# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2004_S153
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

STRUCTURE, PLANNING, AND ADMINISTRATION
ing the program boards, commissions, and all other departments operating under the supervision of the Board
of Directors of the Synod and the program boards and
commissions of the Synod. “Corporate Synod” is a term to
define that portion of the Synod for which the Synod’s
Board of Directors has direct responsibility, and is not an
agency of the Synod. Worker Benefit Plans, while operating under the supervision of the Board of Directors, is a
trust agency whose assets are not the property of corporate Synod. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, in
referencing the laws of the State of Missouri in these Bylaws and in the Synod’s Articles of Incorporation, intends
to acknowledge its responsibility to be subject to civil authority. In all such references, however, the Synod intends to retain all authority and autonomy allowed a
church under the laws and Constitution of the United
States and the State of Missouri.

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.183 d 2 regarding the Board of
Directors be amended to read:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
2. It shall have the right to call up for review, criticism, modification, or revocation any action or policy of a
program board, commission, or council, except opinions
of the Commission on Constitutional Matters. It shall
have the right to call up for review and criticism, and to
request modification or revocation of, any action or policy of a program board, commission, or council, except
opinions of the Commission on Constitutional Matters.

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.905 d regarding the Commission
on Constitutional Matters be amended to read:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
d. interpret the Synod’s Constitution, Bylaws, and
resolutions upon the written request of a member (congregation, ordained or commissioned minister), official,
board, commission, entity, or agency of the Synod. Such
a request may be accompanied by a request for an appearance before the commission. An opinion rendered
by the commission shall be binding on the question decided unless and until it is overruled by a synodical convention. When opinions pertain primarily to business,
legal, finance, civil rights, contracts, or property matters, the commission shall first consult with the Board
of Directors and/or the Synod’s legal counsel.

and be it further
Resolved, That the convention consider this action as resolving the current difficulty but directs the President and
Board of Directors jointly to appoint a committee to address
the matter and report to the 2007 convention; and be it further
Resolved, That the convention overrules the resolutions
of the Board of Directors referenced in Appendix A of the
President’s special report found on pages 24–26 of Today’s
Business and declares that they are of no effect; and be it finally
Resolved, That the convention pray for peace and harmony in the Synod as it moves forward in mission and ministry.
Action: Adopted (6)
(The committee invoked Special Standing Rule 6 as it presented its resolution, noting changes to the second-last resolve in
the printed version of the resolution replacing the word thank
with overrules the resolutions of, deleting the words for rescinding
its resolutions, and adding the words and declares that they are of
no effect. Prior to the elapse of the time allowed for discussion,

153

debate was ended and the resolution was adopted as presented
[Yes: 654; No: 541]. A motion to allow the chairman of the Board
of Directors 15 minutes to address the assembly failed. Upon request of the delegate responsible for the motion, permission was
granted to allow delegates the opportunity to request in writing to
have their votes on the motion recorded.)

To Adopt Handbook Revision
RESOLUTION 7-04A
Overture 7-01 (CW, p. 249)
Rationale
1998 convention Res. 7-01, “To Re-establish Commission
on Structure,” instructed the Board of Directors “to appoint
a Commission on Structure [to] . . . draft revisions to the
format and content of the Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws
which will eliminate inconsistencies and make the Handbook more usable for the Synod.”
As a result, the Commission on Structure appointed by
the Board of Directors reorganized the content of the Handbook, taking great care to retain the entire content of the
current Handbook, reordering and relocating bylaws to
make the Handbook more user-friendly and making only
non-substantive changes to simplify, clarify, or eliminate
inconsistencies.
The Handbook revision was reported to the 2001 convention in two versions: (1) a marked version of the current
Handbook, detailing changes and new locations of bylaws;
and (2) a final version with all changes in place, this version intended for adoption. Adoption was postponed, however, by Res. 7-02 of the 2001 convention because the Commission on Constitutional Matters had only partially
reviewed the revision.
2001 convention Res. 7-02 resolved that the report be referred back to the Commission on Structure to continue its
work as a pro tem commission. It also resolved that the
Commission on Constitutional Matters “expeditiously complete its review and forward concerns to [the] Pro Tem
Commission” for its consideration before presenting a final
report to the members of the Synod one year prior to the
2004 convention.
Accordingly, the Pro Tem Commission took into consideration the comments of the Commission on Constitutional
Matters and, as of July 2003, completed its work and made
its report available to the members of the Synod via the Internet. Upon review of the report by various parties, several additional changes were made to bring the revision totally in line with the provisions of the current Handbook.
The revised Handbook is being presented once again for
approval in a supplementary volume to the 2004 Convention Workbook. The Pro Tem Commission on Structure
strongly encourages the convention to give serious attention to the report, to take note of the care that has been
taken to make no substantive change while reordering the
content to make it user-friendly, and to adopt the following
resolution:
Resolved, That the revised Handbook, prepared by the
Pro Tem Commission on Structure, be adopted; and be it
further
Resolved, That the following revisions and refinements
dealing with non-substantive changes along with others
2004 Convention Proceedings