LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 234

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234

Synod Structure and Governance

Resolved, That the Kansas District meeting in convention in 2009
commend to the Synod convention of 2010 that ministers of religion—commissioned be eligible to be chosen as voting delegates to
the conventions of the national Synod and its districts while maintaining the balance of voting between laymen and clergy.
Kansas District
8-37

To Provide for Equitable Representation
and Voice for Commissioned Ministers
Whereas, Bylaw 2.6.1 defines individual members of the Synod
as “Ministers of the Gospel,” designated by the Synod as “‘ministers of religion—ordained’ (ordained ministers) or ‘ministers of
religion—commissioned’ (commissioned ministers),” who are eligible for membership in the Synod; and
Whereas, The Synod has recognized the ministry contributions of
teachers, deaconesses, directors of Christian education, directors of
Christian outreach, directors of parish music, parish assistants, certified lay ministers, and directors of family life ministry through their
inclusion as “ministers of religion—commissioned”; and
Whereas, The contribution and needs of commissioned ministers
are distinct from those of the clergy and the laity as demonstrated by
their inclusion as a distinct category on the board of directors of the
Pacific Southwest District; and
Whereas, The voice of the commissioned minister is held negligible due to the Synod’s definition of voting delegates as “one a pastor
and one a lay delegate”; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Pacific Southwest District convention memorialize the Synod in convention to seat one commissioned minister per
district as a voting delegate to the national Synod convention and one
commissioned minister per circuit to district conventions.
Pacific Southwest District
8-38

To Allow Ministers of Religion—Commissioned
to Serve as Voting Delegates
Whereas, God has called His people to be workers in His kingdom as ministers of religion—commissioned (teachers, directors of
Christian education, family life ministers, etc.); and
Whereas, Ministers of religion—commissioned are looked upon
to provide leadership in many schools, congregations, and agencies
of the LCMS; and
Whereas, There has been a long tradition of service from such
ministers of religion—commissioned; and
Whereas, The Synod Handbook does not allow such individuals
to serve as voting delegates at either district or national Synod conventions; and
Whereas, Ministers of religion—commissioned are allowed to
be advisory delegates to national Synod conventions at a ratio of one
commissioned minister per sixty (60) rostered ministers of religion—
commissioned in each district (Bylaw 3.1.3.1); and
Whereas, The members of the Northwest District consider this
voting privilege to be a high priority because of the ministry of the
ministers of religion—commissioned and the issue of equity; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Northwest District in convention urge the
national Synod in convention and the Blue Ribbon Task Force on

Synod Structure and Governance to provide commissioned ministers an opportunity to serve as district and national convention voting
delegates.
Northwest District
8-39

To Establish Process for Electing Commissioned
Ministers as Voting Delegates to District
Conventions
Preamble
Commissioned ministers are the only members of Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod congregations that may not serve as voting delegates to its district conventions. While many have recognized
that this is basically unfair, no one has offered a proposal that has been
found acceptable to correct it. As a compromise, commissioned ministers have been given advisory status with no voting rights.
Many LCMS congregations today face the situation of non-rostered individuals filling roles traditionally filled by commissioned
ministers. A school with ten teachers may have six rostered commissioned ministers and four lay teachers. Each of the four lay teachers is
eligible to be elected as a congregation’s lay voting delegate, while the
six commissioned ministers can never be elected as voting delegates.
The issue of voting by commissioned ministers has been one that
the Synod has attempted to address many times over the years without success. Difficulty has always arisen because of the Synod’s
practice of maintaining a balance between clergy and lay voters.
Commissioned ministers do not fit comfortably into either category.
This resolution is crafted in such a way as to respect that balance and
impact it as little as possible.
A secondary related issue is the consideration that all congregations should be represented equally. How would congregations that
have no commissioned ministers be fairly represented? This resolution maintains that, as much as possible, all congregations should
have an equal voice in selecting delegates regardless of whether or
not a particular congregation is served by commissioned ministers.
Resolved, That there be a voting commissioned minister from each
circuit for district conventions; and be it further
Resolved, That the LCMS in convention adopt the following process for selecting commissioned ministers to serve as voting delegates
to district conventions.
1. Each circuit shall meet at the call of the counselor to elect
its commissioned minister not later than six months prior to
the opening day of the district convention.
2. In the announcement for the meeting the circuit counselor
shall call for nominations of commissioned ministers to be
elected as the circuit voting delegate from that circuit. Any
member of Synod who is also a member of the circuit may
make a nomination.
3. The election shall be by written ballot.
4. The privilege of voting shall be exercised by one pastor
and one layperson from each member congregation of
the circuit, both of whom shall have been selected in the
manner prescribed by the congregation.
5. Multiple parishes shall be entitled to a lay vote from each
member congregation.
6. Each voter may write in the names of two commissioned
minister nominees on the initial ballot. The three
commissioned ministers (or more, in case of a tie vote for
third place) who received the highest number of votes in

2010 Convention Workbook

2010 Convention.indb 234

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