Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2016 · 66th Convention, Milwaukee › Page 301
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 301

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

X. TASK FORCE ON DISPUTE RESOLUTION REPORT
Relations and/or the Commission on Constitutional Matters requested
by the Dispute Resolution Panel or the President of the Synod.

And be it further
Resolved, That a new Bylaw 1.10.8.5 be added to the Bylaw 1.10
dispute resolution process that will provide for a final theological
review of Review Panel decisions prior to their release, to be conducted by the President of the Synod as chief ecclesiastical officer
charged with the responsibility for supervision of the doctrine taught
and practiced in the Synod not specifically delegated to others by the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod, as follows:
Final Decision of Review Panel
1.10.8.5 The final decision of the Review Panel shall be submitted to the President of the Synod as chief ecclesiastical officer for a
final theological review. The President shall bring matters of theological
concern to the panel for further attention prior to release of the panel’s
decision.
1.10.8.6 The final decision of the Review Panel shall
(a) be binding upon the parties to the matter and not be subject to
further appeal;
(b) have no precedential value;
(c) be carried out by the district president or the President of the
Synod; and
(d) be publicized as deemed appropriate under the circumstances
by the district president or the President of the Synod.

And be it finally
Resolved, That a new Bylaw 2.14.9.1 be added to the Bylaw 2.14
suspension/expulsion process that will provide for a final theological
review of Final Hearing Panel decisions prior to their release, to be
conducted by the President of the Synod as chief ecclesiastical officer
charged with the responsibility for supervision of the doctrine taught
and practiced in the Synod not specifically delegated to others by the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod, as follows:
Decision of Final Hearing Panel
2.14.9.1 Upon completion of the hearing by the Final Hearing Panel, the panel shall deliberate and then submit its decision to the President
of the Synod as chief ecclesiastical officer for a final theological review.
The President shall bring any matters of theological concern to the panel
for further attention prior to release of the panel’s decision.
2.14.9.2 After the final theological review by the President of the
Synod, the Final Hearing Panel shall issue its written decision within 30
days, a copy of which shall be mailed to the accused, the district president that imposed the suspension, the accuser and his district president,
the Secretary of the Synod, and the President of the Synod. The final
decision of the Final Hearing Panel shall
(a) be binding upon the parties to the matter and not be subject to
further appeal;
(b) have no precedential value;
(c) be carried out by the district president or the President of the
Synod; and
(d) be publicized as deemed appropriate under the circumstances
by the district president or the President of the Synod.

——————

301

D. To Replace Referral Panels by Restoring the Right
of Accusers to Appeal District President Decisions
to the President of Synod
Rationale
Membership in the Synod is and always has been a privilege that
is either granted or terminated by the Synod. In the earliest period of
its history, the Synod retained the authority to make decisions regarding membership to itself, to be made by its conventions. Over time,
the Synod adopted bylaw processes for making such decisions. In
the matter of expulsions from the Synod, such processes were to be
fair and impartial.
Initially, the President of the Synod as ecclesiastical supervisor
assumed the authority to suspend members prior to their expulsion.
Not long after, district presidents as the President’s agents were given
the authority to suspend, with final decisions regarding expulsion
to be made by a convention of the Synod or district. In time, Synod
bylaw changes provided opportunity for appeals of suspensions to
commissions and boards of the Synod or districts prior to expulsion.
The 1992 convention of the Synod, which created the Synod’s
dispute resolution process, retained district presidents’ authority
to suspend but delegated the authority for final decisions regarding
expulsion from membership to dispute resolution panels. When the
2004 convention created new processes solely for suspension and
expulsion, panels of three district presidents were given responsibility for expulsion decisions. The 2010 convention replaced one of the
three presidents on such panels with a lay reconciler.
Of particular note as the removal from membership process
evolved over nearly 170 years was the decision by the 1965 convention to empower the President of the Synod to act when a district
president failed to act on an accusation brought against a member of
the Synod. This presidential authorization to act was then given to
the Praesidium of the Synod in 1989 and retained as part of the overhaul of the suspension/expulsion processes in 1992.
The 2004 convention’s major overhaul of the process removed the
right of an accuser to appeal to the Praesidium of the Synod when the
district president declined to act. In its place, the accuser could now
request that the matter be presented to a Referral Panel of three circuit visitors if the district president fails or refuses to act, this panel
then making the decision regarding the suspension, thereby reducing
the opportunity for a full and objective hearing and placing an ecclesiastical supervisory decision in the hands of circuit visitors which
constitutionally only belongs to district presidents.
The history of the suspension/expulsion process supports a return
to past practice which existed from 1965 to 2004, leaving the responsibility for suspension in the hands of those charged with ecclesiastical
supervision. When a district president fails or declines to act, this will
allow an appeal by the accuser to the President of the Synod, who in
consultation with the Praesidium of the Synod, will decide when an
accusation warrants suspension and, if requested by the accused, a
hearing before a panel.
Proposed Actions
Therefore be it
Resolved, That changes be made to Bylaw section 2.14 (and incorporated as appropriate into Bylaw sections 2.15 and 2.17) to remove
all reference to a Referral Panel and restore to the suspension/expulsion process an opportunity for an accuser, when a district president
fails or declines to act on an accusation, to appeal to the President
of the Synod:

2016 Convention Workbook