# LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters Minutes_St. Louis Missouri_August 17 18 2018_S11
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

last area of inquiry concerns the paper trail that each agency must provide for the closing process to be
valid.
The following are relevant Constitutional Articles and Bylaws, and a definition:
Article IV Powers
The Synod in convention is empowered to and has formed corporate entities which shall have legal powers:
1. To purchase, hold, administer, and sell property of every description in the interest of the Synod;
2. To accept, hold, administer, and, if deemed advisable, dispose of legacies, donations, commercial papers,
and legal documents of every description in the interest of its work.
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Article XI Rights and Duties of Officers
…

E. Composition and Duties of the Board of Directors
…
2. The Board of Directors is the legal representative and custodian of all the property of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod, directly or by its delegation of such authority to an agency of the Synod. It
shall exercise supervision over all property and business affairs of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod except in those areas where it has delegated such authority to an agency of the Synod or where
the voting members of the Synod through the adoption of bylaws or by other convention action have
assigned specific areas of responsibility to separate corporate or trust entities, and as to those the Board
of Directors shall have general oversight responsibility as set forth in the Bylaws. For the purposes of
this article, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod includes both the Synod formed by this Constitution
and the Missouri corporation formed by the Synod.
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1.2.1
The following definitions are for use in understanding the terms as used in the Bylaws of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod:
(a) Agency: An instrumentality other than a congregation or corporate Synod, whether or not
separately incorporated, which the Synod in convention or its Board of Directors has caused or
authorized to be formed to further the Synod’s Objectives (Constitution Art. III).
(1) Agencies include each board, commission, council, seminary, university, college, district,
Concordia Plan Services, and each synodwide corporate entity.
(2) The term “agency of the Synod” does not describe or imply the existence of principal and
agency arrangements as defined under civil law.
…
(q) Property of the Synod: All assets, real or personal, tangible or intangible, whether situated in
the United States or elsewhere, titled or held in the name of corporate Synod, its nominee, or an
agency of the Synod. “Property of the Synod” does not include any assets held by member
congregations, the Lutheran Church Extension Fund—Missouri Synod, or by an agency of the
Synod in a fiduciary capacity (including, for purposes of example, the funds managed for the
Concordia Plans by Concordia Plan Services and certain funds held by The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod Foundation).
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1.5.3.5
All agencies of the Synod shall develop policies and procedures for making available official minutes
of their meetings. All mission boards and commissions shall develop policies and procedures to make
available upon request and at a reasonable price a verbatim copy of the official minutes of their
meetings except for executive sessions. Any member of the Synod may request a copy of any official
minutes of mission boards or commissions by submitting a written or electronic (via email) request
to the Secretary of the Synod, who shall provide such minutes according to the policy of the Board of
Directors.
CCM Minutes – August 17–18, 2018 – Page 132