# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S261 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS 261 through their offices of assignment as these already exist at each institution: and be it finally Resolved. That the rules and regulations of the Handbook be changed in keeping with the petition herewith offered. Immanuel Lutheran Church Olivette. Mo. T. R. Hanske. Chairman Gary A. Spiele. Secretary Walter J. Hoffmann, Pastor 5-149 To Instruct District Presidents to Restore Harmony WHEREAS. The Council of Presidents have taken upon them- selves to recommend actions contrary to proper procedure through existing boards and committees: and WHEREAS. District Presidents of many Districts have much work to do in their Districts to carry out the directives of the Synod and the duties of their elected office: therefore be it Resolved, That said Presidents be directed to take proper action within their respective Districts to bring about complete harmony within their Districts. Christ Lutheran Church Coos Bay. Oreg. Wayne Buckles. President Curt Aman, Secretary 5-150A To Censure Council of Presidents WHEREAS, The Council of Presidents has, to the best of our knowledge, given little if any indication of faithfully fulfilling its constitutionally conferred responsibility of assisting the President of the Synod in his staunch defense of the traditional doctrinal stand of the Synod, but has rather exceeded its au- thority through its toleration, if not promotion, of opposition by failing to rebuke and discipline various District presidents who have ordained and/or installed students of the so-called Semi- nex, students who even refused to yield to its own request con- cerning proper certification in keeping with synodical require- ments, and this despite rulings of the Commission on Constitu- tional Matters, obviously demanded by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod: and HEREAS, The council has steadfastly refused to uphold the theology set forth in A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles as adopted by the Synod in its New Orleans conven- tion and allowed its author, the President, to be virtually charged with heresy in some of its meetings (Workbook. New Orleans convention, Overtures 3-159, 3-158, 2-37A: New Orleans Pro- ceedings. Res. 3-09) without so much as officially challenging such charges, thereby giving at least the appearance of agreeing with them and depriving him of even the protection of the rights which the Synod’s Constitution guarantees all its members: and WHEREAS, Without any directive from the Constitution or from a synodical convention the council has assumed the right of doctrinal investigation and mediation, especially with refer- ence to Seminex, this despite the Constitution, Article XI a 1: “Officers of the Synod must assume only such rights as have been expressly conferred upon them’’: and WHEREAS, The council has devoted much time to the prob- lems posed by Seminex without public protest against the doc- trinal aberrations voiced by Seminex students as well as by its professors: and WHEREAS, ‘“‘The Synod is not merely an advisory body in relation to a District” and ‘resolutions of the Synod are binding on the Districts” (Bylaw 3.07 a), certainly also on the District Presidents, whether as individuals or as a council, and certainly also with respect to the synodically adopted A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles: therefore be it Resolved, That the Synod go on record again as repudiating any usurpation of authority by the council and reprove it for its failure to stand by the President in implementing the de- cisions of the Synod, as each District President is expressly directed to do: and be it further Resolved. That the council be herewith reminded to remain within the bounds of activity officially assigned to it as a body: and be it further Resolved. That each District President be earnestly ad- monished to discharge faithfully his responsibilities in his own District as a representative of the Synod and assistant to its President: and be it finally Resolved, That a District President unwilling so to conform as a member of the council and/or as a District President be. after due pastoral admonition, asked to resign from his high office or be suspended from the same, lest the doctrinal position of the Synod be further eroded and continued offense be given the church and the world. Calvary Ev. Lutheran Church Seattle, Wash. Carroll E. Cooper, President Karl J. Jaech, Secretary John F. Falk, Pastor Identical or similar: 5-150B to 5-150D Immanuel, Albany, Oreg. Trinity, Scarsdale, N. Y. Mt. Calvary, Galesburg, Ill. Herbert Boehne Merlin Meyer Wm. Thompson 5-151A To Give Specific Authority to President to Suspend WHEREAS. Article XI b 1 of the Constitution of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod explicitly says that the President of the Synod ‘“‘has the supervision regarding the doctrine and the administration of all District Presidents”: and WHEREAS. Some have questioned how this supervision is to be exercised: and WHEREAS, In the structure of the Synod the office of the District President is an extension of the office of the synodical President: therefore be it Resolved. That the Synod specifically declare that the super- vision of the President of the Synod over the District Presidents is not limited to mere advice and reproof: and be it further Resolved. That the Synod specifically declare that in ex- treme cases of a District President's failure to uphold the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod the President of the Synod may, after consultation with the Vice-Presidents of the Synod, suspend the said District President from office: and be it further Resolved. That the case of such suspended District President shall be heard before the synodical Commission of Adjudication and, if appealed, before the synodical Board of Appeals: and be it further Resolved. That if the decision of the synodical President is upheld by the aforementioned synodical Commission of Adjudi- cation and synodical Board of Appeals, the synodical President shall then remove the said District President from office: and be it finally Resolved. That Bylaws shall be formulated by the Com- mission on Constitutional Matters to reflect this resolution. St. Paul's Lutheran Church Hamel, IIl. Hilbert Schumacher, Chairman Duane Meyer, Secretary W. F. Hischke, Pastor Identical or similar: 5-151B to 5-151H Emmaus, Ridgewood, N. Y. Elwood Mather Emmanuel, Kingfisher, Okla. Vv. H. Mickow St. James, University City, Mo. Tom Baker St. John’s, Brule, Nebr. F. K. Kwirant Our Redeemer, North Platte, Nebr. H. Harnapp Hope, Chicago, Il. H. T. Wians St. John's, Kildare, Okla. Theo. Knepper