# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1998_S287 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE 285 Resolved, That the functions of the single Board of Regents for the seminaries shall be those presently outlined in the Bylaws of the Synod; and be it finally Resolved, That the necessary Bylaw changes be made to ac- complish the development and election of a single Board of Re- gents for the seminaries. Redeemer Delta, CO 8-08 To Restructure Board for Higher Education Wuereas, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod seminaries are designed to train qualified men for the office of the pastoral ministry; and WHEREAS, The pastoral office works directly with Word and Sacrament ministry so that the Holy Spirit may create and sustain faith when and where He pleases; and WHEREAS, The other institutions of higher education within the Concordia University System are designed to provide a broader range of education; and WHEREAS, The reaccreditation process raises questions regard- ing the role of the seminary Board of Regents in accomplishing their assigned work according to the synodical Handbook: there- fore be it Resolved, That the Montana District petition the Synod in con- vention to separate the seminaries from the Concordia University System; and be it further Resolved, That the Montana District petition the Synod in con- vention to restructure the Board for Higher Education so that it con- sists of two committees, one for pastoral education with responsi- bility for oversight of the seminaries and their programs and one for oversight of the Concordia University System. Montana District 8-09 To Create Seminary Education Board Separate from Board for Concordia University System WHEREAS, In the past the colleges of our Synod were designed primarily to prepare pastors, teachers, and other full-time workers for our congregations; and WHEREAS, In recent years the colleges, most of which now have become universities which educate students for a very wide variety of professions with the great majority of their students not intend- ing to serve the church in full-time positions, have now combined into a united “Concordia University System” (CUS) in order to take advantage of certain financial and technological benefits that are available to bachelor-level institutions of learning; and WHEREAS, The sole purpose of our seminaries is to train pas- tors, missionaries, and other ordained men for service in congrega- tions, mission fields, and religion faculties; and WHEREAS, The seminaries, unlike the institutions of the CUS, are almost exclusively involved in post-bachelor education and in purely theological instruction; and WHEREAS, The seminaries, unlike most of the institutions of the CUS, draw their students from all parts of the Synod; and WHEREAS, The seminaries, unlike the bachelor-level institutions of the CUS, cannot receive certain kinds of financial benefits from the government and other sources; and WHEREAS, The time has come for our Synod to recognize that there are too many different kinds of details for one umbrella board such as the present Board for Higher Education to deal with effec- tively; therefore be it Resolved, That our Synod establish two separate boards, one for the seminaries and the other for the colleges and universities, with an executive secretary for each of these boards, and with the First Vice-President of the Synod as the official channel for establish- ing the needed liaison between the two boards. Shepherd by the Lakes North Webster, IN 8-10 To Change Bylaws and Structure of BHE/CUS Board Preamble The Board for Higher Education is keenly aware of the chal- lenges involved in maintaining coordinative oversight of the col- leges, universities, and seminaries as part of the educational mis- sion of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The BHE per- forms its responsibilities following the 1986 recommendations of The President’s Commission on Synodical Higher Education. The commission recommended a “Statement of Mission and Purpose” for the Synod’s Board for Higher Education that was adopted by the 1986 synodical convention. This statement has served the Board for Higher Education well, and the board continues to oper- ate under this statement. The statement reads as follows: The colleges, universities and seminaries of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod exist to supply the higher education services needed to accomplish the mission of the church. Strongly committed to the Lutheran concept of vocation, synodical colleges and universities are liberal arts institutions which provide a Christ-centered spiritual and value-oriented en- vironment for men and women who will be Christians at work in the church and in secular occupations. The objectives of the Synod include the recruitment and ed- ucation of professional church workers. Therefore, central to the system of synodical education is the preparation of those who are called to serve through preaching, teaching and related vo- cations. Professional preparation for the pastoral ministry is the special assignment of the Synod’s seminaries. In recent months, the Board for Higher Education Participated in a dialog with the President’s appointed Blue Ribbon Committee regarding the structure of the BHE. As the board to which the Synod has given responsibility for the governance and oversight of higher education, the BHE expressed its conviction that the growth of LCMS higher education has been due to a growing sense of part- nership and shared governance among the schools. Subsequent conversations between the representatives of the Board for Higher Education, the President’s appointed Blue Ribbon Committee and the Synod’s Board of Directors resulted in a common ground state- ment for the future structure of the BHE. The recommendations in this memorial follow closely upon the statement endorsed at that time by representatives of all three entities. The Board for Higher Education offers (1) revisions to the syn- odical Bylaws proposed by the Blue Ribbon Committee regarding the composition and functions of the board and (2) a plan for im- plementing those changes. Recommended Bylaws Board for Higher Education/ Concordia University System 3.701 Board for Higher Education and Board of Directors of Concordia University System a. The Board for Higher Education shall serve as the Board of Direc- tors of the Concordia University System. Thus, the Bylaws in this section apply to the single board both as the Board for Higher Edu- cation, a program board of the Synod, and as the governing board of the Concordia University System. The Concordia University Sys- tem is a synodwide corporate entity. b. As the Board of Directors of the Concordia University System, this board has authority with respect to the Synod’s colleges and uni- versities. As the Board for Higher Education, it has authority with respect to all the Synod’s institutions of higher education, includ- ing its seminaries.