# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2013_S295
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
The delegate convention of the Synod is the legislative assembly
that ultimately legislates policy, program, and financial direction to
carry on the Synod’s work on behalf of and in support of the member
congregations. It reserves to itself the right to give direction to all
officers and agencies of the Synod. Consequently, all officers and
agencies, unless otherwise specified in the Bylaws, shall be accountable to the Synod for all their actions, and any concerns regarding the
decisions of such officers or agencies may be brought to the attention
of the Synod in convention for appropriate action. (Bylaw 1.4.1)
(Emphasis added)
Dissent from doctrinal resolutions and statements is to be expressed first within the fellowship of peers and then brought to the
attention of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations before finding expression as an overture to the convention calling for
revision or recision… (Bylaw 1.8.2) (Emphasis added)
(c) He shall call up for review any action by an individual officer,
executive, or agency that, in his view, may be in violation of the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod.
(1)If he deems appropriate, he shall request that such action be
altered or reversed.
(2) If the matter cannot be resolved, he shall refer it to the Board
of Directors, the Commission on Constitutional Matters, and/or the
Synod in convention as he deems appropriate for the issues and
party/parties involved.
(3) This provision in no way alters the President’s constitutional
duty to report to the Synod those who do not act in accordance with
the Constitution and do not heed his admonition, as prescribed in
Art. XI B 2 of the Constitution. (paragraph (c) of Bylaw 3.3.1.2)
(Emphasis added)

Question 5: Is it in harmony with the Constitution and above Bylaws
of the Synod for any member of the Synod to engage in
dissenting (or promoting non-compliance) against the
Synod by use of a lawsuit, when such members have not
used the avenues of dissent as set forth in Bylaw 1.8 of
the Synod?
Opinion: No. A lawsuit is not a legitimate avenue of dissent. In the
agreement to live and work together, a member of the Synod is required to follow the avenue of dissent as set forth in Bylaw section
1.8, including honoring and upholding the resolutions of the Synod.
While a lawsuit may be an appropriate process in which to resolve a
dispute in the secular world, members of the Synod are governed by
Bylaw section 1.8 as the required, exclusive, and agreed-to avenue
of dissent and Bylaw section 1.10 as the required, exclusive, and
agreed-to method of dispute resolution. See the answers to questions
1 and 2 above.
Question 6: Is it in harmony with the Constitution and above Bylaws
of the Synod for any member of the Synod to engage in
dispute against the President of the Synod or the Synod
itself by use of a lawsuit, when such members have not
used the avenue of dispute as set forth in Bylaw 1.10 of
the Synod?
Opinion: No. In the agreement to live and work together, a member
of the Synod is required to rely exclusively and fully on the Synod’s
system of reconciliation and conflict resolution. Unless the dispute is
one concerning property rights or contract arrangements under Bylaw
1.10.3 (a) or (b), such suit would be a gross violation of the process of
Bylaw section 1.10 and the covenants which bind members together
in the Synod. The use of the Synod’s conflict resolution procedures
is the exclusive and final remedy for those who are in dispute (Bylaw
section 1.10). See the answers to questions 1, 2, and 5 above.

295

Question 7: If any of the above is not in harmony with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod, what remedy does the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod provide?
Opinion: The Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod provide disciplinary measures against any member who violates the Constitution
and Bylaws of the Synod. Such provisions include Bylaw section
1.10, “Dispute Resolution of the Synod”: “The use of the Synod’s
conflict resolution procedures shall be the exclusive and final remedy
for those who are in dispute” (Bylaw 1.10.1) and Article XIII of the
Constitution, “Expulsion from the Synod,” and its procedures as set
forth in Bylaw sections 2.13–2.16:
The only remedy available to the Synod in response to improper
activities in the life of such a member of the Synod is, as is true with
respect to violations of other conditions of membership or is otherwise
appropriate under the Constitution or these Bylaws, and following the
procedures set forth in these Bylaws, to take such action as may lead to
termination of that membership and the attendant rights and privileges.
(Bylaw 2.13.2)

The ecclesiastical supervisors (the President of the Synod and the
district presidents) have disciplinary responsibilities such as stated in
Articles XI B and XII of the Constitution:
2. It is the President’s duty to see to it that all the aforementioned act in accordance with the Synod’s Constitution, to admonish
all who in any way depart from it, and, if such admonition is not
heeded, to report such cases to the Synod.
3. The President has and always shall have the power to advise,
admonish, and reprove. He shall conscientiously use all means at his
command to promote and maintain unity of doctrine and practice in
all the districts of the Synod. (Art. XI B)
7. The district presidents shall, moreover, especially exercise
supervision over the doctrine, life, and administration of office of
the ordained and commissioned ministers of their district and acquaint themselves with the religious conditions of the congregations
of their district. To this end they shall visit and, according as they
deem it necessary, hold investigations in the congregations. Their
assistants in this work are the circuit counselors, who therefore shall
regularly make their reports to the district president.
8. District presidents are empowered to suspend from membership ordained and commissioned ministers for persistently adhering
to false doctrine or for having given offense by an ungodly life, in
accordance with such procedure as shall be set forth in the Bylaws
of the Synod. (Art. XII)

The ecclesiastical and administrative powers and duties of the
President of the Synod provide remedy for the matter as set forth in
Bylaws 3.3.1.1, 3.3.1.2, and 3.3.1.3, as do the duties of the district
president as set forth especially in Bylaws 4.4.4–4.4.6.
3. Such principles include (but are not limited to):
The priesthood of believers
The proper understanding of and distinction between the Holy Christian Church, “church,” and Synod
The unity and fellowship with Christ and with one another
Congregational self-governance (“supremacy,” “sovereignty,” “autonomy”)
The proper understanding and distinction between church and ministry
The theology of the divine call and the dignity of the holy ministry
The joint extension of the kingdom of God (extending the Gospel
witness in the world)
Unity and purity of doctrine
Doctrinal and ecclesiastical supervision

4. After stating the reasons for forming a Synod, listing the conditions for membership, and outlining its external organization, the
1847 Constitution of the Synod in Article IV set forth the “Business
2013 Convention Workbook