LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 40

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40

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

President at his request. This triennium, the vice-presidents participated in
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12 services of installation or inauguration for district presidents, seminary presidents, and university presidents;

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8 Church Relations visits (four of them international);

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4 visits to Concordia universities;

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10 regional meetings of the COP; and

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5 Marches for Life in Washington, D.C.

In addition, the vice-presidents gave numerous presentations
outside of their own congregations and preached many times for
congregational or circuit occasions, district conventions, COP
meetings, seminary services, and chapel services at the International Center.
Lastly, the Praesidium strives to meet in conjunction with each
meeting of the COP—ideally during a free evening—to help facilitate the vice-presidents’ role as advisors to the President. When
there are more urgent matters to discuss, the Praesidium also meets
on an ad hoc basis by Zoom.
In all it does, both in pastoral ministry and in assisting the President, the Praesidium strives to serve the Lord and the LCMS in supporting our common effort of extolling the saving work of Christ to
all who will hear it. “We Preach Christ Crucified!”
Rev. Peter K. Lange, First Vice-President
R4

Secretary
The Office of the Secretary is a constitutional office of the
Synod (Constitution Article XI D) and, with the Department of
Rosters, Statistics, and Research Services (reporting to the Secretary; see Report R4.1) and the Department of Archives and History
(on whose board the Secretary serves ex officio), a significant portion of its “organ of recording and recollection.” This organ, along
with the grace of God and the labor of many, remains necessary
to the continued success of what was and remains a bold endeavor of a common faith, a synodical union that is confessional and
constitutional. First, every member “accepts without reservation”
the Scriptures as “the only rule and norm of faith and of practice”
and the Lutheran Confessions as an “unadulterated statement and
exposition of the Word of God” (Const. Art. II 1–2). Second, the
Constitution of the Synod establishes the congregations’ means of
governance for shared institutions and the basic means by which
the congregations’ fundamental needs are to be met—for themselves and their pastors and teachers and all that they have created
together as a Synod to be held honestly to the standards of their
confession in all aspects of faith and practice, for the raising up of
pastors and teachers, etc., and for the use of “the diversities of gifts
… for the common profit” (Preamble). The many and varied activities of the Office of the Secretary have as their common aim the
upholding of every aspect of the congregations’ confessional and
constitutional commitments and objectives and the maintenance of
orderly and effective governance in service of the same, and we
implore Christ’s continued help in what is an enormous and complicated task.
The office carries out “all the customary duties of a corporate
secretary” for corporate Synod; serves on the Board of Directors
(BOD) of the Synod; facilitates most of the official convention
2023 Convention Workbook

nomination, election, registration, and business processes; administers dispute resolution and expulsion processes; supervises the
maintenance of the Synod’s official rosters and statistical information; and retains documents on Synod’s agencies, while performing “other such work as pertains to his office” or “as the Synod in
convention, the President, or the BOD may assign to him” (Bylaws
3.3.3–3.3.3.2). It is a demanding office, even at the “minimum”
defined in the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod. The office
proper consists of the Secretary and one executive assistant. There
is never a slow day. We live by grace and sometimes have to ask
for patience.

Analysis and Technological Advance
The office has, in connection with Research Services and a few
specialized labors, taken on, in addition to the above, a more forward-looking, analytical, and consultative role. In ongoing partnership with the Council of Presidents (COP), the office has developed
a “parochial service report,” in which district presidents report
quarterly on the full-time equivalents of pastoral service being provided in each of their parishes by ordained and installed, ordained
uninstalled, and unordained (vicars, deacons, etc.) men, as well as
on bi-vocational status of workers and outstanding call processes.
This per-parish data is beginning to provide new insights on patterns of vacancy and pastoral service that will be of interest to the
Synod as it evaluates the future need for pastors and strategies for
serving small congregations, of which there are many. The office
has also reached out to the synodwide corporate entities and seminaries to take initial steps toward an “enterprise data” approach that
will combine our strengths, along with “big data” from census and
other sources, to provide better evaluation of where we stand as
a Synod and where and how it makes best sense to apply the “diversity of gifts for the common good.” This has been met with an
enthusiastic response but is a significant addition to an already full
workload for the office and for Research Services.
Submission of annual parochial statistics, while significantly
improved, despite significant efforts from this office and enlisting
district offices and circuit visitors, remains far below the “unanimous” expectation of Bylaw 1.3.4.3 at about 70–75 percent submission annually (responses less than three years old are available
for 86 percent of congregations, representing 93 percent of the confirmed membership of the Synod). This poses continued challenges
for analysis, especially in years such as that of the COVID-19 pandemic and aftermath, in which understanding changed patterns of
attendance is of significant importance to the Synod. Production of
data products of direct interest and usefulness to the congregations
(including initial versions of historical and comparative statistical
data now available on the locator) is a priority.
One significant aspect of the office’s statistical work is supporting districts and the Office of the President in forming appropriate
visitation and electoral circuits, compliant with requirements of
Bylaw 3.1.2 (a) or reasonable exceptions under (b). While visitation circuits still number 608, the number of electoral circuits has
declined, principally due to the requirement of 1,500 confirmed
members per, to 532 (a drop of 22 since 2019, following similar
declines by 21 in 2019 and 29 in 2016). Representation is not the
only objective, of course; maintenance of “critical mass” for the
self-sharpening of the ministerium in winkels, as well as provision
for work together by congregations and appropriate visitation, are
also important. We hope to provide some data on various proposals
for circuit realignment to the responsible floor committee.