# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1998_S98 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 98 SYNODICAL REPORTS ship I was able to have with Art Haake, President of LCEF. The Lord in His wisdom chose to call Art to his heavenly reward very unexpectedly a few weeks ago. Our Synod will miss his leadership especially because of his churchmanship; he was a model for many of us and served his Synod with great distinction. I thank God for Art and the service he rendered so faithfully and lovingly. It has indeed been an honor and my great joy to serve the con- gregations, pastors, and people of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as a constitutionally elected Vice-President-Finance—Trea- surer for these past 21 years. The Lord of the church has truly been good to me as I have attempted to dedicate myself to doing that which was designed to get ready for blessings; and I have indeed not been disappointed over these 21 years as blessings have surely come on most everything with which I have been involved. May this convention serve all of the members of all of the congregations of our beloved Synod as we adopt changes that are intended to em- power our boards, committees, synodwide entities—agencies of the Synod—to be the best possible stewards of all of the gifts that God gives to us individually and collectively. In the precious name of Jesus we ask it! Norman D. Sell, Vice-President~Finance—Treasurer R7-04 Board of Directors When the Board of Directors began the revision of its Policy Manual during the past triennium, in the interest of further imple- menting policy-based leadership, it spent considerable time in the development of its purpose statement. As a result, the members concluded that The Board, in accordance with Bylaw 3.191, serves to provide lead- ership in achieving the objectives of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as stated in Article III of its Constitution and Bylaw 1.01, so that Christ’s name may be glorified among all people throughout the world by serving each other in Christ’s name, reaching our communities with Christ’s love, and claiming the world for Christ's kingdom. _ While recognizing its primary responsibilities for dealing with fiscal, legal, and property matters affecting the Synod, this state- ment was intended to reflect also the global character of the Synod’s mission as it reaches out with the Gospel to the ends of the earth and the participation of the Board of Directors in that mis- sion. In its first meeting the members stated that they were committed to the “big picture” with “Job #1" being the fur- thering of the Gospel; were unanimously in support of the fivefold vision statements, modeling/living them as individuals and as a board, with special emphasis on being dedicated to being instruments in building peace and unity; saw themselves as making a difference by leading in helping to give glory to God and assisting members to be thankful for the Synod and proud to be members of it; intended to operate effectively and efficiently, clearly defining their responsibilities and relying on competent staff to implement the program of the Synod. I. 1995 Resolutions The 1995 synodical convention adopted several resolutions call- ing for action by the Board of Directors. Included among these were * Res. 2-12A—“To Support Rural Ministry,” which encouraged the Board to provide funding to the Board for Congregational Services to support ministry in rural congregations through the Districts. Under the newly established board which required flex- ibility in establishing priorities and budget, this matter was given consideration as the budget was developed by that board. * Res. 2-13—*“To Commend Support for Concordia Historical In- stitute” commended CHI to the Board of Directors for increased funding in future budget consideration. This was provided during the time of transition to a new director and has been maintained. * Res. 4-01B—“To Promote Our Walking Together in Biblical Stewardship” asked the Board to develop a clear and simple sys- tem which facilitates an orderly yes/yes concept of funding, with a report on progress at the 1998 convention. Steps have been taken to develop this system and a report is being provided else- where. * Res. 6-05—“To Address Health Care Coverage for Full-Time Church-Work Students, Vicars, and Interns” instructed the Chair- man of the Board to convene a task force to address the issue of providing adequate and affordable insurance coverage for such persons. The task force was appointed and reported to the Board that it had not been able to devise a plan to deal with these con- cers. The Board directed the task force to continue its work, in- vestigate some areas which might not have been considered, and report to the Board again when it had done so. * Res. 7-03B—“To Develop Guidelines for Dispute Resolution and Review Panels” asked the Board, together with the President, to approve the documents developed by the Task Force on Con- flict Resolution. After review, this approval was granted. Under omnibus Resolution A, the following overtures were re- ferred to the Board of Directors: ¢ Ov. 1-19—“‘To Approach New Millennium as the International Lutheran Church” called for a change in the name of the Synod. This matter was first referred to the Board for Communication Services and is presently being dealt with by a committee ap- pointed by the President and Board Chairman, with instructions to develop a process to deal with this-issue. ° Ov. 2-62—‘To Create New Broadcasting Company for Synod” asked that radio and broadcasting projects be managed by a new independent broadcasting corporation. This matter had been dis- cussed previously, but because of issues involved with an NAACP/FCC suit against KFUO, action was delayed. The issue was addressed in meetings between the Board of Directors and the Board for Communications Services and resulted in the con- clusion that it was not appropriate to take action on the matter at the present time. * Ov. 7-28—*To Facilitate Economy and Implementation of Re- structuring Goals in Synod” called for all staff, with the excep- tion of Worker Benefit Plans, to submit their resignations at the close of the convention, with the President determining which resignations to accept. The issue of staff terms is dealt with by the President’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Structure. * Ov. 7-38—‘To Clarify Administrative and Financial Responsi- bilities of President” was also placed under the purview of the Blue Ribbon Committee. * Ov. 7-39—“To Identify Presidential Priorities” became part of the Blue Ribbon Committee’s concern. ¢ Ov, 7-40—“To Emphasize Spiritual and Theological Leadership Expected of Synodical President’ was also dealt with by the Blue Ribbon Committee. * Ov. 7-69—‘To Broaden Participation in Nominations Process” will be referred to a group dealing with District issues and con- cerns which could not be dealt with by the Blue Ribbon Com- mittee. II. Administrative Matters In carrying out its responsibilities, the Board of Directors took a number of actions involving administration and oversight. These include the following: ¢ The appointment of the firm of Pranschke and Holderle as legal counsel for the Synod. * Filling vacancies on the Board of Directors brought about by the resignation of Amold Kuntz and the decision that Dean Bell, a certified lay minister who had been elected as a layman, was no longer eligible as a result of convention and congregation action which placed certified lay ministers in the category of commis- sioned ministers. * Appointments to various boards as required by the Bylaws and filling of vacancies on boards under Bylaw 3.63.