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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 207

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

I. OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
confessional foundations that undergird what we believe, teach,
and confess. Though another denomination may accept the
course work provided at an educational institution of the Synod
as satisfactory for their requirements, it goes without saying that
what our schools teach is in no way to be adjusted to minimize
the truth of our doctrines (cf. Const. Art. III 1). CUS is responsible for assisting the President in his supervision of this area
(Bylaw 3.6.6.5 [g]).
Finally, the Synod itself retains authority for ecumenical
relations, an authority vested in its President as chief ecumenical officer (Bylaw 3.3.1.1.2 [c]).
The commission addresses both questions in one opinion:
Question 1: Would the President of the Synod, as chief
ecumenical officer, need to approve such arrangements?
Question 2: Do the universities need to communicate the
conditions under which such instruction is being
offered so that no confusion arises with respect to
the respective denominations’ doctrinal confessions and practices?
Opinion: If recognition of credits were the extent of the memorandum of understanding, and the content of the teaching
were not adjusted to suit heterodox church bodies, the commission does not believe that this would constitute an “ecumenical
agreement” requiring such approval. Nonetheless, the Office of
the President should certainly be informed in advance of any
such potential agreement and be given opportunity to fully
address any concerns related thereto. Terms and conditions of
any such agreement must be fully disclosed, as they are subject
to the proper oversight and/or supervision of the CUS and
the President of the Synod. Communication with the Office of
the President is an obligation both of the school and of CUS,
which has the responsibility to “assist the President of the
Synod in monitoring and promoting the ongoing faithfulness
of Concordia University System colleges and universities to
Article II of the Constitution of the Synod” (Bylaw 3.6.6.5 [g]).
Adopted August 17–18, 2018

Prior Approval of Adjunct Concordia University
System Theological Faculty (18-2891)
The President of the Concordia University System (CUS)
posed a question of the commission:
Question: Does Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3 require adjunct as well as
full-time theology professors to be vetted in the
same manner?
Opinion: In 2013 the Synod in convention restored the process
of prior approval for initial appointments of theology faculty
at CUS institutions (2013 Proceedings, p. 140) but with a
different process than the process appointed for seminary
faculties (2016 Bylaw 3.10.5.7.3 [a]). In 2016 the Synod in
convention further refined this process by removing the words
all initial full-time and thereby extending this process to all
appointments and calls without qualification other than the
single exception expressed in the referenced Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3.
The Board of Directors of the CUS has responsibility, under
Bylaw 3.6.6.1, to facilitate the process:

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3.6.6.1
The Board of Directors of the Concordia
University System has authority with respect to the
Synod’s colleges and universities. It shall have the
overall responsibility to provide for the education of
pre-seminary students, ministers of religion—commissioned, other professional church workers of the
Synod, and others desiring a Christian liberal arts
education by facilitating prior approval as set forth
in Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3 for theology appointments to
college/university faculties and by coordinating the
activities of the Synod’s colleges and universities as a
unified system of the Synod through their respective
boards of regents.
The authority and process delineated in Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3
(adopted 2016, Proceedings, pp. 178–9) clearly places under
the purview of this prior approval all manner of appointments
and calls related to theological teaching responsibilities, with a
single exception (italicized):
3.10.6.7.3
All initial appointments to persons serving
on theology faculties, or teaching classes in or crosslisted with the theology department, shall require prior approval by a majority vote of the President of the
Synod (or his designee), the chairman of the Council
of Presidents (or his designee), and a member of the
Concordia University System board selected by the
chair, and shall include a thorough theological review.
The three voters shall be ordained. The process shall
be facilitated by the president of Concordia University System. Initial appointment refers to the initial engagement of any person to teach one or more theology
courses, regardless of assigned academic department,
other than faculty who teach theology courses no more
than one academic year in any three-year period.
2016 Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3 thus—like the corresponding seminary prior approval bylaw, Bylaw 3.10.5.7.3 (a)—requires approval for “all initial appointments,” whether full- or part-time.
The bylaw does make exception for college and university faculty who teach theology courses no more than one academic year
in any three-year period. Though this provision was granted to
give the broadest latitude to the individual school so that timely
response may be given to changing conditions and non-traditional formats, it does not relieve the individual board of regents
or the president of the school from their solemn responsibility
to both the theological integrity of the classroom with respect
to our confessional standard as a church (cf. Bylaw 3.10.6.7.2,
which applies to all full- and part-time faculty, whether with
theological teaching responsibilities or not) and to providing
the highest quality education for the benefit of the student.
Absent any other specific exception, the requirement for
prior approval also applies to adjunct as well as full-time theological professors and the same process applies to both, and, by
extension, to any other category of initial appointment of those
who teach theological courses in a college or university within
the CUS system.
Adopted August 17–18, 2018
2019 Convention Workbook