LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 49

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1. That the congregations of each Circuit be encour-
aged to meet in two types of gatherings: (a) Circuit
Forums at least twice each year and (b) a Circuit
convocation every three years;

2. That the Circuit Forum, consisting of at least the
pastor and president of each congregation, be convened
at least twice each year to pursue ongoing interests
deemed important, such as lay leadership development,
teacher training, and participation under existing Dis-
trict policy in future local mission development; that the
Circuit Forum carry out the responsibility of electing
delegates to the general convention of the Synod; and
that the Circuit Forum be encouraged to make recom-
mendations to District and synodical conventions;

3. That Circuits be encouraged to hold the first
meeting of Circuit Forums in the fall of 1982 with the
pastors and congregational presidents participating
and making plans for the future;

4. That Circuits be encouraged to hold a Circuit
convocation in the year following the synodical conven-
tion; that its purpose be to provide a setting in which
congregational members may know of and celebrate the
ministry pursued by each congregation, may review and
discuss the work of the Circuit Forum, and may receive
information on various phases of the work pursued
through Districts and the Synod; that its emphasis be on
inspiration and education, although, when appropriate,
it may, under District policies, become a decision-
making assembly for major Circuit directions and for
forwarding overtures for synodical and District con-
ventions.

N I. Franchise

From the very beginning voting membership in the Synod
did not belong to the pastors, the teachers, or to any other
individuals, but collectively to the member congregations.

Each congregation was to be accorded two votes, one to be
cast by its called pastor and one by a lay member. Eventually a
slight modification was introduced. The two votes are now
accorded to a congregation or to a parish. If two or more
congregations are served by the same pastor, they are regarded
as one parish and are entitled to only one set of delegates.

To be sure, there were other problems that confronted the
Synod from time to time. Occasionally some expressed the view
that small congregations should not be accorded the same
voting strength as large congregations. But the Synod invari-
ably decided to stay with the principle that every congregation
(or parish) has equal voting rights. Some adjustment was made
in 1967 for synodical conventions. At that time minimums and
maximums were established both for the number of congrega-
tions in a Circuit and for the number of communicant members
ina Circuit. As aresult, a larger number of small congregations
are now needed to form an electoral Circuit, while fewer
congregations of a large size may form an electoral Circuit.
This arrangement has achieved a degree of balance.

But there have been other problems. When the pastoral
office in a congregation is vacant, the congregation is entitled
to only one vote; assistant pastors are excluded from consider-
ation as voting delegates; advisory pastors and emeriti are not
eligible to be chosen as voting delegates by the congregation;
the teachers on the membership roster of the Synod are not
eligible at present to be elected as voting delegates in any
category; lay ministers continue to be laymen with the result
that congregations served by them are entitled to only one vote;
dual and multiple parishes feel discriminated against because,
in addition to the pastor, there is only one vote to be divided
between two or more congregations.

In the closing hours of the 1979 convention Task Force II
was asked as part of its assignment to take into consideration
the problem of congregations served by lay ministers. The
Task Force has addressed itself to this question, but as can be
seen from the previous review, this problem impinged immedi-
ately on the other problems listed above.

As in the case of its predecessors, Task Force II has given
much consideration to these troublesome questions. It has

which Task Force II considers to be more thoroughly consistent
with the original intent of the founding fathers of the Synod
and more in harmony with the principles of equity than the
present arrangements.

We need to remind ourselves that it is the congregation
which determines who shall cast its two votes. In calling its
pastor the congregation makes the casting of its pastoral vote
one of the responsibilities of the person called. The congrega-
tion chooses its second voting delegate as each opportunity
presents itself. It should be carefully noted that laypersons far
outnumber clergy and teacher members in any congregation,
so this elective process is properly to be regarded as primarily a
lay function.

Basically the Task Force is recommending that the fran-
chise be broadened so that a congregation would indeed have
full franchise privileges and would be free also to choose
whomever it wishes, in addition to its called pastor, to cast its
second vote. This would make also the teachers, lay ministers,
and advisory clergymen eligible, although the congregation
(largely lay) would still do the electing.

Task Force II therefore recommends:

1. That as a general rule every congregation shall be
entitled to two votes at a District convention;

2. That, since it is the congregation which basically
decides who is to cast its two votes, a congregation
should be free to choose anyone it wishes from its
communicant membership to cast its nonpastoral vote,
so that the congregation may choose a layperson, a
parochial school teacher, or any communicant member
of that congregation who is on the clergy or teacher
roster of the Synod in some other capacity;

3. That when the pastoral office is vacant in the
congregation at the moment, the congregation shall still
be entitled to two votes, to be cast by members chosen by
the congregation;

4. Thatin a dual parish or multiple parish the pastor
shall be entitled to one vote; the parish shall be entitled
to at least one additional vote, and shall have a third
vote if at least two congregations in that parish have at
least one hundred communicant members each (in this
way, if two rather large congregations form a dual
parish, both would be entitled to a votein addition tothe
pastoral vote; however, if the parish consists of several
small congregations, the parish would have only one
vote in addition to the pastoral vote). Any necessary
determination of procedure or alternation shall be made
by the District Board of Directors;

5. That the same principles be applied basically also
to synodical conventions; that every congregation be
free to nominate any person from the total communicant
membership of the congregations within that Circuit as
a candidate for the second delegate position and its
alternate, so that hereafter any communicant member,
lay, teacher, or clergy, could be nominated by the
members of a congregation and conceivably be elected
as a delegate or alternate;

6. That the convention approve the constitutional
and Bylaw amendments necessary to implement the
above recommendations.

J. Additional Incidental Bylaw Changes

As Task Force II worked through the entire Handbook for
the purpose of rearranging it and proposing revisions in line
with its recommendations, it encountered a number of Bylaws
which were either directly related or not to the substantive
issues under study by the Task Force but which in any event
seemed to need some modification or adjustment. These are
included in the proposed Bylaw changes at the conclusion of
this report.

Task Force II also recommends that in addition to any
Bylaws which might be adopted, the convention authorize, as
it has done in previous conventions, the Commission on
Constitutional Matters to make any adjustments in language
or otherwise that might be needed, without changing the basic
substance of the decisions reached by the convention.