LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Sheet 300

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BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE 285

Resolved, That the functions of the single Board of Regents for
the seminaries shall be those presently outlined in the Bylaws of
the Synod; and be it finally

Resolved, That the necessary Bylaw changes be made to ac-
complish the development and election of a single Board of Re-
gents for the seminaries.

Redeemer
Delta, CO

8-08

To Restructure Board for Higher Education

Wuereas, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod seminaries
are designed to train qualified men for the office of the pastoral
ministry; and

WHEREAS, The pastoral office works directly with Word and
Sacrament ministry so that the Holy Spirit may create and sustain
faith when and where He pleases; and

WHEREAS, The other institutions of higher education within the
Concordia University System are designed to provide a broader
range of education; and

WHEREAS, The reaccreditation process raises questions regard-
ing the role of the seminary Board of Regents in accomplishing
their assigned work according to the synodical Handbook: there-
fore be it

Resolved, That the Montana District petition the Synod in con-
vention to separate the seminaries from the Concordia University
System; and be it further

Resolved, That the Montana District petition the Synod in con-
vention to restructure the Board for Higher Education so that it con-
sists of two committees, one for pastoral education with responsi-
bility for oversight of the seminaries and their programs and one
for oversight of the Concordia University System.

Montana District

8-09

To Create Seminary Education Board
Separate from Board for Concordia University System

WHEREAS, In the past the colleges of our Synod were designed
primarily to prepare pastors, teachers, and other full-time workers
for our congregations; and

WHEREAS, In recent years the colleges, most of which now have
become universities which educate students for a very wide variety
of professions with the great majority of their students not intend-
ing to serve the church in full-time positions, have now combined
into a united “Concordia University System” (CUS) in order to take
advantage of certain financial and technological benefits that are
available to bachelor-level institutions of learning; and

WHEREAS, The sole purpose of our seminaries is to train pas-
tors, missionaries, and other ordained men for service in congrega-
tions, mission fields, and religion faculties; and

WHEREAS, The seminaries, unlike the institutions of the CUS,
are almost exclusively involved in post-bachelor education and in
purely theological instruction; and

WHEREAS, The seminaries, unlike most of the institutions of the
CUS, draw their students from all parts of the Synod; and

WHEREAS, The seminaries, unlike the bachelor-level institutions
of the CUS, cannot receive certain kinds of financial benefits from
the government and other sources; and

WHEREAS, The time has come for our Synod to recognize that
there are too many different kinds of details for one umbrella board
such as the present Board for Higher Education to deal with effec-
tively; therefore be it

Resolved, That our Synod establish two separate boards, one for
the seminaries and the other for the colleges and universities, with
an executive secretary for each of these boards, and with the First

Vice-President of the Synod as the official channel for establish-
ing the needed liaison between the two boards.

Shepherd by the Lakes
North Webster, IN

8-10

To Change Bylaws and Structure of BHE/CUS Board
Preamble

The Board for Higher Education is keenly aware of the chal-
lenges involved in maintaining coordinative oversight of the col-
leges, universities, and seminaries as part of the educational mis-
sion of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The BHE per-
forms its responsibilities following the 1986 recommendations of
The President’s Commission on Synodical Higher Education. The
commission recommended a “Statement of Mission and Purpose”
for the Synod’s Board for Higher Education that was adopted by
the 1986 synodical convention. This statement has served the
Board for Higher Education well, and the board continues to oper-
ate under this statement. The statement reads as follows:

The colleges, universities and seminaries of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod exist to supply the higher education
services needed to accomplish the mission of the church.

Strongly committed to the Lutheran concept of vocation,
synodical colleges and universities are liberal arts institutions
which provide a Christ-centered spiritual and value-oriented en-
vironment for men and women who will be Christians at work
in the church and in secular occupations.

The objectives of the Synod include the recruitment and ed-
ucation of professional church workers. Therefore, central to the
system of synodical education is the preparation of those who
are called to serve through preaching, teaching and related vo-
cations. Professional preparation for the pastoral ministry is the
special assignment of the Synod’s seminaries.

In recent months, the Board for Higher Education Participated
in a dialog with the President’s appointed Blue Ribbon Committee
regarding the structure of the BHE. As the board to which the
Synod has given responsibility for the governance and oversight of
higher education, the BHE expressed its conviction that the growth
of LCMS higher education has been due to a growing sense of part-
nership and shared governance among the schools. Subsequent
conversations between the representatives of the Board for Higher
Education, the President’s appointed Blue Ribbon Committee and
the Synod’s Board of Directors resulted in a common ground state-
ment for the future structure of the BHE. The recommendations in
this memorial follow closely upon the statement endorsed at that
time by representatives of all three entities.

The Board for Higher Education offers (1) revisions to the syn-
odical Bylaws proposed by the Blue Ribbon Committee regarding
the composition and functions of the board and (2) a plan for im-
plementing those changes.

Recommended Bylaws

Board for Higher Education/
Concordia University System

3.701 Board for Higher Education
and Board of Directors of Concordia University System

a. The Board for Higher Education shall serve as the Board of Direc-
tors of the Concordia University System. Thus, the Bylaws in this
section apply to the single board both as the Board for Higher Edu-
cation, a program board of the Synod, and as the governing board of
the Concordia University System. The Concordia University Sys-
tem is a synodwide corporate entity.

b. As the Board of Directors of the Concordia University System, this
board has authority with respect to the Synod’s colleges and uni-
versities. As the Board for Higher Education, it has authority with
respect to all the Synod’s institutions of higher education, includ-
ing its seminaries.