LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 248

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

7. STRUCTURE, PLANNING, AND ADMINISTRATION

7-01
To Adopt Handbook Revision

Rationale

1998 convention Res. 7-01, “To Re-establish Commission on
Structure,” instructed the Board of Directors “to appoint a Com-
mission on Structure [to] ... draft revisions to the format and con-
tent of the Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws which will eliminate
inconsistencies and make the Handbook more usable for the
Synod.”

As a result, the Commission on Structure appointed by the

Board of Directors reorganized the content of the Handbook, taking -

great care to retain the entire content of the current Handbook, re-
ordering and relocating Bylaws to make the Handbook mote user-
friendly, and making only nonsubstantive changes to simplify, clar-
ify, or eliminate inconsistencies.

The Handbook revision was reported to the 2001 convention in
two versions: (1) a marked version of the current Handbook, de-
tailing changes and new locations of Bylaws; and (2) a final version
with all changes in place, this version intended for adoption. Adop-
tion was postponed, however, by Res. 7-02 of the 2001 convention
because the Commission on Constitutional Matters had only par-
tially reviewed the revision.

Res. 7-02 resolved that the report be referred back to the Com-
mission on Structure to continue its work as a pro fem commission.
It also resolved that the Commission on Constitutional Matters “ex-
peditiously complete its review and forward concerns to [the] Pro
Tem Commission” for its consideration before presenting a final
report to the members of the Synod one year prior to the 2004 con-
vention.

Accordingly, the Pro Tem Commission took into consideration
the comments of the Commission on Constitutional Matters and,
as of July 2003, completed its work and made its report available to
the members of the Synod via the Internet. Upon review of the re-
port by various parties, several additional changes were made to
bring the revision totally in line with the provisions of the current
Handbook.

The revised Handbook is being presented once again for ap-
proval in a supplementary volume to the 2004 convention Work-
book. The Pro Tem Commission on Structure strongly encourages
the convention to give serious attention to the report, to take note of
the care that has been taken to make no substantive change while
reordering the content to make it user-friendly, and to adopt the fol-
lowing resolution:

Resolved, That the revised Handbook, prepared by the Pro Tem
Commission on Structure, be adopted; and be it further

Resolved, That any Bylaw changes adopted by the 2004 con-
vention be formatted accordingly and incorporated into the revised

Handbook by the Commission on Constitutional Matters as pro-
vided by Bylaw 3.905 c.

Pro Tem Commission on Structure

7-02

To Revise Constitution and Bylaws

WHEREAS, The Constitution and Bylaws have served the orga-
nizational needs of God’s church we call The Lutheran Church
—Missouri Synod for over 100 years; and

Wuereas, Multiple amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws
have occurred over the years, each well-intended and designed to
address a change needed at the date of its adoption; and

Whereas, The organizational needs of The Lutheran Church
—Missouri Synod have changed since the Constitution and Bylaws
were adopted and will continue to change; and

Wrereas, The Constitution and Bylaws, although not intended,
have become complex resulting in an organizational structure that
is perceived to be inefficient and bureaucratic; and

Whereas, A lack of membership growth, accelerating conflict
throughout our Synod family, and dwindling financial support to
the Synod have been attributed to this organizational structure;
therefore be it

Resolved, A new organizational structure needs to be developed
that maximizes our time and effort for proclaiming Jesus to a hurt-
ing world while minimizing our time and effort on organizational
matters; and be it further

Resolved, That the Texas District ask the 2004 convention of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to create:

1. A special constitutional task force of 11 people selected as fol-
lows: -
¢ 4 members (2 laypersons and 2 pastors) appointed by the
Synod President.
¢ 4 members (2 laypersons and 2 pastors) appointed by the
Synod’s Board of Directors.
¢ 1 pastor, 1 commissioned minister, and | layperson elected by
the 2004 Synod convention.
2. The task force be charged to:
¢ Draft and present to the congregations a proposed revised
Synod Constitution and Bylaws by January, 1, 2009.
¢ Secure widespread congregational input as well as input from
all Synod entities and offices during the drafting process.
* Present a new, proposed Constitution and Bylaws to the 2010
convention for action.
* Consider the following objectives:

a. Maximize organizational time and talent to proclaim the
Great Commission and minimize organizational time and
talents to internal organizational matters.

b. Streamline decision making.

c. Minimize layers of organizational bureaucracy.

d. Create fair congregational representation and avoid minor-
ity control.

3. All task force decisions to be made by simple majority vote. All
eleven task force members have voting privileges.
¢ The Synod Board of Directors is directed to allocate sufficient
financial resources to support the work of the task force.
¢ The task force will be disbanded at the conclusion of the 2010
Synod convention.

Texas District; Trinity, Roselle, IL; Gloria Dei, Nassau
Bay, TX; Florida-Georgia District

7-03

To Revise Constitution and Bylaws

WHEREAS, The Constitution and Bylaws have served the orga-
nizational needs of God’s church we call The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod for over 100 years; and

WueREAS, Multiple amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws
have occurred over the years, each well intended and designed to
address a change needed at the date of its adoption; and

WHEREAS, The organizational needs of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod have changed since the Constitution and Bylaws
were adopted and will continue to change; and

WHEREAS, The Constitution and Bylaws, although not intended,
have become unnecessarily complex resulting in an inefficient and
bureaucratic organizational structure, decision-making gridlock,
and unfair congregational representation in the synodical decision-
making process; and Satan has seized upon this situation by creat-
ing a lack of trust throughout the Synod family and is succeeding in
creating growing signs of organizational dysfunctionalism; and

WuerEAS, The aforementioned problems may be contributing
to our lack of membership growth, accelerating conflict through-
out our Synod family, and dwindling financial support to the
Synod; and

Whereas, A new and streamlined Constitution and Bylaws is
needed to refocus ourselves as God’s church in the twenty-first
century and to minimize our time and effort on organizational mat-
ters and maximize our time and effort for proclaiming Jesus to a
hurting world; therefore be it

249