# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S204
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

10. ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
C. PROCESSES FOR SEMINARY AND COLLEGE /
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS COMPLAINTS (COH 16-013)
Rationale
Seminary complaint bylaws (Bylaw 3.10.5.7.9) should, like
Bylaw section 2.17, omit the requirement of a face-to-face
meeting in an allegation of sexual misconduct or criminal
behavior. They should also include a reminder to notify the
member’s ecclesiastical supervisor, to provide evangelical
supervision, counsel, and care, as required by Bylaws 2.14.3
and 2.17.3. They should also indicate that they are for
handling complaints arising from the faculty or
administration member’s conduct of seminary office, not
for complaints regarding any off-campus service (to a
congregation, etc.) of the member.
The “standing hearings committee” is a vestigial remnant
of an older mechanism for handling complaints (in the days
of boards of control) and should be removed (Bylaws
3.10.5.6 [d] and 3.10.5.7.10 [b][3]).
Colleges and universities once had the same bylawspecified complaint policy as the seminaries, but today
have no mandated complaint policy; they are required to
develop their own. Inquiries of the Commission on
Constitutional Matters (CCM) and Concordia University
System (CUS) indicate that these have not been developed
by the campuses. In the interests of the Synod and of
employment liability protection on the campuses, a
standard policy should exist. This has been developed as a
Model Operating Procedure Manual, for adoption (subject to
a degree of local customization) by the institutions.
Inclusion of a mention of this manual in Bylaw 3.10.6.7.5.2
will direct institutions to adopt it (customizing as
necessary) and clarify that the appeal process for faculty
termination specified in that bylaw is also provided
according to these procedures.
Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.10.5.7.9 be amended as follows, to
clarify the scope of the board’s authority, to omit the
requirement of a face-to-face meeting in an allegation of
sexual misconduct or criminal behavior, and to require
notice be given to the relevant ecclesiastical supervisor:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.10.5.7.9 The board of regents shall have authority to
investigate, hear, and act on any complaint regarding the
conduct of office of seminary faculty and administration,
including those arising out of Bylaw 3.10.5.7.5.
(a) If the board of regents receives a complaint against a
member of that seminary’s faculty or administration
concerning any matter, including those specified under
Bylaw 3.10.5.7.5, except in a matter of sexual misconduct
or criminal behavior, it shall direct the complainant first
to meet face-to-face with the respondent in an attempt
to resolve the issue (in the manner described in Matthew
18:15).
(1) The president of the seminary shall assist in this
attempt.
204 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

(2) If the president himself is the respondent, the
chairman of the board shall act in his stead.
(b) Should allegations involve information that could
lead to the expulsion of the member from the Synod
under Article XIII of the Constitution, the member’s
ecclesiastical supervisor is to be informed immediately
of the accusation (Bylaws 2.14.3 and 2.17.3).
(bc) … (jk) (succeeding provisions renumbered)

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaws 3.10.5.6 (d) and 3.10.5.7.10 (b)(3)
be amended as follows, to remove reference to the faculty
hearings committee, which is a vestigial remnant of former
bylaw procedures for handling complaints:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.10.5.6 The president of a theological seminary shall be the
executive officer of the board of regents. He shall serve as
the spiritual, academic, and administrative head of the
seminary.
…
(d) He shall be the academic head of the faculty, preside
at its meetings, and be an ex officio member of all
standing committees of the faculty and its departments
with the exception of the standing hearings committee
or of another standing committee to which the functions
of such a committee have been assigned.
…

PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.10.5.7.10 Each seminary shall have established policies and
procedures related to salary, faculty organization, faculty
involvement in establishing education policies, dispute
resolution, modified service, sabbaticals and leaves. It shall
also have policies and procedures related to student
discipline.
…
(b) The board of regents, on recommendation of the
president of the seminary, shall establish an effective
faculty organizational structure.
…
(3) The faculty shall elect a standing hearings
committee or assign the functions of such a committee
to another standing committee.
…

and be it finally
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.10.6.7.5.2 be amended as follows,
to make reference to the Model Operating Procedure Manual
under refinement by the CCM and the CUS:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.10.6.7.5.2 An appeal process established by the board of
regents of the institutionconsistent with the Model
Operating Procedure Manual for Faculty and
Administration Complaints and Appeal of Termination:
Colleges and Universities (developed by the Commission
on Constitutional Matters in consultation with the
Concordia University System) shall be in place for use by
faculty members who wish to challenge a termination
Resolutions