# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2013_S266
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

266

Structure and Ecclesiastical Matters

3.12.3.5 The first meeting of the Committee for Convention Nominations shall be at the call of the Secretary of the Synod at least six
months prior to the convention of the Synod.
(a) The Secretary shall not serve as a member of the committee, but he
shall convene the initial meeting of the committee and be available,
upon call, for consultation.
(b) The committee shall elect its own chairman, vice-chairman, and
secretary and shall organize its work in whatever way it deems necessary.
(c) The committee shall inform itself as to the duties and requirements
of each position to be filled and thereby be guided in its selection of
candidates from the list of nominees gathered by the nominations
processnominees.
(d) In the case of the boards of regents of educational institutions of the
Synod, the committee shall consult with the President of the Synod
or the Board of Directors of Concordia University System and receive their input for the committee’s consideration.
3.12.3.6 The Committee for Convention Nominations shall selectnominate candidates for all elective offices, boards, and commissions
except President, First Vice-President, and vice-presidents and elective
positions requiring regional nominations (Bylaws 3.12.2.5; 3.3.4.1;
3.8.2.2; 3.8.3.2).
(a) At least two candidates and one alternate shall be selectednominated
for each position.
(b) The committee shall determine its complete list of candidates and
alternates, obtain the consent of the persons it proposes to select as
candidatesnominate, and transmit its final report at least five months
prior to the convention to the Secretary of the Synod, who shall post
the list on the Synod’s Web site and provide for its publication in a
pre-convention issue of an official periodical of the Synod and in the
Convention Workbook.
(c) The committee’s report shall list the qualifications of various positions used in the solicitation of nomineescandidates and contain
pertinent information concerning each candidate, such as occupation or profession; district affiliation; residence; specific experience;
number of years as a member of an LCMS congregation; present
position; offices previously held in a congregation, district, or the
Synod; qualifications for the office in question; and, if the candidate
so desires, also a brief personal statement.

(B) Staggered Terms for Members of Certain
Boards and Commissions (Bylaws 3.8.2.2; 3.8.3.2;
3.9.4.1–3.9.4.2)
Rationale
The 2010 convention of the Synod created new boards for international and national mission and changed the composition and
appointment process of the Commission on Handbook. However,
the convention failed to give thought to the advisability of creating
staggered terms for these new board and commission positions, resulting in the election or appointment of all members for six-year terms.
This failure to create staggered terms has created the possibility of a
total turnover of board and commission membership each six years,
potentially resulting in a corresponding loss of continuity. In order to
enable the 2016 convention to create a staggering of terms by electing one-half of all mission board members and appointing some of
the commission members to three-year terms, the Commission on
Handbook proposes the following changes to Bylaws 3.8.2.2 and
3.8.3.2.
In addition, the terms of those board and commission members
elected or appointed to three-year terms will not be counted as full
terms in this case, allowing those who will have served one six-year
and one three-year term to be eligible for an additional six-year term
at the time of the 2019 convention. In order to accommodate this

2013 Convention Workbook

change, the Commission on Handbook proposes that Bylaw 3.2.4.2
(b) also be amended, as follows.
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.8.2.2 The Board for National Mission shall be comprised of eleven members:
1. Five laypersons and five individual members of the Synod (one of
each from each region of the Synod) elected in the same manner as
are all other regional elections (Bylaws 3.12.1 and 3.12.2.5)
2. The President of the Synod or his representative
In 2016, the laypersons elected from the Great Plains and East/
Southeast regions and the individual members of the Synod elected
from the West/Southwest, Central, and Great Lakes regions shall be
elected for three-year terms.
3.8.3.2 The Board for International Mission shall be comprised of
eleven members:
1. Five laypersons and five individual members of the Synod (one of
each from each region of the Synod) elected in the same manner as
are all other regional elections (Bylaws 3.12.1 and 3.12.2.5)
2. The President of the Synod or his representative
In 2016, the individual members of the Synod elected from the Great
Plains and East/Southeast regions and the laypersons elected from
the West/Southwest, Central, and Great Lakes regions shall be elected for three-year terms.
3.9.4.1 The Commission on Handbook shall consist of eight members, five voting and three nonvoting. Of the five appointed members,
three shall be individual members of the Synod and two shall be attorneys. In 2016, one of the individual members and one of the attorneys
shall be appointed for three-year terms. The remaining individual members and attorney shall be appointed for six-year terms:
1. The Secretary and the Chief Administrative Officer of the Synod and
a voting member of the Commission on Constitutional Matters shall
serve as advisory members.
2. The five voting members (whose terms shall be for six years renewable once) shall be appointed in the following manner.
3.2.4.2 All members of all boards and commissions of the Synod
shall be ineligible for reelection or reappointment to the same board
or commission after serving a total of two successive six-year elected
terms or three successive appointed or elected three-year terms, unless
otherwise provided in the Bylaws.
(a) Such persons may become eligible again for election or appointment
to the same office, board, or commission after an interval of three or
more years.
(b) One-half or moreMore than one-half of a term shall be regarded as a
full term under limited tenure rules.
(c) Any member of a board or commission who is ineligible for reelection or reappointment may be elected or appointed to another position.

(C) COH and CTCR Convention Expenses
(Bylaw 3.1.9)
Rationale
Although Bylaw 3.1.4.1 (b) requires convention attendance by
members of the Commission on Handbook and the Commission on
Theology and Church Relations, they are not included in the Bylaw
3.1.9 (e) listing of those whose expenses are to be included in the
operating cost of the convention. The Commission on Handbook
proposes the following bylaw amendment for adoption by the 2013
LCMS convention.