# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S196
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

196

I. OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
1.

While Bylaw 4.1.1.4 gives authority over transfers
to district boards of directors, the objectives of the
Synod and the reasons for Synod’s formation of
districts do provide a basis for such decisions to be
made, for the benefit of congregation(s) involved.
A congregation that disagreed substantively with its
district board of directors’ decision not to release it
to another district might seek to resolve the disagreement through Synod’s dispute resolution process (Bylaw section 1.10). However, Bylaw 4.1.1.4 presumes
that reasonable discretion is allowed to the boards of
directors involved. Pursuit of reconciliation through
the Bylaw section 1.10 process is itself a proper goal.
In order for such a process to decide the matter,
however (e.g., to compel the board of directors to
grant transfer), a substantive case would have to be
presented, basing the decision on how membership
in one district or another best serves the objectives of
the Synod in relation to the congregation(s) involved.

2.

Should a district board of directors deny the request
of a congregation to transfer to another district, the
congregation may petition the district convention,
by way of an overture, to direct its district’s board of
directors to approve the transfer. Should the request
be frustrated, the congregation’s last recourse would
be, similarly, to the convention of the Synod.

Adopted November 10–11, 2017

Clarification of Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 (b) (17-2863)
Upon review of district bylaw proposals, the commission
felt it necessary to provide clarifying guidance to upcoming
district conventions regarding application of the new Bylaw
3.9.2.2.3 (b). Since its amendment by 2016 Res. 11-15A, Bylaw
3.9.2.2.3 has read:
The Commission on Constitutional Matters
shall examine the articles of incorporation, bylaws, and policy manuals of every agency of the
Synod to ascertain whether they are in harmony
with the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions
of the Synod.
(a) Agencies intending to make amendments to articles of
incorporation or bylaws shall make such intentions
known and receive approval from the commission in
advance.
(b) A district in convention may vote to amend its articles
or bylaws provided the resolution is contingent on
approval of the Commission on Constitutional Matters. The amended articles or bylaws become effective
immediately upon, and only upon, approval of the
Commission on Constitutional Matters. Should the
Commission on Constitutional Matters not approve
the adopted changes, the district Board of Directors
may modify the amendments to comply with the
Commission on Constitutional Matters requirements
upon their two-thirds vote.
(c) The commission shall maintain a file of the articles
of incorporation, bylaws, and policy manuals of all
agencies of the Synod.
2019 Convention Workbook

Newly added Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 (b) taken in isolation could be
understood to allow a district that intends to amend its Articles
of Incorporation or Bylaws to do so at a convention without
seeking prior approval by the Commission on Constitutional
Matters, first submitting these changes to the commission after the conclusion of its convention. While unanticipated bylaw
changes or circumstances arising in the course of a convention
may be handled under Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 (b), agencies, including
districts, intending to amend their bylaws or articles are reminded
that the requirement of pre-approval in Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 (a) still
applies.
That Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 (b) was not intended to replace Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 (a) for districts is illustrated by 2016 Res. 11-15A.
The resolution indicates that the purpose of this addition was
to make it possible for districts to make floor amendments to
the changes previously approved by the commission, or to vote
on a proposal in the rare instance when specific circumstances
made it impossible for the commission to consider the proposed
change prior to its being presented to the district convention.
In any case, bylaw amendment resolutions including nonpre-approved changes adopted under 3.9.2.2.3 (b) have no force
or effect until approved in their final form by the Commission
on Constitutional Matters.
District conventions are advised to divide those independent portions of proposals that involve floor amendments, as
much as possible, into separate resolutions. Bylaw changes effected by resolutions that contain only pre-approved changes
and involve no floor amendments can thus be of immediate and
certain effect. Bylaw changes effected by resolutions involving
floor amendments must be held in abeyance until approved by
the commission. When dividing pre-approved bylaw proposals
into separate resolutions, care must be exercised that the separation into parts does not affect the meaning of the parts taken
individually (i.e., that the parts separated are truly independent
of each other).
Adopted November 10–11, 2017

Appeal of the Doctrinal Review Certification
of a Seminary Journal Article (17-2869)
The Commission on Doctrinal Review (CDR) has received,
under Bylaw 3.9.3.2.2, an appeal to the doctrinal review certification of an item published in a seminary theological journal. A
member of the Synod involved in the doctrinal review process
requested an opinion on the following question:
Background: Bylaw 1.9.1 notes that “Doctrinal review is
the exercise of the Synod’s responsibility to determine that every doctrinal statement in its or any of its agencies’ or auxiliaries’ materials is in accord with the Scriptures and the Lutheran
Confessions.”
Bylaw 1.9.1.1 (d) notes that “each of the Synod’s schools is
accountable to the Synod through its respective president and
board of regents for the content of its professional journals and
all of its published materials that are not the official publications of the Synod. . . . The editorial boards of such publications shall serve as their own doctrinal reviewers.”
Bylaw 3.9.3 notes that “The Commission on Doctrinal Review assists the President of the Synod in the exercise of his
responsibility that all doctrinal content in its or any of its agencies’ materials be in accord with the Scripture and the Lutheran
Confessions.”