; No: 635] . During discussion, an amendment was proposed to change “15” to “19” on line 16 (p . 139) and to add
in line 26 an additional bullet “One representative from the
Atlantic, Eastern, New England, and New Jersey districts as
appointed by their district presidents .” A motion to end debate
on the motion to amend was carried [Yes: 983; No: 143], and
the motion was defeated [Yes: 372; No: 752] . An amendment
to change “15” to “16” in line 16 (p . 139) and to delete line
24 and replace it with “The district presidents of the non-geographic districts” was introduced for discussion . A motion
to end debate carried [Yes: 978; No: 146], and the motion
to amend was defeated [Yes: 474; No: 663] . As discussion
returned to the main motion, the chair announced that he would
honor the interest of the presidents of the non-geographic districts to speak after two additional “pro” and two additional
“con” speakers . A proposed amendment to replace lines 1–2
on page 139 with the new wording “Recommendations to
improve efficiency and coordination between the Synod and
districts and among the districts, including possible changes
in the number and configuration of districts” was accepted as
a friendly amendment . A motion was introduced to amend line
9 (p . 139) by replacing the words “the Atlantic, Eastern, New
England, and New Jersey districts” with “one district from
each of the five regions .” Debate was terminated [Yes: 868;
No: 252] and the motion to amend was defeated [Yes: 234;
No: 923] . After the convention heard from the presidents of
the non-geographic districts, debate was ended [Yes: 1,041;
No: 113], and Res . 8-07 was adopted as changed [Yes: 693;
No: 474] .
Committee 4: Administration and Finance

The chair called on Committee 4: Administration and
Finance to begin its report . Committee Chairman Donald
2010 Convention Proceedings