LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 120

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120

RESOLUTIONS

To Broadly Communicate the Statement
of Financial Position of LCMS
RESOLUTION 4-03
Report 4-03 (CW, pp. 72–73)
Whereas, It is helpful to understand the Synod’s financial
position and communicate it to the members of the congregations of Synod; therefore be it
Resolved, That each November, the Vice-President–
Finance—Treasurer of the Synod use widely available means,
(i .e ., The Lutheran Witness, Reporter, the LCMS Website)
to state the financial position of the Synod in a format easily
understood by persons unfamiliar with financial terminology .
Action: Adopted (5)
(Res . 4-03 was adopted as presented [Yes: 1,108; No: 32] after
brief discussion .)

To Study Higher Education System and Bring an
Action Plan to the 2013 LCMS Convention
RESOLUTION 4-04A
Overtures 4-01–04 (CW, pp. 179–180), L4-27 (TB, pp. 40–41)
Whereas, The cost of higher education at LCMS seminaries and Concordia University System (CUS) schools continues
to increase to the extent that undesignated resources directed
to the national Synod from congregations and districts have
become insufficient to cover these costs and are providing an
increasingly smaller portion of the total cost of higher education in our Synod; and
Whereas, The “Vision for the Future of Theological
Education in the LCMS for 2015 and Beyond” was developed
at the 2009 Pastoral Ministry Summit sponsored by the Office
of the President and the Board for Pastoral Education; and
Whereas, The cost of education remains a significant challenge, even though the generosity of donors has enabled our
institutions of higher education to continue to provide quality
education as they prepare professional church workers and lay
leaders for our Synod; and
Whereas, The LCMS Board of Directors is responsible
for fiscal oversight of the LCMS institutions of higher education; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention charge the Board of
Directors of the Synod, in consultation and concurrence with
CUS and seminary leadership, to appoint an eleven-member
task force possessing qualifications in higher education and
finance (including two members from the LCMS Board of
Directors as well as persons from the CUS institutions and
seminaries, other institutions of higher education, and the
LCMS at large) to research the efficiency of cooperative interaction for the fiscal strength of the LCMS system of colleges,
universities, and seminaries, to make recommendations that
could be immediately implemented by the respective institutions and continue to enhance those current programs already
in place with the seminaries and CUS schools, and to bring
recommendations which require convention action to the 2013
LCMS convention for further implementation .
2010 Convention Proceedings

Action: Adopted (8)
(During discussion, an amendment was introduced to replace
“13-member” with “ten-member” in the resolve . The committee
suggested changing the “ten-member” to “eleven-member” in the
resolve paragraph, which was agreed to by the maker of the amendment . The amendment was accepted as a friendly amendment by
the committee . Res . 4-04A was adopted as changed [Yes: 990; No:
121] .)

To Revise Convention Election Process
RESOLUTION 4-05
Overture 4-22 (CW, pp. 186–187)
Rationale
During recent conventions of the Synod, two related issues
have surfaced during the election of members of the Board of
Directors, both issues resulting from the provision in Bylaw
3 .3 .5 .1 that “13 members are elected by the Synod in convention and serve a maximum of two six-year terms: four ordained
ministers, one commissioned minister, and eight laypersons .
No more than one of these may be elected from one district .”
When in past conventions elections for ordained, commissioned, and lay positions on the board were conducted
simultaneously (as in 2001), the filling of some positions on
early ballots disqualified candidates for other positions due to
the only-one-member-per-district bylaw requirement, favoring candidates for those categories with fewer candidates (who
were more likely to receive a majority of votes on an early ballot) . When elections were conducted and positions filled one
category at a time, this also disqualified candidates in other categories due to the only-one-member-per-district requirement,
which favored candidates for positions that were filled early .
The following bylaw changes are advocated to help to
alleviate adverse effects of the only-one-member-per-district
requirement and to distribute more evenly among the three categories of candidates any remaining adverse effects .
Resolved, That the first paragraph of Bylaw 3 .3 .5 .1 be
amended to read:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3 .3 .5 .1 The Board of Directors shall consist of 15 voting
members .
1 . 13 members are elected by the Synod in convention and
serve a maximum of two six-year terms: four ordained ministers, one commissioned minister, and eight laypersons . No more
than one of these member from each category and no more than
two members total may be elected from any one district .
2 . The President and Secretary shall be voting members of
the board .
3 . The First Vice-President and the Vice-President–Finance—
Treasurer of the Synod shall be nonvoting members .

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 3 .12 .4 .2 be amended to read:
3 .12 .4 .2 The President shall determine and announce a period of time during the convention for the election of the members
of all elective boards and commissions .