# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1973_S235 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) ee 234 CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS Whereas, By such intervention they have exceeded the authority given to them by the Constitution of the Synod, “The officers of the Synod must assume only such rights as have been expressly conferred upon them by the Synod, and in everything pertaining to their rights and the performance of their duties they are responsible to the Synod.” (Const. Art. XI A 1); and Wuereas, Such action on the part of the Council of Presi- dents is a violation of the ordered process and structure of the Synod, which makes the District President an extension of the office of the President of the Synod (“The President has the supervision regarding the doctrine and administra- tion of —d. All District Presidents,” Art. XI B 1 d) and thus promotes confusion and seriously erodes the proper judicial process in the Synod: and Wuereas, The Lutheran Confessions state, “... When the proper judicial process has been taken away, the churches are not able to remove impious teachings and impious forms of worship, and countless souls are lost generation after gen- eration” (Tractate, Tappert, p. 329:51); therefore be it Resolved, That the Synod in convention instruct the Council of Presidents, as a coroprate body, and individually, in their capacity as District Presidents, both publicly and privately to refrain from any further action which would impede the President of the Synod from carrying out his constitutional responsibilities; and be it further Resolved, That the Council of Presidents be reprimanded for their violation of the Constitution of the Synod, Article XI A 1; and be it further Resolved, That the Council of Presidents be instructed to refrain from passing resolutions which deal with matters as- signed by the Constitution to the office of the President of the Synod; and be it further Resolved, That in the event the Council of Presidents is persuaded that the President of the Synod is exceeding his authority, or acting in a manner contrary to the Constitution of the Synod or the Bylaws of the Synod, they move to call a special convention of the Synod in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution; and be it finally Resolved, That the President of the Synod report to the Synod such District Presidents and members of the Council of Presidents who do not act in keeping with this resolution. Mount Oxtve LutHeran Cuurcu Billings, Mont. Harold F. Mehling, President Leslie I. Kerchen, Secretary Similar: 5-77B First Lutheran Church, Missoula, Mont., James C. Taylor, Secretary; Paul H. Blunck, Pastor. 5-78 To Provide for Synodical Convention to Elect All District Presidents Wuereas, The Synod establishes Districts in order to achieve its objects and to carry out its activities more effec- tively (Bylaw 3); and Wuenreas, Districts are Synod itself performing its func- tions within their respective boundaries (Bylaw 3.03a and 3.07); and Wuereas, The District jurisdiction for administration is always limited according to the specifications of Bylaw 3.07 e; and Whereas, Every District President, according to Bylaw 3.41, is to be a responsible subordinate to the President of Synod; and Wuereas, District Presidents have indicated their desire for a wider range of responsibilities in the Synod than now open to them; and Wuerzas, Such responsibilities must always be considered in the context of good structural order; and Wuereas, It is desirable that the Districts have as wide a choice as possible of candidates for the office of District President from a slate of proven men in the Synod who have effectively served in other assignments or calls of the Synod; therefore be it Resolved, That the Synod in convention assembled at New Orleans declare the office of District President a syn- odical office, provide for the election of District Presidents by Synod in convention, on the basis of Synodwide nomina- tions by congregations, and regulate the office of District President to conform with the intentions of the Constitution of the Synod. TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH Enid, Okla. Derald Brainard, Chairman Craig Holsten, Secretary 5-79 To Elect District Presidents by Synod in Convention Wuereas, Bylaw 3.07 (Handbook, p. 82) describes the re- lation between Districts and the Synod as: “A District is the Synod itself performing the functions of the Synod. Resolu- tions of the Synod are binding on the Districts”; and Wuerzas, District Presidents are described in Bylaw 3.41 (Handbook, p. 86) as the subordinates of the President of the Synod who shall periodically report to him; and Whereas, Officers of the Synod who have the duty of rep- resenting the Synod in their given responsibility should also be directly accountable to a convention of the Synod; and Wuereas, Such direct responsibility and accountability to the Synod by the District Presidents properly begins with their election by the Synod; therefore be it Resolved, That all District Presidents shall be elected by alternate conventions of the Synod, beginning with the next convention, to be held in 1975, from a slate of nominees of- fered for each District by any voting congregation of the Synod. TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH Easthampton, Mass. Francis Lee Belle, President Louis Elger, Pastor 5-80 To Amend Bylaws Re Pastor and Teacher Conferences The Denver convention adopted revised Bylaw 1.27 list- ing precisely the groups permitted to send overtures to a synodical convention, among them “an official District pas- toral or teachers conference.” The intention was to eliminate smaller circuit conferences from the list of groups eligible to submit overtures in order to provide for broader screen- ing, testing, and refinement before an overture reaches a convention. However, this created a difficulty. Many felt that also sectional sessions of an official District conference which meet once or twice a year in addition to the plenary should be permitted in their sectional meetings to memorialize the Synod. Was this permissible under the new Bylaw? The Commission on Constitutional Matters concluded that official conferences should be more precisely defined in the Bylaws and requested the assistance of the District Presj- dents. The following proposals for Bylaw revision incor- porate almost verbatim their recommendations. The com- mission itself would have favored restricting the right to plenary sessions of District conferences but is willing to ac- cede to a limited sectional approach as long as not more than three or four sections are permitted for an official District conference. Otherwise the original objective which was recommended by the special committee created by the New York convention and which was adopted by the Denver con- vention would be nullified.