LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 389

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STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION
of mechanical, electronic, or other methods of casting, recording, or
tabulating votes.
(de) All ballots in each election shall be preserved by the chairman of
the committee until the close of the convention and shall then be
destroyed.

and be it further
Resolved, That a new subsection be inserted in Bylaw section 4.7:
4.7.3 Prior to the district convention, the district president shall appoint a Committee on Elections, which shall make the necessary arrangements for the elections, shall be responsible for the preparation
and distribution of ballots, and shall supervise the elections and the
tabulation of the votes.
(a) The district president shall designate a chairman for the committee.
(b) The committee shall consist of no fewer than three members, at least
one of whom shall be a minister of religion—ordained, and at least
one layperson. It may contain as many other members as the district
president deems expedient.
(c) The secretary of the district shall provide the committee with instruction concerning the regulations for elections in these Bylaws
and the Bylaws of the district and suggested procedures for their
implementation.
(d) The committee shall be empowered to adopt procedures and methods that will ensure efficiency and accuracy, including the use of
mechanical, electronic, or other methods of casting, recording, or
tabulating votes.
(e) All ballots in each election shall be preserved by the chairman of
the committee until the close of the convention and shall then be
destroyed.

Circuit 9, Atlantic District; Circuit 3, Atlantic District; St.
Paul, Cincinnati, OH
11-11

To Allow Each Region to Elect Its Vice-President
Whereas, The current Bylaws of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod have the entire Synod convention vote for regional
vice-presidents based on a slate of nominations garnered from the
individual regions; and
Whereas, Each region should be able to elect a vice-president of
its own choosing; and
Whereas, The regional vice-presidents are ranked by the Synod
in convention in order to determine an order of succession to the presidency; therefore be it
Resolved, That the 2016 LCMS convention amend the Bylaws of
the Synod to allow each region of the Synod to conduct its own election for its regional vice-president in a manner best determined by
the Synod; and be it further
Resolved, That the resultant vice-presidents of this process then be
ranked as in the past for order of succession by the Synod convention.
Trinity, Utica, MI; First, Hanford, CA; New England
District
11-12

To Eliminate Distinctions between Visitation
and Electoral Circuits
Whereas, LCMS Bylaw 3.1.2 (a) states: “An electoral circuit
shall consist of … 7 to 20 member congregations, involving an aggregate confirmed membership ranging from 1,500 to 10,000”; and

389

Whereas, Bylaw 3.1.2 (a) is the only place in the LCMS
Constitution or Bylaws where confirmed membership is taken into
account; and
Whereas, The Church is not to be measured by “confirmed
membership,” for wherever the Gospel is preached in its truth and
purity and the Sacraments administered according to Christ’s command, there is Christ present and there is the Church, even if there are
only two or three gathered together in His name (AC VIII; Christian
Dogmatics, vol. III, p. 409; Matt. 18:20); and
Whereas, All congregations, regardless of numbers of confirmed
members, share equally in the authority and power of the Church, that
is, the Office of the Keys, and are the possessors of the priesthood and
all church power, even if there are only two or three believers in them
(Kirche und Amt, Part 1, Theses IV, VI, VII; Part 2, Thesis VII), e.g.:
As visible congregations that still have the Word and the Sacraments essentially according to God’s Word and bear the name “church” because
of the true invisible church of sincere believers that is found in them,
so also they possess the power [authority] that Christ has given to His
whole church, on account of the true invisible church hidden in them,
even if there were only two or three [believers] (Part 1, VII);

and
Whereas, All congregations, regardless of number of confirmed
members, are equally members of Synod and district, equally bound
by the Constitution and Bylaws of Synod and district, equally obligated to fulfill the requirements of Synod membership, equally asked
to financially support the work of Synod and district, equally called
upon to uphold the confessional position of the LCMS, and equally
entitled to the benefits of Synod membership, nor are there any confirmed membership requirements stated for member congregations
in the Synod (LCMS Constitution, Articles V, VI, VII; Bylaws 1.3.1,
1.3.4, 1.3.4.1, 1.3.5, 2.1.1, 2.2.1, 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.4.1); and
Whereas, All member congregations of the Synod, regardless of
number of confirmed members, are considered voting members of
the Synod (Constitution Art. V; Bylaw 1.2.1 [x]); and
Whereas, The only individual persons who are members of the
Synod are “ministers of religion—ordained” and “ministers of religion—commissioned” (Bylaws 1.2.1 [l], 2.6.1–3); and
Whereas, Confirmed members of a congregation are not members of Synod and do not fall under the ecclesiastical authority of
district or Synod, but remain under the authority of the congregation;
nor do the Constitution and Bylaws or the Synod’s dispute resolution
process (except for the exceptions specified in Bylaw 1.10.2) hold
any authority over individual communicant members of congregations (Bylaws 1.1, 1.3.1, 1.10.2); and
Whereas, The requirement of at least 1,500 confirmed members
in an electoral circuit is inconsistent with our doctrine of the Church
(see above); and
Whereas, Many congregations, especially in the rural districts of
our Synod, are dwindling in numbers of confirmed members, yet there
are still “two or three” gathered in the name of Christ within them; and
Whereas, The requirement of at least 1,500 confirmed members in an electoral circuit is becoming an increasing burden in many
of our districts, requiring electoral circuits of ever-increasing geographic size; and
Whereas, The increasing geographic distances required to form
electoral circuits of at least 1,500 confirmed members is becoming
an obstacle to efficient communication within the circuit, especially
with the expectation that electors visit the congregations of the circuit, which could require significant travel, and since many of the
older and/or isolated rural members of our congregations do not have
email, cell phones, or other means of electronic communication; and
2016 Convention Workbook