# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S532
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

532

ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

persistently adhering to false doctrine or for having given offense
by an ungodly life ...”; and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Synod states regarding the
President of Synod in Const. Art. XI B 1 “The President has the
supervision regarding the doctrine and the administration of:
a. All officers of the Synod;
b. All such as are employed by the Synod;
c. The individual districts of the Synod;
d. All district presidents”; and

WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Synod states in Const. Art. XI
A 1 regarding all of its officers, “The officers of the Synod must
assume only such rights as have been expressly conferred upon
them by the Synod ...”; and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Synod divides the jurisdiction
of ecclesiastical supervision into districts and between districts in
Const. Art. XII 6. stating, “All officers of the districts have the same
rights and duties as those outlined in this Constitution for the
officers of the Synod but only insofar as these apply to the district
and only within the boundaries of their districts”; and
WHEREAS, This decentralization of ecclesiastical authority is
followed in the Synod Bylaws as well, such as in Bylaw 3.3.1.1.1
which states, “The President of the Synod has ecclesiastical
supervision of all officers of the Synod and its agencies, the
individual districts of the Synod, and all district presidents. … (b)
In the districts of the Synod, he shall carry out his ecclesiastical
duties through the district’s president …”; and
WHEREAS, Bylaws regarding the districts and district president
likewise follow this pattern, such as in Bylaw 4.1.1.1 which states,
“A district is the Synod itself performing the functions of the
Synod,” Bylaw 4.4.2 which states, “The district president shall
represent the Synod in his district,” and Bylaw 4.4.5 which states
“Each district president, in accordance with the Constitution of the
Synod, shall supervise the doctrine, the life, and the official
administration on the on the part of the ordained or commissioned
ministers who are members through his district or are subject to his
ecclesiastical supervision”; and
WHEREAS, Pursuant to 2016 convention Resolution 12-14 the
Board of Directors in May 2017 amended Bylaw sections 2.14,
2.15, 2.16, and 2.17 extending the ecclesiastical supervision of the
Synod President to the level of individual members of the Synod
within a district, in contradiction of the previously mentioned
Constitution Articles and Bylaws of the Synod; and
WHEREAS, Bylaw changes by the Board of Directors are only
allowed “In exceptional circumstances and upon the express
direction of a convention of the Synod,” as per Bylaw 7.1.2. and
primary responsibility for the Synod’s Bylaws and their amendment
resides with the conventions of the Synod; and
WHEREAS, These bylaw changes made by the Board of Directors,
in May 2017, pursuant to 2016 convention Res. 12-14 benefit the
accuser in a dispute over doctrine and practice, allowing the accuser
an additional avenue to appeal for suspension or expulsion of a
member of the Synod when district level action has not led to formal
proceedings to suspend or expel that individual member; and
WHEREAS, In these matters the church follows Matt. 18:15–16,
for example Bylaw 2.14.4 (b) directs the district president to
“proceed in the manner described in Matt. 18:15–16 as the required
admonition in Article XIII of the Constitution, if applicable,
continues to be carried out”; and

2019 Convention Workbook

WHEREAS, Matt. 18:15–16 emphasizes winning the brother, “If
he listens to you, you have gained your brother,” and emphasizes
repeated action in order to bring the erring brother back to the
fellowship before resorting to expulsion/excommunication in Matt.
18:17 and Jesus, in Matthew 18, offers no additional appeals for
those interested in pressing for expulsion, rather his emphasis is on
reconciliation and restoration; and
WHEREAS, There is wisdom in the Lord’s words which are most
effectively carried out by those closest to the situation at hand and
that wisdom is reflected in the structure of the Synod which
decentralizes ecclesiastical supervision in the Synod; and
WHEREAS, Concern over this issue has been raised because the
Synod President is tasked in Const. Art. XI B 3 with the “power to
advise, admonish, and reprove” and to “conscientiously use all
means at his command to promote and maintain the unity of
doctrine and practice in all the districts of the Synod”; and
WHEREAS, This responsibility of the Synod President does not
negate the decentralization of the “means at his command”
elsewhere described in Const. Art. XI B 1, Const. Art. XII 6–8,
Bylaws 3.1.1.1. (a.); 4.1.1.1.; 4.4.2.; and 4.4.5 all noted above, so as
to provide the Synod President direct ecclesiastical supervision over
individual members of the Synod; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Northwest District memorialize the Synod in
convention to reverse bylaw changes of the Board of Directors
pursuant to 2016 Res. 12-14, and restore Bylaw sections 2.14, 2.15,
2.16 and 2.17 to the wording in the 2013 Handbook.
Northwest District
Ov. 10-21

To Rescind Commission on Constitutional Matters
Opinion 16-2791
WHEREAS, The Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM)
rendered Opinion 16-2791 stating that then-current bylaws
regarding “ecclesiastical supervision” in The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod were “unconstitutional,” giving the accuser the
right to appeal the decision of a district president when he fails to
act or declines to suspend a worker’s membership in the Synod; and
WHEREAS, The CCM refused to accept the clear language of
Constitution Article XI that does not give the Synod President the
specific authority to suspend, where Article XII 8 gives specific
authority to district presidents to suspend from membership
ordained and commissioned ministers; and
WHEREAS, The Constitution Articles XI A 1 and XIV give no
explicit constitutional authority to suspend or expel members, thus,
the Bylaws of Synod cannot confer such a right to the President of
Synod; and
WHEREAS, Upon the basis of Op. 16-2791 the CCM brought
forward Resolution 12-01A, “To Restore the Right of Accuser to
Appeal When a District President Fails to Act or Declines to
Suspend,” to the 2016 convention which was postponed
indefinitely; therefore be it
Resolved, That Constitutional Articles XI and XII are clear and
unambiguous and should be understood as they are written; and be
it further
Resolved, That the CCM Op. 16-2791 is hereby rendered null
and void; and be it finally