# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1998_S169
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

STRUCTURE
• to clarify in Article IV that general meetings of the
Synod are its conventions;
• to reference the Constitution of the Synod in Articles
VII and VIII;
therefore be it
Resolved, That the Articles of Incorporation of the Synod
be amended and restated as follows:

169
manner as may be provided by the Constitution or Bylaws of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. All officers, the Board of Directors of corporate Synod, and
all corporations, boards, and other subordinate bodies
defined in such Constitution or Bylaws shall be responsible to the synodical convention which is the ultimate
authority of the corporation.
Article V Officers

a. The name of this corporation shall be “The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.”
b. The period of duration of the corporation is perpetual.
c. The address of the registered office of the corporation is 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, Missouri.

The corporation shall have a board of directors of
such number and qualifications and who shall be
elected in such manner and for such terms of office as
shall be set forth in the Constitution or Bylaws of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. In addition, the
corporation shall have officers having such qualifications and who shall be elected or appointed in such
manner and for such terms of office as provided for in
the Constitution or Bylaws of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod.

Article II Objectives

Article VI Property

The objectives of this corporation shall be:
a. To unite in a corporate body the congregations of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church that acknowledge
and remain true to the Book of Concord of the year of
our Lord 1580 as a true exhibition of sound Christian
doctrine.
b. To train ministers and teachers for service in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church.
c. To assist and advise congregations, pastors, and
teachers affiliated with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and to exercise supervision over such pastors and teachers as to doctrine, practice, and performance of their official duties.
d. To establish, build, conduct, and maintain theological seminaries, colleges, academies, schools, and
other institutions of learning.
e. To assist in the establishment of Lutheran congregations and preaching stations.
f. To spread the Gospel by means of radio and television broadcasting, visual education, and all other
forms of missionary endeavor throughout the world.
g. To print, publish, purchase, sell, and otherwise
disseminate Bibles, books, periodicals, literature,
music, and other supplies for congregations, schools,
Sunday schools, preaching stations, and institutions.
h. To establish and conduct all such enterprises and
endeavors and to exercise such further power as may
be necessary or expedient to carry out the objectives
stated in the Constitution of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod.

This corporation shall have power to acquire by gift,
grant, demise, devise, bequest, purchase, or otherwise,
property of every kind and description, real, personal,
or mixed; to hold and use such property and deal with,
or dispose of, any or all such property by sale, exchange,
or gift, when necessary or expedient to carry out the objects and purposes of the corporation; to receive, maintain, and administer endowments, legacies, pension
funds, retirement funds, and such other general or
trust funds as may be necessary for the operation of
said corporation or for the accomplishment of its purposes; provided that all such property shall be acquired,
dealt with, or disposed of in a manner not in conflict
with the laws of the State of Missouri or of the laws of
any State in which said property is located.

Article I Name, Duration, Registered Office, and
Agent

Article III Membership
Membership in the corporation is held and may be
acquired by congregations, ministers of religion-ordained, and ministers of religion-commissioned, such
as teachers, directors of Christian education, directors
of Christian outreach, deaconesses, and certified lay
ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church who confess and accept the confessional basis of Article II of
the Constitution of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod. The member congregations of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod shall be voting members of
the corporation. Congregations shall exercise their voting power through clergy and lay delegates distributed
among the member congregations in such number as
may be determined from time to time by the Bylaws of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
Article IV Meetings
This corporation shall have general meetings, called
synodical conventions, at least once every three years,
or as often as may be determined by resolution of the
corporation. Special meetings may be called in such

Article VII Bylaws
This corporation shall have and make such Bylaws
as may be necessary to accomplish its purposes and
shall have power to create such corporations, boards,
offices, and other subordinate bodies as may be necessary to accomplish its general and special objectives
and in such Bylaws assign responsibilities to those bodies.
Article VIII Amendments
Amendments to these Articles of Incorporation may
be made at any time at a regular called meeting of this
Corporation by the affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of the delegates present and voting or by a simple
majority of all delegates, whichever is less, provided
such amendments are not inconsistent with the Constitution of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod or
Constitution and laws of the United States or the State
of Missouri.

Action: Adopted (7)

To Remove Reference to Council
on Mission and Ministry from Bylaws
RESOLUTION 8-05
R7-04-01 (CW, p. 100), Overture 8-16 (CW, p. 292)
Rationale
The Council on Mission and Ministry, of which the synodical Board of Directors is a part, has asked the Board to
submit an overture to the 1998 synodical convention requesting that reference to the Council be removed from the
Bylaws. The Council is unable to carry out the assigned
functions in the present Bylaws. These functions tend to