Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2019 · 67th Convention, Tampa › Page 413
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 413

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

LIFE TOGETHER
churchly governance and support and commensurate expectations
for performance of activities and realization of mutual benefits.
6.2.2.4

According to policies …

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 6.2.2.2 be added, to make explicit Synod’s
expectations of an RSO allowed to call a rostered worker of the
Synod, and to provide enhanced protection for such called workers,
as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
6.2.2.2
The right to extend a Synod-recognized, regular call to a
rostered worker is afforded to the board of directors of a recognized
service organization, provided that:
(a) the board’s composition contains at least the proportion of
members of Synod member congregations required by
recognized service organization program policies; and
(b) the appropriate district president is properly consulted in the
call process; and
(c) the call document is approved by the district president who
would assume ecclesiastical supervision of the member as clearly
stating that the organization:
(1) expects that the worker will, without compromise or
constraint, carry out the ministry for which ordained or
commissioned, and to which called, according to the doctrine
and practice of the Synod.
(2) agrees to accommodate and encourage the ecclesiastical
supervision of the worker by the appropriate district president.
(3) submits, as an exclusive remedy, to the dispute resolution
process of the Synod for the resolution of any issues arising
under the divine call.
(d) the organization demonstrates to the district president its
ability to provide for the reasonable needs of the called worker
for the duration of the period of the call.

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 1.10.2 be amended to include auxiliaries
and RSOs agreeing to use the dispute resolution process to address
call-related disputes, as follows:
1.10.2
This procedure is established to resolve, in a God-pleasing
manner, disputes that involve as parties, (1) members of the Synod;
(2) corporate Synod or an agency of the Synod; (3) members of
congregations challenging the procedure used in their
excommunications; (4) Auxiliaries and recognized service
organizations that have agreed to address call-related disputes
through the dispute resolution system, in regard to such disputes; or
(45) members of congregations of the Synod elected or appointed to
positions with the LCMS Board of Directors or an agency of the
Synod. It shall be the exclusive remedy to resolve such disputes that
involve theological, doctrinal, or ecclesiastical issues except those
covered under Bylaw sections 2.14–2.17 and except as provided in
Bylaw 1.10.3, and shall be binding on all parties. It is applicable
whether the dispute involves only a difference of opinion without
personal animosity or is one that involves ill will and sin that requires
repentance and forgiveness. No person, congregation, or agency to
whom or to which the provisions of this dispute resolution process
are applicable because of their membership in the Synod may render
this procedure inapplicable by terminating that membership during
the course of the dispute resolution process.

and be it finally
Resolved, That Bylaws 6.2.3–4 (as the latter was renumbered
above) be amended to apply the effects of Synod’s 2010
restructuring, to allow for gradual expansion of the administrative

413

role of districts in the program, to remove unused provisions, and to
provide for the development of appropriately scoped polices and of
a possible cost recovery model, as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
6.2.3
Each granting agency authorized by the Synod Board of
Directors’ policy shall adopt policies requiring each recognized
service organization to give its assurance in its governing documents
that recognition as a service organization is not an endorsement by
the Synod or a guarantee of financial responsibility for the debts and
obligations of the organization or for services provided or
offered.Program administration shall be carried out by the Offices of
National and International Mission according to these bylaws, and
according to policies and criteria developed by the Synod Board of
Directors, mission boards, and mission offices.
(a) The Board of Directors of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod shall adopt common policies and criteria for granting of
recognized service organization status by Synod’s mission
offices, such polices relating to expectations for the corporate
structure and governance of the organizations, statements
regarding their legal and corporate independence from the Synod,
and the necessary relation of their work to the mission and
ministry of the Synod as generally expressed in its Constitution
and Bylaws. The Board of Directors shall approve the standard
form of agreement to be entered into by the Synod and each
recognized service organization.
(b) Each mission board of the Synod shall adopt further policies
and criteria, related to its area of responsibility, for granting of
recognized service organization status by its respective mission
office, such policies relating to the organizations’ alignment with
and augmentation of the mission and ministry of the Synod, as
the Constitution and Bylaws relate to the board’s area of
responsibility and as further expressed in the Synod’s triennial
emphases and the board’s specific goals and activities.
(c) Each mission office shall, subject to the above, adopt further
policies and criteria, for granting, renewal, and withdrawal of
recognized service organization status, and shall develop such
instruments as are necessary for coordination with districts.
6.2.24
According Subject to policies adopted by the Synod’s
Board of Directors and the respective mission board, recognized
service organization status may be granted by the Office of National
Mission, or the Office of International Mission, the boards of the
synodwide corporate entities, and other agencies as identified in the
Board of Directors’ policy to a service organization (other than an
auxiliary) that extends the mission and ministry of the Synod but is
not part of the Synod as defined by its Constitution and Bylaws.
(a) Applications for recognized service organization status shall
be made to the Office of the Secretary of the Synod for processing
according to policies developed by the Synod Board of Directors,
which will facilitate the application as follows:.
(1) Educational service organization status is evaluated by the
geographical district in which the school or camp is located on
the basis of an instrument jointly developed by the Office of
National Mission and the Council of Presidents. The
instrument, completed by the organization and district, is
reviewed and approved by the Office of National Mission. The
status of schools is managed on a per-site basis.
(2) Witness or mercy service organization status, if the
organization’s activity is entirely within a single geographical
district, may, if the policies of the Board for National Mission
permit, be evaluated by the relevant district on the basis of an
instrument developed by the Office of National Mission. The
instrument, completed by the organization and district, is

2019 Convention Workbook