# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2023_S401
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
the decision. Such request for an appeal shall be submitted to the
Secretary of the Synod with copies provided to the district
president(s) of the accuser and the accused, the chairman of the
Hearing Panel, the accuser, and the President of the Synod, and shall
be accompanied by a written memorandum stating the basis for the
request.
…
(e) Within 30 days after its formation, the Appeal Panel shall
issue its written decision in response to the request for
reconsideration. If the Appeal Panel denies the request for
reconsideration of the decision of the Hearing Panel and upholds
the suspension of the ecclesiastical supervisor, the decision of the
Hearing Panel shall be regarded as final and shall
(1) be binding upon the parties to the matter and not be subject
to further appeal;
(2) have no precedential value;
(3) be carried out by the district president or the President of
the Synod; and
(4) be publicized as deemed appropriate under the
circumstances by the district president or the President of the
Synod.
(f) If the Appeal Panel grants the request for reconsideration of
the decision of the Hearing Panel, a Final Hearing Panel shall be
selected by the Secretary of the Synod.

Commission on Handbook
Ov. 10-02

To Amend Bylaws to Clarify Application
of Pre-Call Consultation and Call and Be Served By
(Bylaws 2.5.2–3) beyond Member Congregations
Preamble
The 2019 convention of the Synod in its Resolution 10-02A (B)
included in Bylaws 2.5.1–3, which required congregations of the
Synod to consult district presidents in call processes and to call and
be served by only such ordained and commissioned ministers or
candidates therefor, also “association schools, agencies, auxiliaries,
and recognized service organizations” (RSOs). The Commission on
Constitutional Matters (CCM; Op. 20-2957, Minutes of Oct. 30–31,
2020) and Commission on Handbook (Item 19-005) have, in
consultation with the Council of Presidents and the LCMS
Recognized Service Organization Office, noted potential unclarities
or unintended implications of this requirement being inserted as it
is into paragraphs that ordinarily deal with congregations. At a
minimum, the “association schools, agencies, auxiliaries, and
recognized service organizations” to which the language now
applies need to look in a “foreign” section of the Handbook to find
a regulation that applies to them. In certain areas, because of the
very different sort of work done by RSOs, in particular, the
language may create a certain degree of confusion regarding how it
applies to positions that are not involved directly in teaching or
practice of doctrine.
With regard to the latter, the CCM has understood served by in
Bylaw 2.5.2 to refer to “service in the sense of the distinctive
functions of the pastoral office, not to service in some purely secular
sense” (Op. 20-2957). The opinion goes on: “A divine call cannot
be extended by any of the listed calling entities to any person not
listed under Bylaw 2.5.2’s (1), (2), or (3). Furthermore, such a
calling entity cannot be “served by,” in the sense of any exercise of
distinctive functions of the pastoral office, any person not listed
under Bylaw 2.5.2’s (1), (2), or (3).”

401

Agencies are by definition part of the Synod and would be
precluded from calling an individual who is not a member of the
Synod. This should be made explicit in Section 1.5, dealing with
agencies. Requirements incumbent on auxiliaries and RSOs should
be dealt with in the appropriate sections (Bylaw sections 6.1 and
6.2, respectively), not in Section 2.5, which deals with
congregations and their association schools, which, by virtue of
their governance strictly be member congregations, are subject to
the same requirements as their constituent congregations.
The commission has proposed changes that will clarify the scope of
“service by” (to refer, outside of congregations and their association
schools, to exercise of distinctive functions of the pastoral office)
and to place the provisions in their appropriate sections.
Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw section 2.5 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
2.5 Calling Ministers of Religion by Congregations
2.5.1
Congregations, and their association schools, agencies,
auxiliaries, and recognized service organizations of the Synod shall
seek the counsel of the appropriatetheir respective district president
when calling ordained or commissioned ministers.
(a) A congregation or association school shall seek the counsel
of its own district president.
(b) An agency, auxiliary, or recognized service organization
shall seek the counsel of the district president who would, by
virtue of the call, assume supervision of the minister (Bylaw
section 2.12). If the call is such that the district president to
assume supervision is not known, the counsel of the president of
the district within which the entity is located or with which it is
associated shall be sought.
(c) If such a call involves multiple districts (such as by entity
location or connection and/or position locale), the presidents of
all such districts shall be consulted and mutually agree on which
one of them will counsel the entity regarding the call and assume
supervision of the worker called.
2.5.2
Congregations that are members of the Synod, as well as
and their association schools, agencies, auxiliaries, and recognized
service organizations shall call and be served only by (1) ordained
ministers who have been admitted to their respective ministries in
accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in these Bylaws
and have thereby become members of the Synod; (2) candidates for
the pastoral ministry who have satisfied the qualifications and
requirements for assignment of first calls by the Council of
Presidents acting as the Board of Assignments; or (3) ordained
ministers who are members in good standing of church bodies that
have been formally recognized to be in altar and pulpit fellowship
with the Synod when agreements for such calls are in place.
2.5.3
Congregations that are members of the Synod, as well as
and their association schools, agencies, auxiliaries, and recognized
service organizations shall call only (1) commissioned ministers
who have been admitted to their ministries in accordance with the
rules and regulations set forth in these Bylaws and have thereby
become members of the Synod; (2) candidates of LCMS colleges
and universities who have satisfied the qualifications and
requirements for assignment of first calls by the Council of
Presidents acting as the Board of Assignments; or (3) commissioned
ministers (or those holding positions comparable to commissioned
ministers) who are members in good standing of church bodies that
have been formally recognized to be in altar and pulpit fellowship
with the Synod when agreements for such calls are in place.
2.5.4
Congregations that violate these requirements and persist
in such violation shall, after due admonition, forfeit their
membership in the Synod.

2023 Convention Workbook