LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 188

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

9. STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION
while meeting unique needs of the full-time church
workers in the Synod.
(e) It shall provide copies of all audit reports to the
Board of Directors of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod for information, advice, and counsel.
(f) It shall settle disputes which arise in enrollment in
the plans and the payment of claims and benefits.

Action: Adopted as read (4)
Noting the adoption of Res. 9-09, which provides for Board of
Directors-appointed representation on the Plans board, the
committee struck from the proposed Bylaw 3.7.1.3 the sentence:
“The Chief Financial Officer of the Synod shall be a nonvoting
member.” Without discussion, the resolution was adopted as so
presented [Yes: 940; No: 12].

To Amend Bylaw 3.1.8
to No Longer Require Publication
of Delegate Mailing Addresses
RESOLUTION 9-04A
Reports R5, R6 (CW, 83–86); Overtures 9-29–32 (CW,
504–6), President’s Report Part 2 (TB, 1:24)

Rationale
Bylaw 3.1.8 requires the Workbook to include “the names
and mailing addresses of all voting delegates.” This
requirement was imposed by 1989 Resolution 5-18
(Proceedings, 139) in response to a number of overtures
indicating a desire on the part of parties structurally
independent from Synod to communicate easily by mail,
before the convention, with lay as well as pastoral
delegates. This has provided opportunity over the years for
the circularization of delegates with all manner of
unofficial convention-related and non-convention-related
material.
A lay delegate to the 2016 Synod convention noted,
however, that standard best practices for personal and
sensitive information require the diligent safeguarding of
personal information, its use only in the official conduct of
business, and strict limitations on its disclosure,
necessitating:
• a clear privacy policy: what data are gathered and
stored, and how will they be used or shared?
Provide opt-in or opt-out for sharing;
• stewardship, not ownership: personal identity
information is not corporate property to be
repurposed or sold, but to be used only for official
business;
• safeguarding of customer identity: strictly limit the
disclosure of personal identity information.
Encrypt any Sensitive Personal Information (SPI).
Already in 1986, overtures to require publication of
delegate addresses were dismissed with the concern that
188 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

publication of lay addresses “might cause potential
delegates to refuse service [or] increase legal liability.”
Publication of delegates’ addresses demonstrably exposes
them involuntarily to unofficial and even conventionunrelated communications. It may expose their addresses
to the general public, when for a variety of reasons, they
may prefer or even need them to remain private. In the
present political climate, the publication in the Workbook of
delegates’ full postal addresses, available for open
download on the internet, creates potential for misuse of
lists “by pressure groups who oppose the positions those
delegates take in convention.” Elaborating on this point,
the delegate noted:
It seems that LCMS has a cherished history of advocacy
on internal issues that depends on the delegate
addresses being disclosed to LCMS connected groups,
but it’s especially bad practice to put delegate postal
addresses in the Workbook on the public Internet. One
only has to think about the resolutions we pass in
convention for biblical marriage and sexuality and then
remember what happened when Southern Poverty Law
Center identified Family Research Council on a map as a
hate group. And what happened when opponents of
California Prop 8 created an online map with pushpins
for anyone who donated in support of traditional
marriage. It resulted in violence, harassment, vandalism,
and job loss. Without realizing it, we’re exposing our
convention delegates and their families to risk by making
their personal addresses available openly. We need the
bylaws to place some reasonable boundaries on use of
delegate and elector personal data.
Responsibility for the list of delegate addresses, physical
and email, lies with the Secretary of the Synod (Board of
Directors Policy 5.7.3.2.1–5.7.3.2.1.2, adopted Feb. 20, 2016),
and administrative steps have already been taken to apply
best practices for personal and sensitive information.
Delegate email addresses have not been and will not be shared
outside corporate Synod and will be used by the Synod only
for official, convention related business. Those in the
districts who help to compile and certify this information
have been reminded of this policy.
Bylaw 3.1.8 remains, however, and requires publication of
full delegate postal addresses, in print and on the Internet.
(And, in keeping with longstanding historic practice,
delegate postal addresses, as they are included in the
Workbook, may be shared with outside entities as a matter
of convenience, recouping cost of collection and
dissemination.)
The convention now has the opportunity to determine if
the benefit of requiring the publishing of full delegate
addresses outweighs the costs and/or risks of such a
requirement. It is proposed that delegates be listed with
member congregation and city, allowing, with some effort,
communication with the delegates on a “care of” basis,

Resolutions