# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2010_S165
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SYNOD STRUCTURE AND GOVERNANCE

Action: Adopted
(After explanation by the committee and brief discussion, Res .
8-12A was adopted as presented [Yes: 822; No: 286] .)

Congregations Walking Together in Mission
as They Elect the Synod President
and First Vice-President
To Elect the First Vice-President
RESOLUTION 8-13
TF Report (CW TFR, pp. 34–35); Overture 8-62 (CW, p.
242)
Whereas, A close working relationship between the
President and First Vice-President is vital for effective service by the President’s Office; and
Whereas, The Constitution of the Synod states under
“Duties of the Vice-Presidents,” “The vice-presidents shall
upon request of the President represent him in all his functions” (Art . XI C 1); and
Whereas, This requirement is especially true of the First
Vice-President; and
Whereas, The Bylaws, under the “Powers and Duties—
Ecclesiastical and Administrative” of the President, state, “He
shall establish the duties and responsibilities of the First VicePresident in consultation with the First Vice-President” (Bylaw
3 .3 .1 .3 [f]); and
Whereas, The Bylaws further state under the duties of
Vice-Presidents, “The First Vice-President shall be a full-time
executive and a nonvoting member of the Board of Directors .
He shall be responsible to the President at all times for the performance of his duties” (Bylaw 3 .3 .2 .2); therefore be it
Resolved, That upon the election of the President-elect, he
will be required to select five names from the list of 20 nominees for the office of First Vice-President, at least two of whom
shall be taken from the top five nominees; and be it further
Resolved, That the convention will be required to elect
the First Vice-President from the list of five chosen by the
President-elect; and be it finally
Resolved, That Bylaws 3 .12 .1–3 .12 .2 .4 be amended accordingly, as shown (“2007 Handbook Convention Version,” TB,
pp . 303–306) .
Action: Adopted (4)
(When first introduced early in Session 4, the committee clarified that the resolution will not go into effect until the 2013 convention . Later in the session when the committee continued its
presentation of Res . 8-13, it noted that the bylaw reference in the
final resolve should be changed to “3 .12 .1–3 .12 .2 .4 .” During discussion of the resolution, an amendment to add a resolve “that upon
the election of the president-elect, he be permitted to delete one
name from the list of 20 names nominated for the position of First
Vice-President” was ruled by the chair to be a substitute motion,
which the assembly declined to consider [Yes: 282; No: 871] . An
amendment to add the words “at least one of whom shall be taken
from the top five nominees” to the end of the first resolve was discussed at length and then amended to change the word “one” in

165

the amendment to “two” [Yes: 696; No: 477] . After further discussion, the amended motion to amend was also carried [Yes: 841;
No: 335] . As discussion of the now-amended resolution continued,
a proposed amendment to replace “required” with the words “be
given the opportunity if he chooses” in the first resolve was defeated [Yes: 282; No: 877] . After further discussion, Res . 8-13 was
adopted as amended [Yes: 597; No: 567] .)

Congregations Walking Together in Mission
as We Nominate and Elect
To Elect Five Vice-Presidents by Geographic
Region
RESOLUTION 8-14A
TF Report (CW TFR, pp. 30–31); Overtures 8-11, 8-62
(CW, pp. 224–225; 242)
Whereas, The Synod desires congregations to walk better
together in mission; and
Whereas, The Synod exists to support and strengthen congregations in their mission and ministry; and
Whereas, The establishment of five geographic regions
will serve to establish stronger connecting links between the
congregations, districts, and the Synod; and
Whereas, The five geographic regions would be created
for representational purposes to improve communications and
coordination of functions between the congregations and the
national Synod; and
Whereas, The Synod would benefit by improved representation from all areas of the nation; and
Whereas, The Synod vice-presidents two through six
would serve as the geographic representatives of the church
to improve the communications and coordination of functions
between the congregations within the geographical regions and
the national Synod; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod create five geographic regions
within the Synod; and be it further
Resolved, That the Board of Directors and the Council of
Presidents designate the boundaries of the five regions at least
24 months in advance of each Synod convention, appropriately
considering geographical and number of congregations information; and be it further
Resolved, That for the purposes of regional elections, individuals will be considered a part of the geographical region
where their congregational membership is held . Canadian congregations will be placed as a whole into the region which the
Board of Directors and the Council of Presidents deem appropriate; and be it further
Resolved, That the congregations of each of the five geographic regions within the Synod nominate from their regions
candidates for the position of Synod vice-president and, from
these nominations, the Synod in convention elect a vice-president from each geographical region; and be it further
Resolved, That the implementation of the regional elections
of the vice-presidents begin with the next regular convention
of the Synod; and be it further
2010 Convention Proceedings