LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 281

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OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
pears to be inexpedient as far as the condition of a congregation
is concerned.

Focus on Article VII
At times it is said or implied that Article VII maintains that the
Synod is not an ecclesiastical government, or that it does not exercise
legislative powers, or that it is only an advisory body. However, such
statements do not reflect what Article VII says. It states that the Synod
is not an ecclesiastical government exercising legislative or coercive
powers “in its relation to its members,” and that the Synod is but an
advisory body “with respect to the individual congregation’s right of
self-government” (emphasis added).
Not every action taken by the Synod deals with its relation to its
members or with matters that a congregation decides in the course of
governing itself. Many actions of the Synod pertain to the direction,
management, and position of the Synod as an association of congregations, such as those resolutions directed toward its districts, officers,
boards, commissions, staffs, conventions, employees, other church
bodies or church organizations, or the general public. When the Synod
takes such actions, it is not acting merely as an advisory body, but it is
acting properly as an ecclesiastical government exercising legislative
and, at times, coercive powers.
However, as its title implies, the focus of Article VII, including
the phrase addressed in this opinion, is on the Synod’s relation to its
members, especially its congregational members. As such, Article VII
is intended to assure its members that the Synod is not an organization
that forces its collective will upon its congregations and ministers,
but rather that it employs the power of the Word of God as it advises,
encourages, and assists them to do what they have voluntarily promised to do when they became members of the Synod by signing its
Constitution. Note that the word “accordingly” at the beginning of
the second sentence of Article VII provides a strong link between the
above emphases and the “inexpedient” concept stated in the second
sentence of Article VII.
Congregational Self-Government
With respect to “the right of self-government of LCMS congregations,” the Synod understands that congregations are divinely
instituted and possess all spiritual authority (cf. 1851 convention
resolution that adopted Church and Ministry, reaffirmed by 2001
Res. 7-17A). Such self-governing congregations are the basic unit
of the Synod (Bylaw 1.3.1). While there is a common understanding that a congregation exercises its self-government in calling pastors and other church workers, in owning and maintaining property,
and in carrying out church discipline and its own ministry programs
and financial affairs, Article VII and Bylaw 1.7.2 do not restrict the
areas of self-government. While CCM Opinion 99-2157 listed four
historic areas of self-government, the commission wishes to clarify
that this list is not exhaustive. A report of the Survey Commission
in the 1962 convention’s Reports and Memorials listed six areas of
self-government (p. 232). And in the 1990 CCM opinion Ag. 1905,
the commission included this area: “Consequently, the congregation
has a right to organize itself as it wishes to in carrying out its mission.”
No article of the Constitution, bylaw, or resolution of the Synod limits
the areas of a congregation’s self-government.
It should also be noted that it is an act of congregational selfgovernance when a congregation elects to join the Synod. In exercising its self-government, a congregation which voluntarily joins the
Synod and subscribes to its Constitution thereby agrees to be bound
by all the provisions of the Synod’s Constitution as long as it retains
its membership in the Synod. The congregation thereby limits or
subordinates the subsequent exercise of its intrinsic right of self-

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government, if necessary, in all matters explicitly addressed by the
Synod’s Constitution.
Since the self-governing congregations of the Synod recognize
the authority of the state as God’s servant in His temporal kingdom,
they will also accept and obey the laws of the state unless they are
contrary to scriptural principles, conscience, or the constitutions of
the congregation and the Synod. In so doing, congregations do not
surrender their right of self-governance to the state (cf. thesis 34 of
the Brief Statement adopted by the 1932 convention).
Meaning of “Inexpedient”
In answer to the question of the meaning of “inexpedient as far
as the condition of the congregation is concerned,” it is important to
understand the meaning of the word “inexpedient” as used in this
sentence of Article VII.
In Opinion Ag. 1833 (Feb. 5, 1988), the commission noted “first,
that the term ‘inexpedient’ is no longer used in the 1986 Handbook
but has been replaced with the word ‘applicability,’ a term which
is more properly the translation of the word uneigentlich, the word
which occurs in the German language in which the Constitution was
originally written” (emphasis added).
Thus, reflecting the 1986 Bylaws, 2007 Bylaw 1.7.2 reads,
1.7.2

The Synod expects every member congregation of the Synod
to respect its resolutions and to consider them of binding force
if they are in accordance with the Word of God and if they appear applicable as far as the condition of the congregation is
concerned. The Synod, being an advisory body, recognizes the
right of a congregation to be the judge of the applicability of the
resolution to its local condition. However, in exercising such
judgment, a congregation must not act arbitrarily, but in accordance with the principles of Christian love and charity. (Emphasis added)

While the word “inexpedient” had not been revised in Constitution
Art. VII, it is recognized that the Bylaws, such as Bylaw 1.7.2 above,
while subordinate to the Constitution, elucidate, clarify, and “flesh
out the basic principles” (CCM Opinion Ag. 1826, Nov. 6–7, 1987)
and explain the meaning of the Constitution.
To understand properly the meaning and use of “inexpedient” constitutionally and historically in the Synod, it is important to realize that
the German word ungeeignet in the 1854 Constitution was properly
translated “unsuited” into the English (cf. Moving Frontiers, p. 151).
An editorial committee in 1923, not the convention of the Synod,
changed the word to “inexpedient.” The original word ungeeignet
meant “unsuited, not suited for, does not fit.” Therefore it should be
noted that the use of the word “inexpedient” in our contemporary
culture appears to have a different connotation such as “not advantageous, not profitable, inconvenient.”
It is the congregation itself, not the Synod, that may decide that a
given resolution is not suited for the congregation’s condition. The
language of this article in the 1854 Constitution made this very clear
when it stated: “Should a congregation find a synodical resolution not
in conformity with the Word of God or unsuited for its circumstances,
it has the right to disregard, that is, reject it” (Moving Frontiers, p.
152). Likewise, the 1920 English text of Article VII states that no
congregation shall be bound by any resolution of the Synod “that to
such congregation appears unsuited to its condition” (The Lutheran
Witness, XXXVI 20). Therefore, the congregation and not the Synod
may assess the congregation’s condition and judge the applicability of
any resolution of the Synod. The congregation, not the Synod, determines whether or not a resolution is unsuited. “The Synod, being an
advisory body, recognizes the right of a congregation to be the judge

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