# LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters Minutes_St. Louis Missouri_March 30 2023_S1
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

MINUTES
COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
Internet Conference Meeting (Zoom.us)
March 30, 2023
168. Call to Order and Opening Prayer
Commission Chairman Dr. George Gude called the meeting to order with all members present. Dr. Gude
opened the meeting with prayer and introduced the agenda, as follows.
169. Scope of Board of Directors Authority to Approve Usage of Lutheran Church Extension Fund
Assets under Bylaw 3.6.4.4.1 (23-3003)
By an email of January 30, 2023, the president and chief executive officer of the Lutheran Church Extension
Fund—Missouri Synod (LCEF) requested, on behalf of the LCEF Board of Directors, an opinion on the
following question:
Background:
Over the past year, LCEF has engaged in conversation with another confessional Lutheran church body
(not in altar and pulpit fellowship with the Synod) regarding the ability of LCEF to provide loans to its
congregations, schools, and affiliated ministries (organizations akin to the recognized service organizations
of the Synod).
Bylaw 3.6.4.4.1, addressing the use of LCEF assets, reads, “The assets of the Lutheran Church Extension
Fund—Missouri Synod shall be used exclusively to provide financing and services for the acquisition of
sites, for the construction of facilities, for the purchase of buildings and equipment, for operating expenses,
for professional church worker education, for the residential housing needs of professional church workers,
for promoting strategic ministry planning and assisting in capital campaigns; and for other purposes
approved by its governing board consistent with the ministry and mission of the Synod under policies
approved by the Board of Directors of the Synod.” [emphasis added]
Because lending to ministries of the other church body would require the use of LCEF assets beyond the
LCMS, clarity on the intended scope of Bylaw 3.6.4.4.1 and the authority of the Synod Board of Directors
in that regard is being requested.
Question:

May the Synod Board of Directors, in exercising its authority under Bylaw 3.6.4.4.1,
determine that a certain use of assets by LCEF is consistent with the ministry and mission
of the Synod? (The instant “certain use” refers to the lending of LCEF assets “beyond the
LCMS,” within another confessional Lutheran church body that is not in altar and pulpit
fellowship with the Synod.)

Opinion:
The commission finds that the question, although apparently simple in form, requires a
three-part analysis.
The first question that must be answered is, Who interprets the Constitution and Bylaws of Synod? The
answer is simple and found at Bylaw 3.9.2: “The Commission on Constitutional Matters exists to interpret
the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod…”
The second question is, What is “the ministry and mission of the Synod” as it relates to the scope of “other
activities” to which assets of LCEF may permissibly be applied (Bylaw 3.6.4.4.1)? Most broadly speaking,
this is asking, What is the purpose of the Synod? The purpose of Synod is found in the first Bylaw, under
Section 1.1, “Purpose of the Synod.” Bylaw 1.1.1: “Committed to a common confession and mission,
congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod join with one another in the Synod to support one
another and to work together carrying out their commonly adopted objectives. The Synod is organized to
CCM Minutes – March 30, 2023 – Page 127