LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 175

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LATE REPORTS AND OVERTURES
Some centrally prepared instruction materials will be
needed to assure uniform quality. (The seminaries have
asked to serve this program as providers of instructional
material rather than as administrators of the program.)
G. Areas of Instruction
Instruction offered to the ordained deacons will include
the following: Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, catechism and basic Christian doctrine, Walther’s Law and
Gospel, pastoral visitation and outreach, principles of
Christian education, and principles of preaching.
Board for Higher Education
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
L6-37

To Allow Enrollment for Any Workers of
LCMS Congregations in All Concordia
Plans without Restrictions of
Congregational Minimum Enrollment
Requirements
WHEREAS, The Concordia Plans are a comprehensive
workers benefit program established by The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod to meet certain needs of God’s
servants who work within our congregations; and
WHEREAS, Some Concordia Plans require minimum enrollments of a percentage of the workers in an LCMS congregation while others do not; and
WHEREAS, There is a rapid movement in our congregations to give greater flexibility and control to the worker in
choosing the benefits plans the worker may deem best; and
WHEREAS, The calling of the Holy Spirit may move a
church worker from one congregation to another, causing
that worker to be unable to continue in certain plans solely
due to the minimum enrollment requirements of the Concordia Plans; and
WHEREAS, Such minimum enrollment requirements
seem to contradict the purpose for the Concordia Plans,
which is to provide for the needs of church workers; and
WHEREAS, There is no legal impediment requiring minimum enrollment requirements in any plan or prohibiting
the removal of these requirements from all Concordia
Plans; therefore be it
Resolved, That this convention of the LCMS Pacific
Southwest District petition the Board of Governors of the
Concordia Plans to immediately remove all minimum enrollment requirements for all Concordia Plans to the extent
the law permits; and be it further
Resolved, That if the Board of Governors of the Concordia Plans do not grant this petition, then this resolution be

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submitted as an overture to the next convention of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to be held in 1998, with
the purpose of requiring the Board of Governors to remove
all minimum enrollment requirements for all Concordia
Plans.
Pacific Southwest District
L6-38

To Allow the Congregation to Choose
from 20 or 25 or 30 Hours for All
Concordia Plans
WHEREAS, The Concordia Plans are a comprehensive
worker benefit program established by The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod to meet certain needs of God’s
servants who work within our congregations; and
WHEREAS, The Concordia Health Plan (CHP) presently
allows for a congregation to choose from 20 or 25 or 30
hours worked per week for enrollment of its workers, while
the Concordia Retirement Plan (CRP) and the Concordia
Disability and Survivor Plan (CDSP) requires a congregation to enroll all workers who work only 20 hours per week;
and
WHEREAS, Requiring congregations to enroll all workers
in CRP and CDSP who work as little as 20 hours per week
has caused financial difficulty to some congregations of the
Synod and may even have resulted in a decrease in the actual number of hours a worker is allowed, which hinders
the work of the Lord; and
WHEREAS, There is no legal impediment requiring the
use of the 20-hour-per-week definition for CRP and CDSP
or prohibiting Concordia Plans from allowing the congregation to choose from the 20- or 25- or 30-hour-per-week requirement as long as the congregation imposes the same
standard for all workers; therefore be it
Resolved, That this convention of the LCMS Pacific
Southwest District petition the Board of Governors of the
Concordia Plans to immediately implement to the extent
the law permits a plan which allows congregations to
choose from 20 or 25 or 30 hours per week for enrollment of
its workers for all Concordia Plans, including CHP, CRP,
CDSP; and be it further
Resolved, That if the Board of Governors of the Concordia Plans do not grant this petition, then this resolution be
submitted as an overture to the next convention of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to be held in 1998, with
the purpose of requiring the Board of Governors to implement a plan that allows congregations to choose from 20 or
25 or 30 hours per week in enrolling its workers in all Concordia Plans.
Pacific Southwest District