LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 394

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394

STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION

Whereas, Electoral circuits meet at the call of the circuit visitor
to elect the circuit’s voting delegates, and the circuit visitor is responsible for conducting those meetings (Bylaw 3.1.2.1 [a, e, and i]); and
Whereas, Not all visitation circuits meet the criteria of being an
electoral circuit (currently set at 7 to 20 member congregations, and
aggregate confirmed membership ranging from 1,500 to 10,000), so
that electoral circuits are by definition not necessarily equivalent to
visitation circuits (Bylaw 3.1.2 [a]); and
Whereas, Visitation circuits consisting of small or geographically distant congregations may find it difficult to reach the Synod’s
current criteria for an electoral circuit; and
Whereas, Congregations are the basic units of the Synod (Bylaw
1.3.1), and congregations, not circuits, are members of the Synod;
therefore be it
Resolved, That district boards of directors be allowed to reassign one or more congregations from one or more adjacent visitation
circuit(s) for the purpose of establishing electoral circuits that meet
the criteria for electing delegates to the Synod’s conventions; and
be it further
Resolved, That the number of electoral circuits within a district
would not exceed the number of visitation circuits in that district.
Oklahoma District
11-25

To Establish Board for International Mission
Representation at Synod Conventions
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 3.1.4.1 (a) states, “Each board or commission shall be represented [at Synod conventions] by its chairman
or another board or commission member and by its principal staff
person”; and
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 3.8.3.4 states, “In carrying out its mission responsibilities, the Office of International Mission shall receive
its primary focus from the mission and ministry emphases developed triennially by the national Synod in convention and from the
policies developed and determined by the Board for International
Mission”; and
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 3.8.3.5 states, “All staff [of the Office of
International Mission] shall be responsible and accountable for their
activities to the President of the Synod (Constitution Art. XI B 1–4)
between conventions of the Synod and ultimately to the Synod in convention (Constitution Art. XI A 1–2)”; and
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 1.4.6 states, “Each staff [of the Synod]
develops procedures, recommends and reviews programs and ministries, manages programs, and recommends policy and program
modifications. Staff implements decisions in accordance with
approved policy; (a) staff is responsible to the Synod at the national
or district level in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of
the Synod at the national or district level, resolutions of the respective
convention, and the policies of a district or any other agency to which
it is responsible; (b) staffs ordinarily serve as the liaison between the
national and district levels. Staffs at the national and district levels
consult with one another in developing program proposals; and (c)
each chief executive or executive director shall report on staff activities and recommendations to the national Synod, district, agency, or
officer to which that executive is responsible and, as requested, to the
president of the district or of the Synod”; and
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 3.4.3.1 states, “The Chief Mission Officer
shall provide staff and other resource(s) to the Board for National
Mission and the Board for International Mission” and serves as an
2016 Convention Workbook

advisory representative at conventions as the “principal staff person”
for the Board for National Mission and the Board for International
Mission (Bylaw 3.1.4.1 [a]); and
Whereas, Both the President and the Board for International
Mission recognize the important role played by both the Chief Mission
Officer and the executive director of the Office of International
Mission at the Synod conventions and floor committee meetings and
have recommended that the Bylaws be revised to enable the executive director of the Office of International Mission to serve as advisory
representative at Synod conventions; and
Whereas, The Board for International Mission has previously
made use of 2013 Bylaw 3.1.4.1 (c) (“Other exceptions must have
the approval of the Board of Directors of the Synod prior to each
convention”) to request that the executive director of the Office of
International Mission be designated as an advisory representative
of the Board for International Mission to the 2013 and 2016 Synod
conventions; and
Whereas, The Board of Directors of the Synod has responded
to the aforementioned requests and approved the granting of exceptions allowing the Board for International Mission to designate the
executive director of the Office of International Mission as an advisory representative of the Board for International Mission at the 2013
and 2016 Synod conventions, in accordance with 2013 Bylaw 3.1.4.1
(c); and
Whereas, The Secretary of the Synod has indicated that he
intends to bring a positive recommendation to the Commission on
Handbook concerning the ongoing designation of the executive director of the Office of International Mission as an advisory representative
of the Board for International Mission at future Synod conventions,
with a view toward a proposed Bylaw revision to be considered at the
2016 Synod convention; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Commission on Handbook be requested to prepare bylaw revision language that establishes the executive director of
the Office of International Mission as a regular advisory representative of the Board for International Mission at all Synod conventions;
and be it further
Resolved, That the 2016 Synod convention be encouraged to adopt
the aforementioned revision of the Bylaws to be prepared and submitted by the Commission on Handbook.
Board for International Mission
11-26

To Make Incumbent Members of the Board
for International Mission Eligible
for Floor Nominations
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 3.8.3.2 states, “The Board for International
Mission shall be comprised of eleven members,” ten of which shall be
“1. Five laypersons and five individual members of the Synod (one of
each from each region of the Synod) elected in the same manner as
are regional members of the Board of Directors of the Synod (Bylaws
3.12.1 and 3.12.2.7)”; and
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 3.12.2.7 accordingly defines the procedure by which, for instance, regional vice-presidents of the Synod,
regional members of the Board of Directors of the Synod, and regional
members of the Board for International Mission are nominated and
elected; and
Whereas, 2013 Bylaw 3.12.2.7 states, “(c) The names of the five
[laypersons or individual members of the Synod being elected to the
Board for International Mission] residing within the boundaries of