# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S222
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

222 CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS

WHEREAS, The District Presidents are theologically trained
pastors who provide spiritual leadership and draw together the
concerns of individual congregations in their Districts: and

WHEREAS, District administrators elected by each District
would be qualified to represent the District: therefore be it

Resolved. That a College of District Administrators be
formed with one lay and one clergy representative to exercise
the representative role of governance of the voluntary associa-
tion called the Synod: and be it further

Resolved. That the functions of the present national conven-
tion be carried out by the College of District Administrators: and
be it further

Resolved. That the synodical President be elected by and
serve as the administrative officer of the College of District
Administrators; and be it further

Resolved. That to implement this governance pattern (a) the
College of District Administrators continue to perform the func-
tions now assigned to the Council of Presidents; (b) the College
of District Administrators meet at the call of its chairperson or
at the request of one fourth or more of its membership, and in
any case at least three times per year: and (c) the Handbook be
appropriately modified and simplified to conform to the function
of the College of District Administrators: and be it finally

Resolved. That, with the representation afforded to member
congregations by their District administrators, synodical convo-
cations on a national basis be scheduled as necessary by the
College of District Administrators to provide an educational and
inspirational ministry to the members of the Synod.

Grace Lutheran Church
Boulder, Colo.

James Kittelberger, President
Cynthia DeGreve, Secretary
Norbert E. Hattendorf, Pastor

3-17

To Create a Synod Policy Congress

WHEREAS. There is no widely representative body to inter-
pret and establish policies between synodical conventions:
therefore be it

Resolved. That a Synod Policy Congress be immediately
established to meet each year in the months of January, May.
and September, the first meeting to be convened by the Presi-
dent of the Synod in September 1975: and be it further

Resolved. That the Synod Policy Congress consist of the
President and Vice-Presidents of the Synod. all District presi-
dents, and one lay representative from each synodical District.
the initial lay representative to be initially appointed by the
Board of Trustees of each District to serve until the 1976 District
convention: and be it further

Resolved. That each District convention thereafter elect its
Synod Policy Congress lay representative to serve until the
next District convention: and be it further

Resolved. That the Synod Policy Congress organize itself
after each synodical convention and establish its own rules
of order: and be it further

Resolved. That a majority vote of the entire membership
of the Congress be required for passage of any official action:
and be it further

Resolved. That the Synod Policy Congress be responsible
for interpreting and establishing synodical policy. whenever
the Synod Policy Congress deems it necessary, in accordance
with the Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, Bylaws, and
resolutions of the Synod, and that all actions of the Synod Policy
Congress carry the same status as synodical convention reso-
lutions unless or until overruled by the Synod in convention:
and be it further

Resolved. That all resolutions at synodical conventions that
have been printed in the convention agenda and have not been
withdrawn or replaced and have not been adopted or defeated
by the time of adjournment be referred to the Synod Policy
Congress, which shall have the responsibility to consult with

the appropriate boards. commissions. officers. and adminis-
trators, so that Congress decisions made and actions taken be
permitted by the Articles of Incorporation, the Constitution,
and the Bylaws of the Synod: and be it further

Resolved. That the Synod Policy Congress shall provide for
the coordination of the policies and directives of the Synod
authorized by the Constitution, Bylaws. and Resolutions of the
Synod and evaluate plans and policies of the Synod and com-
municate to the appropriate officers. boards, and commissions
suggestions for improvement: and be it further

Resolved. That the Synod Policy Congress shall have the
right to call up for review. criticism, or suggestion any policy of
all officers, boards. and commissions of the Synod: and be it
further

Resolved. That synodical Handbook 2.77b be deleted except
for the last sentence, which reads: *‘The Board of Directors shall
discharge duties specifically assigned to it by resolution of the
Synod” and to that be added the words “convention and the
Synod Policy Congress”: and be it further

Resolved. That synodical Handbook 2.77¢ be deleted: and
be it further

Resolved. That synodical Handbook 2.77d be changed to read:
“The Board of Directors shall be accountable to the delegate
convention of the Synod and, between conventions, to the Synod
Policy Congress for the discharge of its duties’: and be it finally

Resolved. That synodical Handbook 2.107a be changed to
read: “The Commission on Constitutional Matters shall be ap-
pointed by the Synod Policy Congress. The commission shall
consist of... ."

Board of Directors
Eastern District
Richard L. J. Hoemann, Secretary

To Include Rev. David J. Meyers
in Clergy Roster

WHEREAS, Article VII of the Synod’s Constitution as well as
Bylaw 1.09 b state that member congregations of the Synod are
to be the judge of what is expedient as far as the congregations
themselves are concerned: and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions clearly state that
‘wherever the church exists, the right to administer the Gospel
also exists. Wherefore it is necessary for the church to retain
the right of calling, electing, and ordaining ministers... and no
human authority can take it away from the church” (Book of
Concord. Tappert ed., p. 331, par. 67): and

WHEREAS, St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church has examined the
doctrine of David J. Meyers and found it to be in keeping both
with the confessional basis laid out in Article II of the Synod’s
Constitution as well as the confessional basis laid out in our
congregational constitution, and on that basis has issued to
Mr. Meyers a “regular call’; and

WHEREAS. Mr. Meyers meets our special congregational
needs, e. g., conducting services and ministry in the German
language, therefore making it expedient for our congregation
to call him as our pastor; and

WHEREAS, The President of the Atlantic District, in ordaining
and installing Rev. Meyers as our pastor, was acting in ac-
cordance with Article II of the Synod’s Constitution and with
our decision as a congregation: therefore be it

Resolved. That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,
meeting in convention at Anaheim, act to include Rev. David
J. Meyers, a graduate of Concordia Seminary-in-Exile, St. Louis,
ordained and installed on Nov. 3, 1974, as pastor of St. Paul’s
Ev. Lutheran Church in Richmond Hill, N.Y., in the clergy
roster as a member of The Lutheran Church-— Missouri Synod.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Richmond Hill, N. Y.
Marvin Freudenberg, President