# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S499
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING

Article V Membership
…

A. Voting Members
All organized congregations that have joined the Synod hold voting
membership. At the meetings of the districts of the Synod every
congregation or parish is entitled to two votes, one of which is to be cast
by the pastor and the other by the lay delegate and no individual shall
cast more than one vote. At the meetings of the Synod a number of
congregations shall form a group which shall be represented by two
voting delegates, one a pastor and one a lay delegate.

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.12.2.3 (a) be amended to read:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.12.2.3
The Secretary of the Synod shall compile and maintain the
voters list for the election of the President of the Synod. This list and
any of its parts shall not be disseminated.
(a) This voters list shall include:
(1) the pastor of each member congregation or multicongregation parish
(2) a lay person from theeach congregation or parish

and be it finally resolved
Resolved, That the Commission on Handbook update the
Handbook to remove all references to dual- or multicongregations/parishes or parish(es) as a qualifier in all
representative or voting matters.

499

WHEREAS, Bylaw 3.1.2.1 (d) states, “All pastors who are not
advisory members under Article V B of the Constitution … shall be
eligible for election” as delegates to the national convention; and
WHEREAS, Bylaw 4.2.1 (a) states, “The conventions of the
districts shall be governed by the bylaws adopted by the Synod for
its conventions, insofar as these may be applicable” thus eliminating
vacancy pastors from voting representation at district conventions
as well; and
WHEREAS, The original intent of the Synod was that
representation by pastoral and lay delegates at Synod and district
conventions should be balanced; and
WHEREAS, Vacancy pastors are certainly “in charge of
congregations” they are serving, delivering both Word and
Sacrament as well as pastoral care; and
WHEREAS, When the vacancy pastor, who is in charge of the
congregation, is not allowed to represent the congregation for either
national or district conventions, congregations are denied half their
voting representation; therefore be it
Resolved, That for the purposes of voting representation at both
national and district conventions, vacancy pastors not otherwise
called to serve another congregation be considered to be in charge
of the congregations they serve; and be it further
Resolved, That the Commission on Handbook be charged with
crafting appropriate language to codify the intent of this resolution,
and that such language be brought to the next convention for
consideration.
Concordia
Williston, ND

Oklahoma District
Ov. 9-18

Ov. 9-16

To Study Allowing All Congregations
in a Multi-Congregation Parish to Have
a Lay Voting Delegate at District Conventions
WHEREAS, Each congregation is a member of their district; and
WHEREAS, Multi-point parishes only have one lay vote; and
WHEREAS, Sister congregations are then deprived of
representation; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District memorialize the
Synod at its next regular convention in 2019 to form a special Synod
task force to study and to report on the current representation and
voting procedures of congregations in the Synod; and be it finally
Resolved, That the report from this special task force be shared
with district presidents and members of the Synod by January 1,
2021.
Minnesota South District
Ov. 9-17

To Recognize Vacancy Pastors
as “In Charge of Congregations”
for the Purposes of Voting Representation
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Synod defines “ministers not
in charge of congregations” as “advisory members” (Constitution
Article V B; XII 10 B b); and

To Amend the Constitution
to Address District Convention Representation
Rationale
The Commission on Handbook presents a proposal for amendment
of Constitution Article XII 10 to adjust the terminology and extent
of official attendance at the conventions of Synod’s districts, as
touches the following aspects:
• Terminology: The purpose of Const. Art. XII 10 is, as its
introductory phrase indicates, to delineate attendance at
district conventions. Const. Art. V indicates the membership
of the Synod, congregational and individual, and the
members of a district are simply those members of the Synod
so assigned. Furthermore, bylaws and customs dealing with
district convention attendance uniformly use the term
delegate. The constitutional language should be updated to
reflect the common usage, changing the terms representative
and member both to delegate.
• Bylaw 4.2.3 correctly indicates the intention of the
Constitution, that “All nonvoting ordained and
commissioned ministers who are members of the Synod
within the district shall serve as advisory delegates.” At the
time the constitutional list of Const. Art. XII 10 B was
composed, any pastor called by a congregation who was not
the voting pastoral delegate would have been an assistant
pastor, and therefore an advisory delegate to the district
convention. The creation of the associate category of pastors
created the possibility that there might be pastors other than

2019 Convention Workbook