# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2004_S262 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 262 STRUCTURE, PLANNING, AND ADMINISTRATION Currently, if an author or sponsoring group disagrees with a deci- sion or the recommendations of a doctrinal reviewer, an appeal process may be initiated by expressing that disagreement with the chairman of the Commission on Doctrinal Review. The chairman then informs all parties involved and appoints a three-member review panel from the members of the Commission to decide the matter. The result of this process may be the perception that this is not an objective appeals process, since the President appoints the re- viewers and the five-member Commission, from which are selected the three-member review panel that responds to appeals. The fol- lowing resolution is presented by the Commission on Structure to provide an objective process for the hearing of doctrinal-review ap- peals while also preserving the President’s overall responsibility for doctrinal supervision. Resolved, That present Bylaw 10.09 h be amended as follows: PRESENF/PROPOSED WORDING h. Should any problem arise between an author, a reviewer, the publisher, or any other party involved, with respect to the material submitted for review, the sponsoring group shall en- deavor to resolve i it to o the satisfaction of the Teviewer. Ifit it can- not do so, Bef e e ted e : 4643- ¢ challenges to doctrinal-review decisions or recommen- dations shall be presented to the President of the Synod who, in consultation with the Commission on Theology and Church Re- lations, shall appoint an ad hoc Appeals Panel consisting of the chairman of the Doctrinal Review Commission, one mi tof the staff of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, a representative from each of the seminary faculties, and one at- large person with expertise in the subject area at issue. The Ap- W. j w 1 and be it further Resolved, That present Bylaw 10.13 c be amended as follows: PRESEMNF/PROPOSED WORDING c. After receipt of an appeal, the chairman of the Commis- sion on Doctrinal Review shall inform all concerned, end-chelt Peter aihe-Sht desion Ate-eRe-th4 eite e eis PAH The President of the Synod sh: all appoi A 1 rdi law 10.09 h. *% Panel members shall disqualify hitaself themselves on the basis of any kind of personal involvement in the issue. and be it further Resolved, That present Bylaw 10.15 d be amended as follows: PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING d. After receipt of the challenge, the chairman of the Com- mission on Doctrinal Review shall inform the President of the Synod, the © sponsoring group, and the publisher Concordia Pub- "Presi th sal-dvignas an enero Panel according to Bylaw 10.09 h. Panel members shall dis- chelnmen. ualifi mselves e basis of i f nal involve- ment in the issue. and be it further Resolved, That the following paragraph be added to Bylaw 3.925 a: 4. It shall assist the President in his responsibility to appoint panels to consider appeals of doctrinal-review decisions and recommendations concerning published and unpublished mate- rials. Commission on Structure 7-32 To Clarify District Membership of RSO Employees Rationale In its Opinion 01-2234 the Commission on Constitutional Mat- ters ruled that the District membership and ecclesiastical supervi- sion of rostered church workers called or appointed by recognized service organizations are to be determined by the geographic loca- tion of the recognized service organization (RSO): “The geographic District in which an RSO is physically located will be the District through which church workers who have accepted an executive or staff position will hold synodical membership and from which Dis- trict’s president they will receive ecclesiastical supervision.” Recognizing that this ruling (which the Commission believed to be consistent with but not directly instructed by the provisions of Bylaw 2.43) would be problematic in cases in which an RSO has deployed staff in distant locations, the Commission on Constitu- tional Matters instructed the Secretary of the Synod to call to the at- tention of the Commission on Structure the need for further clarifi- cation in the Bylaws of the District membership of RSO employees. The Commission on Structure therefore offers the following recommendation for a Bylaw change to specifically clarify the Dis- trict membership of RSO employees, which will also determine the District President from whom they will receive ecclesiastical su- pervision. Resolved, That Bylaw 2.41, “District through Which Member- ship Is Held; Ecclesiastical Supervision,” be amended by adding a new paragraph e as follows: PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING e. An individual member of the who is an executiv: or professional staff member called or appointed by an auxiliary r other re niz TVis hall h mem- tship in tl istrict in wi athe T resides. and be it further Resolved, That the succeeding paragraphs of Bylaw 2.41 be re- lettered accordingly. Commission on Structure 7-33 To Clarify Bylaw 2.33 re Reinstatement Rationale In its opinions 00-2198 and 02-2284 the Commission on Con- Stitutional Matters responded to questions regarding the participa- tion in the “Reinstatement of Individuals into Membership” process provided by Bylaw 2.33. At issue was the participation of the Prae- sidium of the Synod in the process, given the Bylaw’s requirement of an affirmative vote of “at least 75 percent of the District Presi- dents present and voting.” The CCM determined that when Bylaw 2.33 stipulates that a vote of at least 75 percent is required, “the bylaw intends to include the President and the Vice-Presidents of the Synod in the voting.” The Commission concluded “that the drafters of the Bylaw, in the interest of delineating the percentage vote needed, referred in par- ticular to District Presidents but had no intention of excluding the Praesidium from the vote,” this in keeping with other statements in the Bylaws which clearly place decisions regarding reinstatement into the hands of the Council of Presidents. At the same time, the CCM recognized the inconsistency of ter- minology used and referred the matter to the Commission on Struc- ture for its attention. Accordingly, the Commission on Structure proposes the following Bylaw change to remove the inconsistency. PRESENF/PROPOSED WORDING Resolved, That Bylaw 2.33 be amended to read as follows: 2.33 Procedure All applications by individuals for reinstatement into mem- bership in the Synod shall be addressed to the President of the District in which the applicant last held membership. Procedures for investigating and processing requests for reinstatement which are generally applicable to all situations shall be the re- sponsibility of the Council of Presidents. The President of the District shall review the matter and shall ordinarily make a rec-