# LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters Minutes_St. Louis Missouri_September 15 1978_S2
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Commission concluded that Chapter V of the Handbook protects members of the Synod against actions of
others, including even the action of expulsion from membership in the Synod, but that it has no provision
for protecting members against actions taken by themselves, such as resignation and forfeiture of
membership. The Commission had ruled in 1976 that joining another church body (dual membership)
constituted in itself forfeiture of membership, a ruling which had been upheld and even amplified by the
Synod in convention in Dallas Resolution 5-01. It was recognized that it would be an extremely difficult
opinion to draft and therefore the Secretary was requested to undertake this and to submit a rough draft to
the members of the Commission for proposal before the matter would finally be definitely settled. The
final draft, if agreement is reached on its wording, will be attached to these minutes. The Secretary was
asked to incorporate as many of the thoughts that had been expressed in the lengthy discussion as
possible. A copy of the finished product should be sent to Chairman Theis of the synodical Board of
Appeals for his information.
106. Convention Matters (Ag. 1318): The Commission took note of the convention notice which had been
forwarded concerning its report to the convention and registration of representatives to the convention.
107. Meeting Dates: The following meeting dates together with a few locations were agreed upon by the
Commission:
December 8-9, 1978
March 2-3, 1979
May 25-29, 1979
July 4-13, 1979
September 21-22, 1979
December 7-8, 1979

(New Orleans? Irvine?)
(floor committee meetings, St. Louis)
(convention, St. Louis)

108. Possible Bylaws for Fellowship in Canada (Ag. 1228A,B): Dallas Resolution 3-24A had called upon
the CCM, the CTCR, and the Canadian District presidents to study the advisability of amending the
Synod's bylaws to grant Canadian Districts authority to negotiate through the Lutheran Church⎯Canada
toward fellowship with other Lutherans in Canada and to report to the next convention. Secretary Mueller
submitted a draft of a report reflecting the outcome of the meeting of the designated group, namely, to the
effect that if the Canadian Districts are granted the right of forming a self-governing church body, this
would become one of their responsibilities to decide, but that if this does not materialize then the group
was reluctant to permit any segment of the Synod to establish fellowship without a specific bylaw
limiting such a right to the specific location involved. The Commission, which had been given the
authority by the group to present the report to the convention by the participants in the meeting, approved
the report (attached to the minutes) and decided that it would be wiser to submit this to the convention as
a separate ad hoc committee report instead of incorporating it in the report of the Commission itself. The
report is attached to the minutes.
109. Eligibility for Membership in_LWML (Ag. 1306): Rev. Jeffrey C. Kinery of Brownwood, Texas had
asked whether AELC and other non-Missouri individuals were eligible for membership in the LWML.
The Secretary had suggested that the petitioner write to the LWML to obtain the precise statement of
policy. The Commission ratified this reply.
110. Emeriti as Voting Pastors (Ag. 1320): Both Rev. Kinery and the new Texas District President, Glenn
0'Shoney, had raised questions about the eligibility of emeriti who serve as vacancy pastors to function
also as voting delegates to a District convention. Since this matter had already been decided upon once
again at the previous meeting and had been shared with President Heckmann prior to the Texas District
convention, the Secretary shared with the new Texas District President that correspondence as well as
earlier correspondence of 1976 with the Texas District on the same subject.