# LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters Minutes_St. Louis Missouri_NOVEMBER 10 1955_S6
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Minutes of the Committee on Constitutional Matters 11/10/55 32.

The Office of the Ministry and Teaching Profession
The pastoral office of this congregation, as well as that of a teacher in

the Christian day school, shall be conferred upon such ministers, teachers, and
candidates only as profess and adhere to the confessional standard set forth in
Article III of this Constitution and are well qualified for their work. Pastors
and teachers shall, in the call extended to and accepted by them, be pledged to
this confessional standard.
ARTICLE VI
Powers of the Congregation

a. General. The congregation as a body, through the voting members, shall
have supreme power in all the external and internal administration and management
of its affairs. The establishment and conduct of all institutions and societies
within the congregation, such as the Christian day school, Sunday school, youth
societies, ladies! organizations, choir, etc., shall at all times be subject to the
approval and supervision of the congregation. The congregation,however, shall not
be empowered to decide anything contrary to the Word of God and the confessions of
the Iutheran Church (Article III), and any such decision shall be null and void.

bo Right of Calling. The right of calling pastors or teachers shall ever
be vested in the congregation and shall never be delegated to a smaller body or
to an individual. |

c. Decisions. Matters of doctrine and conscience shall be decided by the
Word of God; other matters shall be decided by the vote of a majority of the voting
members present at a meeting properly convened, unless otherwise specified by the
Constitution or By-laws.

de Powers of Officers. Officers or committees elected or appointed by the
congregation shall have no authority beyond that which has been conferred upon
them, and whatever power may have been delegated to them may at any time be altered
or abolished by the congregation.

e. Removal from Office. Any officer may be removed from office by the

congregation, by ballot, in Christian and lawful order. Sufficient causes for