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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 182

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

182

I. OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS

tantly) be the literal sense of the bylaw language.
Adopted February 2–3, 2017

Chaplain Endorsement Requirement (17-2809)
An individual member of Synod requested an opinion regarding the authority of the Synod, through its Office of Specialized Pastoral Ministry, to establish particular requirements
(beyond the general requirements for Synod membership) for
those to be endorsed by the Synod for specialized ministries
(Bylaw 2.11.1 [i]). The request was specifically for an application to this question of Const. Art. VII:
Article VII Relation of the Synod to Its Members
1. In its relation to its members the Synod is not
an ecclesiastical government exercising legislative or coercive powers, and with respect to the
individual congregation’s right of self-government it is but an advisory body. Accordingly, no
resolution of the Synod imposing anything upon
the individual congregation is of binding force if
it is not in accordance with the Word of God or
if it appears to be inexpedient as far as the condition of a congregation is concerned.
The commission notes that membership in the Synod is an
issue distinct from endorsement by the Synod for a specialized
area of service under Bylaw 2.11.1 [i]. The Constitution, Bylaws,
and resolutions of Synod provide no standards for endorsement
of ministers for specialized, non-congregational ministry; the
Commission on Constitutional Matters is therefore unable to
evaluate the specifics of such policies. The Board for National
Mission is charged by Bylaw 3.8.2 to “serve as a calling agency
for institutional and agency chaplains and other non-foreign
specialized ministers (e.g., Veterans Administration chaplains,
Bureau of Prisons chaplains, hospital chaplains, pastoral counselors, and teachers of chaplaincy and pastoral counseling).”
The Board for National Mission therefore, through its policies
and the Office of National Mission, and under the supervision
of the President of the Synod, authorizes the Religious Endorser for Specialized Pastoral Ministry to endorse ministers
for service in specialized pastoral ministries. The endorsement
manual indicates:
Ecclesiastical endorsement is the recognition by
the LCMS that a rostered person has met LCMS
SPM standards for theological and ministerial
competence to serve in ministries in chaplaincy
[institutional or emergency services], pastoral
counseling and clinical pastoral education [supervision]. It attests to the church body’s assessment that an individual possesses the suitability,
readiness, competence and aptitude to serve as its
representative in a particular ministry. Ecclesiastical endorsement also signifies good standing
on the church’s roster of ordained, commissioned and consecrated ministers, and as such
is subject to the ecclesiastical authority of the
church body. (Ecclesiastical Endorsement: Standards and Procedures, Oct. 2014, p. 1, emphasis
added)
2019 Convention Workbook

Here, no “legislative or coercive” power is being applied
with regard to a member’s membership in the Synod as such. Instead a properly designated office of the Synod is applying standards for which qualifications a particular member must have
to be endorsed (as defined above) for a specific, specialized area
of service. Self-evidently, requirements for service in specialized
ministries are not coterminous with requirements for Synod
membership, and endorsement by the Synod for a particular,
specialized area of service is not a right implied in Synod membership. Not every minister is suitable, ready, competent, and
apt to represent the Synod, for example, as a military chaplain
or in teaching pastoral counseling. In the determination of who
is to be endorsed by the Synod (Bylaw 2.11.1 [i]) for each specialized ministry, the endorser “on behalf of [Synod’s] member
congregations administers [some of] those ministries that can be
accomplished more effectively in association with other member congregations through the Synod.” (Bylaw 1.1.1 [b]). Such
administration, with its attendant standards, is not contrary to
Const. Art. VII 1’s statement that “in its relation to its members
the Synod is not an ecclesiastical government exercising legislative or coercive powers.”
Adopted May 5–6, 2017

Res. 9-02A and Bylaw 1.5.3.6
Compliance Requirements (17-2811)
The commission, as it begins its review of Synod agency
governing documents “to report on the status of compliance to
the 2019 convention of the Synod,” feels it necessary to note its
understanding of Bylaw 1.5.3.6, which reads:
Notwithstanding anything in the Bylaws to the
contrary, the Articles of Incorporation or other
governing documents of each agency shall provide … (emphasis added)
While one possible reading of this bylaw is that the inclusion of the language of the bylaw’s subsections [a] and [b] in any
one place in the governing documents of an agency (i.e., articles,
bylaws, etc.) would suffice for “compliance,” the commission
determines that this is not the correct reading. The content of
provision [a], for example, which indicates that “all provisions
of the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws are subject to the
provisions of the Constitution, the Bylaws, and the resolutions
of the Synod in convention,” surely belongs in an agency’s foundational governing document, where it will in fact govern all
provisions of the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. The commission, therefore, finds this to be the sense of the phrase other
governing documents: those documents, in the absence of articles
of incorporation, which, in fact, govern to the extent appropriate the language required to be included therein.
Should agency articles exist, inclusion of the required
provisions only in the bylaws or other subsidiary governing
documents of an agency might introduce uncertainty as to
whether the agency articles or other most fundamental governing document(s) are, in fact, governed by such language. The
commission therefore determines that the sense here is that if
an agency has articles of incorporation, those articles are to
contain the language of Bylaw 1.5.3.6 [a, b]. If, and only if, an
agency has no articles in which to include the stated language
(for example, if it was incorporated by a charter or some other
means), then the language of Bylaw 1.5.3.6 [a, b] is to be incor-