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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 402

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

402

ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

…

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 1.5.5.2 be added as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
Agency Operations
…
1.5.5.2
When calling ordained or commissioned ministers,
agencies shall seek the counsel of the district president who would,
by virtue of the call, assume supervision of the minister (Bylaw
section 2.12). If the call is such that the district president to assume
supervision is not known, the counsel of the president of the district
within which the agency is located or with which it is associated shall
be sought.

and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 6.1.2.1 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
6.1 Auxiliaries
…
6.1.2.1
An organization desiring to be recognized as an auxiliary
of the Synod shall satisfy the following requirements:
…
(g) Seek, when calling an ordained or commissioned minister,
the counsel of the district president who would, by virtue of the
call, assume supervision of the minister (Bylaw section 2.12).
(1) If the call is such that the district president to assume
supervision is not known, the counsel of the president of the
district within which the entity is located or with which it is
associated shall be sought.
(2) If such a call involves multiple districts (such as by entity
location or connection and/or position locale), the presidents
of all such districts shall be consulted and mutually agree on
which one of them will counsel the entity regarding the call
and assume supervision of the worker called.
(h) Call and, in any sense involving distinctive function(s) of the
pastoral office, be served by only those ordained ministers or
candidates designated by Bylaw 2.5.2.
(i) Call only those commissioned ministers or candidates
designated by Bylaw 2.5.3.
6.1.2.2
Auxiliaries shall continue to meet the above requirements
for continued recognition.
…

and be it finally
Resolved, That Bylaws 6.2.1 and 6.2.2.2 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
6.2 Recognized Service Organizations
6.2.1
The granting of recognized service organization status by
the Synod signifies that a service organization, while independent of
the Synod, fosters the mission and ministry of the church, engages
in program activity that extends the mission and ministry of the
Synod, is in harmony with the programs of the Synod, and respects
and does not act contrary to the doctrine and practice of the Synod.
…
(d) A recognized service organization shall call and, in any sense
involving distinctive function(s) of the pastoral office, be served
by only those ordained ministers or candidates designated by
Bylaw 2.5.2.
(e) A recognized service organization shall call only those
commissioned ministers or candidates designated by Bylaw
2.5.3.

2023 Convention Workbook

(df) … (etc.)
…
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) theThe board’s composition contains at least the proportion
of members of Synod member congregations required by
recognized service organization program policies; and.
(b) theThe appropriate district president who would, by virtue of
the call, assume supervision of the minister (Bylaw section 2.12),
is properly consulted in the call process; and.
(1) If the call is such that the district president to assume
supervision is not known, the counsel of the president of the
district within which the entity is located or with which it is
associated shall be sought.
(2) If such a call involves multiple districts (such as by entity
location or connection and/or position locale), the presidents
of all such districts shall be consulted and mutually agree on
which one of them will counsel the entity regarding the call
and assume supervision of the worker called.
(c) theThe 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) theThe 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.

Commission on Handbook
Ov. 10-03

To Amend Bylaw 2.14.5 (a–e) regarding
Ecclesiastical Supervision
Preamble
In our life together as God’s people, it is His will that we live in
harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16) and that we forgive one
another, just as He has forgiven us (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13).
Consequently, the foremost ministry of ecclesiastical supervision is
not to expel a member from the Synod but to foster repentance and
reconciliation, to win and restore the brother and sister (Matt.
18:15–20).
This essential ministry of ecclesiastical supervision is best handled
by an ecclesiastical supervisor who lives in the midst of those whom
he has been elected to supervise since he knows the person who is
being supervised. Moreover, he is the one who has been entrusted
with this ministry task by the members of Synod when he was
elected and installed as its district president.
Each district president, in accordance with the Constitution of the
Synod, shall supervise the doctrine, life, and official administration
of the ordained and commissioned ministers who are members of
his district (Const. Art. XII 7; Bylaw 4.4.5).
It is the premise of this overture that Bylaw 2.14.5 (a–e), when it
grants the power and authority to the President of the Synod to