LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1986, Page 164

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164

RESOLUTIONS

decisions, and adopts or authorizes programs to meet
the unique needs of the district.

b. Elected officers serve the Synod in accordance with
duties assigned to them or otherwise authorized by the
Constitution and appropriate Bylaws. Primary respon-
sibility is given to each officer, to the extent of his ju-
risdiction, for implementing specific decisions of the
appropriate conventions, boards, and commissions and
for supervising and coordinating the day-to-day activi-
ties of the respective staffs. Each elected officer is to
report his activities and recommendations to the re-
spective convention and, as appropriate, to the respec-
tive president and board.

c. The Board of Directors serves the Synod as its legal
representative and as custodian of all property of the
Synod, and upon it is incumbent the general manage-
ment and supervision of the business affairs of the
Synod. Each other board of directors, board of regents,
and board of trustees also serves the Synod with respect
to the property of the Synod, to the extent of its juris-
diction, as provided or authorized in these Bylaws. Upon
each such board of the Synod is incumbent the general
management and supervision of the business affairs of
the Synod to the extent of its jurisdiction. Also, each
board of directors, board of regents, and board of trust-
ees shall to the extent of its jurisdiction, between con-
ventions and subject to advice or direction from any
other appropriate board that has been given authority
by these Bylaws or by convention resolution, (1) deter-
mine general operating policies, (2) approve program
budgets, (3) allocate resources for such programs, (4)
review program performance, and (5) coordinate the
administration of convention resolutions. The Board of
Directors shall also be empowered to seek to settle dis-
putes between operating boards. Each board shall re-
port its activities and recommendations to the
respective convention.

d. Each board and commission that serves the Synod
in a specific area of program or ministry in accordance
with the Synod’s Constitution and applicable Bylaws
adopts programs in its assigned area of responsibility;
administers the programs and resources as provided or
authorized by the Constitution and applicable Bylaws,
or as assigned by the respective convention or board;
and proposes modifications thereto. It also provides pro-
gram policies, as well as directions for its staff and shall
establish, together with staff, evaluation criteria for its
programs. It shall report its activities to the respective
convention, president, and board. National boards and
commissions obtain counsel from district boards in de-
veloping programs, and district boards maintain com-
munication with and provide for utilization of applicable
programs of their national counterparts, as well as de-
sign programs to meet their own unique needs.

e. Each staff develops procedures, recommends and
reviews programs and ministries, manages programs,
and recommends policy and program modifications. It
implements decisions of its respective board in accord-
ance with approved policy. It is responsible to the Synod
through its respective board or commission, which shall
exercise supervision in accordance with the Constitu-
tion and Bylaws, resolutions of the respective conven-
tion, and the decisions of the respective board or
commission. Staff represents the board or commission
and is ordinarily the liaison between the board or com-
mission and the field. Each principal staff person shall
report on staff activities and recommendations to his
board or commission and, as requested, to the president
of the District or of the Synod. Staff ordinarily serves
as the liaison between the national and district program
boards. Staffs consult with one another in developing
program proposals to present to their respective boards.

1.09 Doctrinal Resolutions and Statements

a. The Synod, in seeking to clarify its witness or to
settle doctrinal controversy, so that all who seek to par-
ticipate in the relationships that exist within and
through the Synod may benefit and may act to benefit

others, shall have the right to adopt doctrinal resolu-
tions and statements which are in harmony with Scrip-
ture and the Lutheran Confessions.

b. Doctrinal resolutions may be adopted for the in-
formation, counsel, and guidance of the membership.
They shall conform to the confessional position of the
Synod as set forth in Article I of its Constitution and
shall ordinarily cite the pertinent passages of the Scrip-
tures, the Lutheran Confessions, and any previously
adopted official doctrinal statements or resolutions of
the Synod. Such resolutions come into being in the same
manner as any other resolutions of a synodical conven-
tion and are to be honored and upheld until such time
as the Synod amends or repeals them.

c. Doctrinal statements set forth in greater detail the
position of the Synod especially in controverted matters.
A proposed statement or a proposal for the development
of such a statement shall be

1. submitted by the Commission on Theology and

Church Relations directly to those listed in paragraph
c 2 or submitted by a convention of the Synod (including
that of a district), a synodical faculty, or an official dis-
trict pastoral or teachers conference to the Commission
on Theology and Church Relations for evaluation, re-
finement, development, or recommendation, as the case
may be;
2. submitted by the commission, if it acts favorably,
to the colleges and seminaries, and to the congregations
and other members of the Synod for study and sugges-
tions for no more than one year (failure by the Com-
mission on Theology and Church Relations to submit a
proposed doctrinal statement within a year may be ap-
pealed to the convention through a proper overture);

3. refined further by the commission on the basis of
suggestions received;

4. submitted by the commission to a convention of
the national Synod for further consideration and pos-
sible adoption by majority vote; amendments shall re-
quire a two-thirds affirmative vote of those present and
voting;

5. resubmitted to the congregations for ratification
in its final existing form;

6. ratified and operative if a two-thirds majority of
the member congregations which respond within six
months registers an affirmative vote on a ballot supplied
by the synodical Secretary for that purpose. Failure to
ratify makes the statement inoperative, and this fact
shali be reported by the Secretary to the members of
the Synod through an announcement in an official pe-
riodical.

7. Such adopted and ratified doctrinal statements
shall be regarded as the position of the Synod and shall
be “accepted and used as helpful expositions and expla-
nations” (FC SD Rule and Norm 10). They shall be hon-
ored and upheld (“to abide by, act, and teach in
accordance with” [197] Res. 2-21]) until such time as the
Synod amends or repeals them.

8. An overture to amend such an adopted ratified
doctrinal statement shall follow the same procedure as
listed in paragraph c 1-6, above.

9. An overture to repeal such an adopted and ratified
doctrinal statement shall require a majority vote of a
convention of the national Synod in answer to an
overture properly submitted and be subject to the pro-
cedure of congregational approval set forth in paragrap
c 6 above.

10. In the interim, those who submit overtures to
amend or to repeal shall, while retaining their right to
dissent, continue to honor and uphold publicly the state-
ment as the position of the Synod, notwithstanding fur-
ther study and action by the Synod.

d. Dissent from doctrinal resolutions and statements
shall be governed by Bylaw 2.39 c.

Action: Adopted (8).

(A motion to refer the resolution back to committee was de-
clined in session 5 as was a motion in a later session to refer the
entire resolution to the Board of Directors for study. Prior to