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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 525

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

ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod direct the
district president to “supervise the doctrine, the life, and the official
administration on the part of the ordained or commissioned
ministers who are members of his district or are subject to his
ecclesiastical supervision” (Bylaw 4.4.5); and
WHEREAS, The Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod make
provision for official congregational visits by the respective district
president or his representative; and
WHEREAS, In the Bylaws of the Synod it states that the district
president is to “seek to bring about to the greatest possible degree
the achievement of the Synod’s objectives as expressed in Article
III of its Constitution” (Bylaw 4.4.4 [b]); and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Synod states that the district
president is to “[s]ee to it that all resolutions of the Synod which
concern the districts are made known to the districts and are carried
out by them.” (Constitution Article XII 9 a; along with Bylaw
1.3.6); and
WHEREAS, The Bylaws of the Synod state that “He shall conduct
his official visits in an evangelical manner” (Bylaw 4.4.4 [c]) and
“come to the pastor and the congregation as a brotherly advisor”
(Bylaw 4.4.4 [d]); therefore be it
Resolved, That during this next triennium the district president
(or his representative) address each district congregation’s
administration of the Lord’s Supper in his official visitations,
spending time in the Word of God and studying the Synod’s
position on “closed communion”; and be it further
Resolved, That those practices which are not in harmony with the
Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions be addressed fraternally
and evangelically with the goal of bringing about harmony and
consistent practice especially as that applies to the Lord’s Supper;
and be it further
Resolved, That the district president shall report in writing the
progress of his visitation regarding proper communion practices to
the district no less than 90 days before the 2021 district convention;
and be it finally
Resolved, That the South Wisconsin District present this
resolution as an overture to the 2019 Synod convention requesting
that during the next triennium, each district president (or his
representative) be directed to address each congregation’s
administration of the Lord’s Supper in his official visitations,
spending time in the Word of God and studying the Synod’s
position on “closed communion,” to the end that those practices
which are not in harmony with the Scriptures and the Lutheran
Confessions be addressed fraternally and evangelically with the
goal of bringing about harmony and consistent practice especially
as that applies to the Lord’s Supper; that the President of the Synod
be exhorted to see that the district presidents apply themselves
faithfully to this task in accord with his responsibility as detailed in
Const. Art. XI B, especially paragraphs 2, 3, and 4; and that in
accord with Const. Art. XII 9 a–b, each district president shall report
the progress of this visitation regarding proper communion
practices to the President of the Synod no less than 90 days before
the 2022 Synod convention so that the President of the Synod can
report regarding this visitation resolution at that convention.
South Wisconsin District

525

Ov. 10-11

To Address the Election of the Chairman
for the Council of Presidents,
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
WHEREAS, The Council of Presidents (COP) met April 20–26,
2018, and elected their chairman; and
WHEREAS, Twenty-seven districts had not yet had their district
convention, and of those that did some had elected new men to serve
as district presidents, thus allowing outgoing and retiring officers to
elect a chairman for the incoming newly elected officers; and
WHEREAS, The COP is defined in the following manner in Bylaw
1.2.1 (g) as “Council: An officially established group elected or
appointed as an advisory body. The council of the Synod is the
Council of Presidents.”; and
WHEREAS, The purpose and function of the COP is essential to
proper ecclesiastical supervision of the members of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) as defined in Bylaws 3.10.1.2
and 3.10.1.3:
3.10.1.2
The Council of Presidents shall provide opportunity for the
President of the Synod to advise and counsel his representatives in
the regions and districts and for the regional vice-presidents and
district presidents in turn to give counsel to the President. The
Council of Presidents also exists to provide opportunity for the
presidents of the districts and the Praesidium of the Synod to counsel
with one another on matters regarding the doctrine and
administration of the Synod, its regions, and its districts, and to edify
and support one another in the work they share.
3.10.1.3
The Council of Presidents shall serve as the Board of
Assignments of the Synod. It shall assign first calls to candidates for
the offices of ordained and commissioned ministers and handle or
assist with placement of other professional church workers.

WHEREAS, The chairman of the COP establishes the agenda for
the council, and chairs the meetings of the council; and
WHEREAS, The chairman of the COP represents the council in
various disciplinary and reconciliation processes, as in Bylaw
2.13.3 and Bylaw sections 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, etc.; and
WHEREAS, The chairman of the COP represents the council in
the prior approval process for potential seminary professors, as well
as theological professors at our Concordia Universities (see Bylaw
3.10.5.7.3; 3.10.6.7.3); and
WHEREAS, The chairman of COP is elected by a majority vote of
the COP; and
WHEREAS, Regarding the election of a chairman of such a
council, Robert’s Rules of Order states that, “A board that is not an
instrumentality of a parent assembly or membership body is
organized as any deliberative assembly, with a chairman or
president, a secretary, and other officers if the authority under which
the board is constituted makes no other provision as to how the
officers are to be determined. A board that is to elect its officers
should meet for this purpose as soon possible after the selection of
its members.” (Robert’s Rules of Order, 11th Edition [Da Capo
Press] p. 484, ll. 14–22); and
WHEREAS, Regarding the election of a chairman of such a
council, Robert’s Rules of Order also states under “Effect of Partial
Change of Board Membership” that “if the board is one that elects
its own officers or appoints standing committees, it chooses new
officers and committees as soon as the new board members have

2019 Convention Workbook