# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2007_S54
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

54

SPECIAL STANDING RULES
Seating Area of Convention Hall

Type of Use Permitted in Designated Area
Voice
Text Messages
Other Data Usage

Voting Delegate
COP, BOD, Press, Special Guests

No
No

Advisory Delegate
Visitors, Front Half Seating Area
Visitors, Back Half Standing Area
Convention Staff, All Areas

No
No
Yes
Yes

No
Yes, convention
business only
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

18. To preserve convention time, questions of privilege shall be
addressed in writing to the chair.
19. Whenever an amendment is offered from the floor that seeks
to make editorial or other helpful suggestions to a pending
resolution coming from a floor committee, the chair of the
floor committee shall have the option of accepting such an
amendment, and, if it is accepted, then the amendment is
made without further debate or formal vote of the assembly.
20. A motion to close debate (“call the question”) shall apply
only to the immediately pending question.
21. At such time as “pro-con” discussion is occurring, oddnumbered microphones will be designated “pro” microphones
and even-numbered microphones will be designated as “con”
microphones. Motions or questions may be made from any
microphone.
22. Amendments of non-contiguous words may be made to a
pending question so long as the consequence of such noncontiguous amendment does not constitute in effect a
substitute motion.
23. The privilege of granting delegates the right to record their
votes in the minutes with respect to a particular resolution
shall be granted by the assembly by a one-third vote without
debate. If such privilege is granted, the votes of record shall
be submitted in writing to the Secretary of the Synod within
30 minutes after the close of the day’s business on which
such privilege was granted.
24. The point of information (to ask a substantive question) will
not have any special preference in recognition. Any delegate
desiring to make such request shall be allowed to do so only
if called upon by the chair in regular order and shall not have
any priority over other delegates in being recognized by the
chair. The request for a point of information shall be granted
by the chair only if the request is made prior to any motion to
close debate on the question being considered.
25. Procedure for Floor Nominations
a. Floor nominations for the officers of the Synod, as these
are identified and ordered in Bylaw 3.12.4.2 (a)—namely,
the President, the First Vice-President, and the other vicepresidents in that order, and the election by ballot of the
Secretary, the Vice-President–Finance—Treasurer, and the
elective members of the Board of Directors of the Synod—
shall be accepted prior to the election of those offices
according to the standing rules of this convention, in
accord with Bylaw 3.12.3.7,* which states, “floor
nominations shall be brought individually before the
convention for approval before being added to the ballot,”
and as interpreted, “In other words, each floor nomination

is to be acted upon separately by a convention
vote. When the convention approves the receipt of
each nomination, one-by-one, by an affirmative
vote of the assembly according to accepted
parliamentary rules, this constitutes an amendment
of the slate.” (CCM Opinion 05-2456)
b. After the election of the officers of the Synod, as
those are identified and ordered in Bylaw 3.12.4.2
(a) and noted above, floor nominations for all other
elective positions of boards and commissions shall
be opened for a period of sixty (60) minutes in
accord with Bylaw 3.12.3.7,* as detailed above.
Unless ceased earlier by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote
of the assembly, at the end of sixty (60) minutes a
vote to cease nominations shall be called by the
convention chairman. If a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote
to cease nominations is not received, the period for
floor nominations shall be extended by twenty (20)
minutes. At the end of twenty (20) minutes, a vote
to cease nominations shall again be called by the
convention chairman. If a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote
to cease nominations is not received, the period for
floor nominations shall be extended an additional
twenty (20) minutes. This cycle shall continue in
twenty (20) minute intervals until a two-thirds
(2/3rds) vote for nominations to cease is received
from the assembly.
26. Unless covered by these Special Standing Rules,
parliamentary procedure shall be governed by the
most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly
Revised.
* Bylaw 3.12.3.7
(a) The convention may amend the slate by nominations
from the floor.
(b) Floor nominations shall be brought individually
before the convention for approval before being
added to the ballot. No floor nominations shall be
accepted which would preclude, by virtue of election
limitations of such office, election of any pending
nominee already on the slate of candidates received
from the Committee for Convention Nominations
without disclosing such potential effect immediately
to the convention.
(c) Such floor nominations may only be made from the
list of names which have previously been offered to
the Committee for Convention Nominations prior to
the final deadline established and published by the
committee, unless the convention shall otherwise
order by a simple majority vote.

2007 Convention Proceedings