# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2023_S144
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

144

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

generate and publish in advance of the convention a lists of
names from all who have been nominated for Synod boards
and commissions who meet the qualifications (as certified
under Bylaws 3.10.6.2 [8].1 and 3.6.6.3 3.9.6.2.1) to serve
(1) on a Concordia University System board of regents of
an affiliated college or university or (2) on the Concordia
University System Board of Directors Commission for University Education. Information on such nominees shall be
shared with the Commission for University Education for
use throughout the following triennium as it appoints further
members and assists the districts and affiliated colleges and
universities, respectively, in identifying potential regents for
election and appointment.
3.12.3.7
The chairman of the Committee for Convention Nominations shall submit the committee’s report in person to the
convention at one of its earliest sessions and shall facilitate the
amendment of the slate from the floor.
(c) Such floor nominations may only be made from the list of
names that have previously been offered to the Committee
for Convention Nominations prior to the final deadline for
the submission of nominations, unless the convention shall
otherwise order by a simple majority vote. The President of
Concordia University System (or a designee) and the Secretary of the Synod (or a designee) shall verify that all floor
nominees to serve as a member of a Concordia University
System board of regents possess qualifications as stated in
Bylaw 3.10.6.2 (8). The qualifications of floor nominees for
boards of regents of affiliated colleges and universities shall
be verified as provided in Bylaw 3.10.6.2.1. The Chief Administrative Officer President of the Synod (or a designee)
and the Secretary of the Synod (or a designee) shall review
and verify that all floor nominees to serve as a member of the
Concordia University System Board of Directors Commission for University Education possess qualifications as stated
in Bylaw 3.6.6.3 3.9.6.2.1.
And be it finally
Resolved, That those now standing for election or elected to new
terms on the CUS Board of Directors be regarded as standing for or
elected to terms on the CUE in the corresponding membership positions thereon, and that those presently in office on the CUS Board
of Directors complete their present terms as members of the CUE
in the corresponding membership positions thereon, with service
on either body constituting contiguous terms of service for purpose
of term limitation.
B. TO RELATE TO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AS
AFFILIATES OF THE SYNOD
In keeping with the charge of 2019 Res. 7-03 to “review the overall governance of CUS and the boards of regents of the CUS institutions,” to “strengthen all CUS institutions’ connection to the
Synod,” and to “strengthen the confessional Lutheran identity of all
CUS institutions,” and with the intention of fulfilling more effectively, in the present context, the objective of the Synod to “support
the establishment and maintenance of … colleges [and] universities
… to train ministers of religion … and laity for service in the Evangelical Lutheran Church” (Articles of Incorporation II [d]), a new
type of corporate relationship between the Synod and its colleges
and universities is enacted.
The proposed affiliate model recognizes a “coming of age” of the
Concordia universities, reflecting decades of increasing university
2023 Convention Workbook

responsibility for business models; operations; funding in gifts, tuition, and revenue; increased scope of programs offered; and intensified regulatory demands, all in the context of significant changes
in higher education in the country as a whole. The term affiliate,
naturally and as herein defined, accurately reflects the development
of the present reality toward a realistic, sustainable, and productive
relationship, and underscores the crucial role of boards of regents
as trustees on behalf of the institution but also of Christ, the Synod,
and their common mission. The schools’ confessional and mission
connection with the Synod is maintained so that the schools’ heritage and rights to the free exercise of our confession as guaranteed
by the U.S. Constitution are, to the best of the Synod’s ability, secured. The Synod’s connection to the confession and mission of
the schools is, through the above-described commission (section A)
and the below-described accreditation (section C) rendered more
tangible and more transparent to the membership of the Synod so
that the Synod’s connection with its schools is—where it is most
achievable and most important, that is, with regard to their fidelity
and fulfillment of their churchly purpose—enhanced. With the
relationship being regularly evaluated and refined through the accreditation process and in an ongoing affiliation that is not merely
to be assumed, the responsibilities and accountability of boards of
regents, administrations, and faculties to the Synod will be emphasized in a new way. Finally, explicitly stating the schools’ ability
to carry out their own business affairs, apart from any suggestion
of directive control, enhances the ability of schools to react and
to respond nimbly and responsibly to business opportunities and
threats, while maintaining their accountability to the Synod for the
impact operational decisions have on their ability faithfully to fulfill their part of the church’s mission.
Therefore be it
Resolved, That, in Bylaw 1.2.1, the definition of agency be
amended; a new definition of affiliated college or university be
added, with subsequent subparagraphs being incrementally relettered; and the definition of ecclesiastical supervision be amended,
as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING

1.2 Definition of Terms
1.2.1
The following definitions are for use in understanding
the terms as used in the Bylaws of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod:
(a) Affiliated college or university (“affiliate”): A college or
university, separately incorporated and governed, recognized
by the Synod and electing:
• to state expressly in its governing documents its full
commitment to the Synod’s confession (Const. Art.
II) and objectives (Const. Art. III, insofar as these
pertain to the role of a confessional Lutheran college
or university);
• to submit to such bylaws as apply to affiliated colleges
and universities; and
• to undergo regular accreditation by the Commission
for University Education under the Lutheran Identity
and Mission Outcome Standards (Bylaw 3.9.6.4f.).
Affiliates are not agencies of the Synod, and their property is not
property of the Synod, provided, however, that the foregoing shall not invalidate any reversionary interest or right of
reentry granted or directed by convention resolution or other