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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 536

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

536

ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
…
(f) Should the otherwise appropriate ecclesiastical supervisor be
the intended respondent, or be disqualified due to conflict of
interest, the next qualified district officer without such a conflict
shall conduct the consultation and provide the attendant
evangelical supervision, counsel, and care.

B. CONSISTENCY OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION
AND DISCIPLINE PANEL TIMELINES (COH 16-014)
Rationale
The Bylaw section 1.10 process has a minor unclarity in its timeline,
regarding the appointment of the panel, setting of hearing date, and
conduct of the hearing. That unclarity can be resolved by
reconciliation of the Bylaw section 1.10 timeline with that for
Bylaw sections 2.14 and 2.17.
Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaws 1.10.7.2–3 be amended as follows, to
clarify the timeline for dispute resolution and to increase its
consistency with the timelines for discipline panels:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
1.10.7.2
Each Dispute Resolution Panel shall have a nonvoting
hearing facilitator who will serve as chairman of the panel. Within
15 days after the appointment of the panel, the hearing facilitator
shall confer with the parties to the dispute and the Dispute
Resolution Panel for the purpose of choosing a location and a date
for the formal hearing of the matter.
1.10.7.3
The formal hearing before the Dispute Resolution Panel,
conducted by a hearing facilitator, shall take place within 45 days
after the selection of the location and date of the formal hearing,
unless there is unanimous consent by the panel members for a short
delay beyond such 45 days for reasons the panel deems
appropriate.The formal hearing before the Dispute Resolution Panel
shall be conducted by the hearing facilitator within 45 days after the
Hearing Panel was constituted. The hearing facilitator shall, within
15 days of panel formation, confer with the parties and the Dispute
Resolution Panel to select the date and location of the formal
hearing. The formal hearing may be delayed for a short time beyond
the 45-day period with the unanimous consent of the panel members.

C. PROCESSES FOR SEMINARY AND COLLEGE /
UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS COMPLAINTS (COH 16-013)
Rationale
Seminary complaint bylaws (Bylaw 3.10.5.7.9) should, like Bylaw
section 2.17, omit the requirement of a face-to-face meeting in an
allegation of sexual misconduct or criminal behavior. They should
also include a reminder to notify the member’s ecclesiastical
supervisor, to provide evangelical supervision, counsel, and care, as
required by Bylaws 2.14.3 and 2.17.3. They should also indicate
that they are for handling complaints arising from the faculty or
administration member’s conduct of seminary office, not for
complaints regarding any off-campus service (to a congregation,
etc.) of the member.
The “standing hearings committee” is a vestigial remnant of an
older mechanism for handling complaints (in the days of boards of
control) and should be removed (Bylaws 3.10.5.6 [d] and
3.10.5.7.10 [b][3]).
Colleges and universities once had the same bylaw-specified
complaint policy as the seminaries, but today have no mandated
complaint policy; they are required to develop their own. Inquiries
2019 Convention Workbook

of the Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM) and Concordia
University System (CUS) indicate that these have not been
developed by the campuses. In the interests of the Synod and of
employment liability protection on the campuses, a standard policy
should exist. This has been developed as a Model Operating
Procedure Manual, for adoption (subject to a degree of local
customization) by the institutions. Inclusion of a mention of this
manual in Bylaw 3.10.6.7.5.2 will direct institutions to adopt it
(customizing as necessary) and clarify that the appeal process for
faculty termination specified in that bylaw is also provided
according to these procedures.
Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.10.5.7.9 be amended as follows, to
clarify the scope of the board’s authority, to omit the requirement
of a face-to-face meeting in an allegation of sexual misconduct or
criminal behavior, and to require notice be given to the relevant
ecclesiastical supervisor:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.10.5.7.9 The board of regents shall have authority to investigate,
hear, and act on any complaint regarding the conduct of office of
seminary faculty and administration, including those arising out of
Bylaw 3.10.5.7.5.
(a) If the board of regents receives a complaint against a member
of that seminary’s faculty or administration concerning any
matter, including those specified under Bylaw 3.10.5.7.5, except
in a matter of sexual misconduct or criminal behavior, it shall
direct the complainant first to meet face-to-face with the
respondent in an attempt to resolve the issue (in the manner
described in Matthew 18:15).
(1) The president of the seminary shall assist in this attempt.
(2) If the president himself is the respondent, the chairman of
the board shall act in his stead.
(b) Should allegations involve information that could lead to the
expulsion of the member from the Synod under Article XIII of
the Constitution, the member’s ecclesiastical supervisor is to be
informed immediately of the accusation (Bylaws 2.14.3 and
2.17.3).
(bc, etc.) …

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaws 3.10.5.6 (d) and 3.10.5.7.10 (b)(3) be
amended as follows, to remove reference to the faculty hearings
committee, which is a vestigial remnant of former bylaw procedures
for handling complaints:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.10.5.6
The president of a theological seminary shall be the
executive officer of the board of regents. He shall serve as the
spiritual, academic, and administrative head of the seminary.
…
(d) He shall be the academic head of the faculty, preside at its
meetings, and be an ex officio member of all standing committees
of the faculty and its departments with the exception of the
standing hearings committee or of another standing committee to
which the functions of such a committee have been assigned.
…
3.10.5.7.10 Each seminary shall have established policies and
procedures related to salary, faculty organization, faculty
involvement in establishing education policies, dispute resolution,
modified service, sabbaticals and leaves. It shall also have policies
and procedures related to student discipline.
…