LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 22

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22

SYNOD REPORTS

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The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance
Response of the President of the Synod
December 1, 2009

is not cumbersome or excessively complex. It should facilitate maximum operating efficiency on behalf of and in support of the members
and congregations of our Synod in accomplishing the mission of our
Lord and His church.”
As mentioned in my March 1, 2005, Pastoral Letter:

“Under Christ, our mission together must not be diminished by lack
of understanding or agreement regarding our walking together in love
as a Synod. The way we carry out our mission, which is God’s mission,
must be enhanced and supported by organizing and governing principles
that are in harmony with the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.”

With this brief introduction, I again express my sincere appreciation to the members of the task force for their diligent work and offer
the following response.
Response of the President of the Synod to The Report of the Blue
Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance

Introduction
The work of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and
Governance is now complete. Its recommendations are in a document
posted on the Web site of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. It
will also be available in printed format. The task force has been dismissed, with my heartfelt thanks for its faithful and extensive work
over the past four and one-half years.
The next step in the process of considering the task force’s recommendations is the convening of nine regional gatherings across the
Synod. Two will be held in December, four in January, and three in
February. Invited to these gatherings are the voting delegates to the
2010 Synod convention, district presidents, district vice-presidents,
five members of each district board of directors, and two commissioned minister advisory delegates to the Synod convention from each
district. These elected leaders will have opportunity to ask questions
regarding the task force report, offer suggestions about its content,
and provide written responses for consideration by the convention
floor committee chairman and vice chairman, who will be present at
all nine regional gatherings.
These gatherings are being held instead of a special convention in
2009, which the 2007 Synod convention resolved the Synod president
should consider. After seeking the counsel mentioned in that resolution and deciding not to ask for the special convention, I announced
widely the plan to hold these regional gatherings, feedback from
which will provide guidance for the floor committee as they begin
their task of crafting resolutions for convention consideration.
This Response of the President of the Synod will be posted on the
Synod’s Web site and distributed to leaders throughout the Synod.
Hard copies will be distributed to each attendee at the regional gatherings. I believe the Synod has a right to hear my thoughts, affirmations,
concerns, and recommendations regarding the task force report, and
I have a duty to share them in this response. These comments and
observations about recommendations of the task force are presented
in the order in which they appear in the six sections of the report.
The following excerpt from my March 1, 2005, Pastoral Letter
to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is helpful in providing a
rationale for the work of this task force:
“There is a great need for a thorough and fundamental review of
what our Synod is, how it is organized, and how it functions. What was
first created as an organizational system for a Synod made up of a small
number of congregations (14) now struggles to serve more than 6,150
congregations.”

The task force was asked to suggest a philosophy and form of
structure and governance for the decades ahead that is “appropriately representative, incorporates sufficient checks and balances, and

SECTION ONE: The Confessional Mission and Purpose

Included in this section are proposals to amend the Synod’s
Constitution and Bylaws. Approval of these recommendations would
be very helpful, especially the inclusion of:
1. A statement in the Constitution regarding the truth of
salvation alone by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus
Christ.
2. The Synod’s Mission Statement—a wonderful, Gospelbased expression of why we exist.
3. Words in the Constitution that clarify and strengthen the
Synod’s confessional position.
SECTION TWO: The Local Congregation in Mission

This recommendation seeks to broaden and amplify the participation, voice, and support of congregations under the authoritative
and powerful Word of God. It distinguishes between congregational
(voting) and individual (associate) members of the Synod. It also
removes the category of advisory members and grants voting privileges to commissioned ministers of religion. I am supportive of the
recommendations in this section.
SECTION THREE: Congregations and Circuits

Of particular importance in this section are recommendations concerning restoration of circuits to the purpose for which they were
originally intended, namely, “small ecclesial clusters of congregations for care, support, advice, ecclesiastical encouragement, service,
coordination, and counsel toward the congregation’s participation in
God’s mission.” (BRTFSSG Report)
Because our circuits are so important for the health and wellbeing
of congregations and ministers of the Gospel, I support the recommendations in this section. This includes support for amendment
of the process of selecting circuit counselors, who are very helpful
extensions of the office of district president in the important duty of
providing evangelical ecclesiastical supervision, counsel, and care to
the members of the Synod in each of its 35 districts.
SECTION FOUR: Congregations and Districts

Recommendations in this section include convening “a special
task force to work in consultation with the Council of Presidents
and the Synod’s Board of Directors to submit to the next Synod
convention a recommendation with respect to the function, number, and configuration of districts, including the impact on funding
the national Synod.” Current district configurations vary from 53
to 372 congregations, from 11,000 to 166,000 confirmed members,
district budgets from $570,000 to more than $7,000,000, and annual

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