LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 366

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366

STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION

Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 4.2.2 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
4.2 District Conventions
…
4.2.2
The delegates of a voting congregation or multicongregation parish to a district convention shall be accredited.
(a) To be entitled to vote, delegates shall return the proper
credentials provided by the district secretary and signed by two
of the congregation’s officers, either by mailing them to the
district office at a date determined by the district or by presenting
them to the district secretary at the opening of the convention.
(b) All duly elected voting delegates shall attend all sessions of
the convention regularly until the close of the convention.
(c) Should a multi-congregation parish involve congregations
having membership in different districts, the pastoral delegate
shall be accredited in the convention of the district in which he
holds membership and lay delegates, voting and advisory, shall
be accredited in the convention of the district in which each
delegate’s respective congregation holds membership. No multicongregation parish is entitled to more than one pastoral and one
lay voting delegate because of its inclusion of congregations from
different districts.

B. WITH REGARD TO VISITATION CIRCUITS
Rationale
While any number of arbitrary rules could be applied, the following
seemed to the commission the simplest, most readily applicable,
and most aligned with the role of the circuit visitor as assistant and
representative of a particular district president (Bylaws 5.2.3–
5.2.3.1): At the visitation circuit level, lay representatives attend the
circuit of which their respective congregations are members; the
pastor attends that circuit (of those to which belong the
congregations he serves, and within his own district only) to which
he is assigned by his district president.
Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 5.3.2 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
5.3 Circuit Forums
…
5.3.2
The circuit forum consists of one pastor and one layperson
from each member congregation or multi-congregation parish
designated by the congregation or parish. Congregations of a multicongregation parish not contributing a lay voter may send an
advisory representative, with voice but no vote.
…
(d) Should a multi-congregation parish involve congregations
having membership in different visitation circuits, each lay
representative, voting and advisory, shall attend the forum of the
circuit of which the representative’s congregation is a member.
The pastoral representative shall attend the forum of that circuit,
within which he serves a congregation and within the district in
which he holds membership, to which he is assigned by his
district president. No multi-congregation parish is entitled to
more than one pastoral and one lay voting representative because
of its inclusion of congregations from different visitation circuits.

C. WITH REGARD TO ELECTORAL CIRCUITS
Rationale
At the electoral circuit level, the same rule is proposed (with regard
to the pastor, his assignment to a visitation circuit will dictate his
2023 Convention Workbook

assignment to an electoral circuit). It is important to note that this
impacts his eligibility to serve as circuit delegate.
Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.1.2.1 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
Voting Delegates
…
3.1.2.1
Elections of voting delegates shall take place in accordance
with established policy and procedure.
(a) Each electoral circuit shall meet at the call of the circuit
visitor(s) to elect its delegates not later than nine months prior to
the opening day of the convention. When in-person meetings are
burdensome (e.g., geographically large circuits), a circuit may
select another manner of meeting (e.g., e-meeting technologies)
that is suitable and made available to all participants, taking into
consideration the need to provide for an open and fair exchange
of ideas and secure, private, and confidential voting.
(b) Each electoral circuit may adopt procedures and methods that
will insure efficiency and accuracy, including the use of
mechanical, electronic, or other methods of casting, recording, or
tabulating votes.
(c) The privilege of voting shall be exercised by one pastor and
one layperson from each member congregation or multicongregation parish of the circuit, both of whom shall have been
elected in the manner prescribed by the congregation or parish.
Congregations of a multi-congregation parish not contributing a
lay voter may send an advisory representative, with voice but no
vote. A pastor serving a congregation in an assisting capacity
(Bylaw 2.5.6) is not eligible to cast that congregation’s pastoral
vote.
(d) Should a multi-congregation parish involve congregations
having membership in different electoral circuits, each lay
representative, voting and advisory, shall attend the forum of that
circuit of which the representative’s congregation is a member.
The pastoral delegate shall attend the forum of the circuit, within
which he serves a congregation and within the district in which
he holds membership, to which he is assigned by his district
president. His eligibility for election as circuit delegate shall be
within that circuit only. No multi-congregation parish is entitled
to more than one pastoral and one lay voting representative
because of its inclusion of congregations from different electoral
circuits. No circuit shall elect as a lay delegate or alternate a
member of any congregation that is served (in other than an
assisting capacity) by a pastor elected as delegate or alternate.
(de) … (etc.)

Commission on Handbook
Ov. 9-02

To Amend Various Bylaws to Provide Clarity
or to Address Practical Considerations
Preamble
The Commission on Handbook (COH) “responds to requests from
agencies of the Synod to propose new provisions to address specific
Handbook-related issues that surface between conventions” (Bylaw
3.9.4 [e]). Where it finds that these changes may be of a substantive
nature, it proposes them to the Synod convention for adoption. This
omnibus contains a variety of more minor changes, which are
severable by a floor committee or by the convention but otherwise
not likely to merit individual convention consideration. As a result
of its work in the 2019–2023 “triennium,” in consultation with the