# LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters Minutes_St. Louis Missouri_January 29 1997_S1
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

second ballot, one of these candidates received seven votes and the other five, while two congregations
wrote in the name of another pastor. The Secretary wished to declare those two votes invalid, and the man
receiving seven votes as the choice of the circuit for circuit counselor. At least one of those two who had
voted for another person insisted that their vote be counted.
In reviewing Bylaw 5.11, the Commission concluded that the sentence, "If no candidate has received a
majority, the District Secretary shall forward to each congregation in that circuit an additional ballot with
the names of the two men, or more in case of a tie, receiving the highest number of votes in the initial
balloting" was clear. The phrase "or more in case of a tie" required that at least three names must be
included on the additional ballot. Since this had not been done, the ballot was invalid.
In view of the above, the Commission concluded that the District Secretary should notify the congregations
of the circuit that an error had been made and should issue a ballot containing the names of at least three
men. If time did not permit this, the circuit should caucus at the district convention and make its selection at
that time. In view of the fact that the District Secretary had indicated that he was working under a January
31 deadline, the decision of the Commission is to be forwarded to him by e-mail.
82. Suggested Changes in the Guidelines for the Constitution and Bylaws of a Congregation (Ag.
2054) : The Chairman of the District Constitution Committee had written to the Commission and stated that
he felt that there were two areas in which changes should be made in the published Guidelines which had
been prepared by the Commission a number of years ago. He stated that the provision found in 5.1 which
reads, "This congregation shall establish the pastoral office . . . " was improper since the pastoral office is
established by God and the local congregation simply is establishing the pastoral office "among us" or "in
our midst." He stated that it was not up to the local congregation whether the pastoral office shall exist or
not, not whether they would avail themselves of the proper institution or not.
A second concern was with Article 6.2 of the Guidelines which suggest, "All matters shall be decided by a
majority vote of the voters assembly unless otherwise specified by this constitution or bylaws, including
matters of doctrine and conscience which shall be decided only on the basis of the Word of God." The view
was expressed that Dr. Walther and the founding fathers of the Synod felt that matters of doctrine and
conscience would not really have to be voted on at all-once explained by the pastor-his explanation of the
Word of God would stand unchallenged. It was further noted that Dr. Walther had even said, "The only
reason for a vote in such matters is to see whether all understand." The concern was expressed that if this
statement were allowed to stand as is, a 51 percent vote could throw out infant Baptism, or any other
doctrinal statement of the Synod. It was proposed that Article 6.2 would better end the sentence with the
word "Bylaws," leaving the rest as being already covered in Article 3.
In brief discussion, the Commission on Constitutional Matters recognized the validity of the first concern
and noted that some change should be made. With regard to the second concern, however, it was pointed
out that a vote on a doctrinal issue indicates the fact that the congregation understands the Word of God at
this time to say what it understands it to say.
Because the Commission believed that this matter needed additional discussion, it was referred to the
plenary face-to-face meeting which was to be scheduled prior to the close of the telephone conference.
83. Concordia University System Bylaw Revisions (Am. 2055) : Concordia University System had
forwarded to the Commission on Constitutional Matters for consideration an amendment in the Articles of
Incorporation which changed the time for dealing with proposed amendments to read as follows:
Written notice of the proposed amendment shall be given to the members, no fewer than 30, nor more
than 60 days prior to the meeting in which such amendment(s) shall be considered.