LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 265

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STRUCTURE, PLANNING, AND ADMINISTRATION 265

because the congregations of St. Louis and Fort Wayne assured the
convention that they would easily be able to host conventions.

Their assurance did not prove accurate, and by 1869 the large
number of delegates prompted C. F. W. Walther to suggest a dele-
gate convention arrangement. A plan was developed which was
adopted by the 1872 synodical convention. It was to take effect be-
ginning with the 1875 synodical convention. (The convention was
actually held a year early in 1874.)

The plan that was adopted called for one lay and one pastoral
delegate to represent two to seven congregations. Once the proce-
dure was in place, a significant variation in the size of electoral Cir-
cuits developed between the various Districts. Some Districts ap-
parently had many electoral Circuits of two or three congregations.
The 1893 synodical convention attempted to address this variation
by adopting a resolution calling for Circuits to number between
five to seven congregations (Proceedings, 1893, p. 125). This re-
quirement. was not made official, however, as Article III of the
1899 Handbook continued to read, “The power of this corporation
shall be lodged with the accredited clerical and lay delegates of the
congregations in actual membership with this Synod. Not less than
two and not more than seven congregations being entitled to one
clerical and one lay representative in this organization at the op-
tion of said congregations, and only such delegates shall be enti-
tled to a vote at the meetings of this Synod” (1899 Handbook,
Fourth Edition, page 54).

The variation continued. At the 1908 synodical convention the
President of the Synod, Dr. Ludwig Fuerbringer, indicated that 77
of the 245 electoral Circuits did not conform to this rule. He rec-
ommended enlarging electoral Circuits to at least ten congrega-
tions. Action was finally taken at the 1917 convention, which was
to become effective with the 1920 convention. The new require-
ment stipulated that electoral Circuits would number between five
and ten congregations, and that the relative size of the congrega-
tions should determine how many were included in a Circuit.

By 1944 the parameters were again changed because the size of
the convention was making it difficult to provide proper housing.
Electoral Circuits were now to be made up of between ten to fifteen
member congregations. Fractional portions left over were allowed
the same representation as a complete Circuit, which was one pas-
toral and one lay delegate.

The current parameters were adopted by the 1967 synodical
convention. The Convention Workbook contained overtures calling
attention to several areas of dissatisfaction. The new recommenda-
tion based representation on a combination of numbers of congre-
gations and communicant membership. One lay delegate and one
pastoral delegate were to represent from 7 to 20 congregations with
a membership range of 1,500 to 10,000. Exceptions were required
to be approved by the Synod President upon request from a Dis-
trict Board of Directors.

Regarding the concern that teachers (commissioned ministers)
cannot vote and are therefore disenfranchised, discussions regard-
ing this issue go back to at least 1874. The 1874 synodical conven-
tion responded to the question of the possibility of day school
teachers or instructors at synodical institutions serving as lay dele-
gates to District conventions. The synodical convention resolved
that no District synod could in the future seat them as lay delegates
at conventions. (Proceedings, 1874, p. 79).

In 1887, an overture was considered which called for granting
teachers the privilege of voting in the election of officers but not
for financial matters. The response of the convention was that
granting this would drastically change the representative principle
on which the Synod was founded. The same question surfaced
again in the 1893 convention, at which time a detailed response
was given. In essence this response stated that the Synod is made
up of essentially equal congregations, that it is these congregations
that hold the right to vote, that no one as an individual member
holds this right, and that to make a change would fundamentally
change the synodical structure. The Synod then voted to retain its
established order.

The current Commission on Structure began discussing the is-
sues referred to it by Resolution 8-10 at its initial meeting at the

beginning of the current triennium and explored various remedies.
The Commission concluded that while the formula of representa-
tion could be altered in a variety of ways, there would be little ad-
vantage to doing so. It became clear that the only way to achieve
completely equitable representation would be to eliminate the del-
egate convention model and return to the original format. This
would mean that all member congregations would be represented at
synodical conventions with two votes, one lay and one pastoral.
The Commission concluded that either no changes should be made
or the elimination of the delegate convention should be explored.

Regarding the issue of commissioned ministers never being able
to be voting delegates, the Commission recognized that without
changing the basic organizing principle of the Synod (franchise be-
longs to member congregations) the choices would be very limited.
One choice would allow commissioned ministers to vote in place of
lay delegates, should a congregation so choose. The problem with
this solution would be that it would undermine the basic organizing
principle of the Synod that there should be an equality of lay votes
and professional church worker votes. The other choice was that
congregations would have two votes, one lay and one rostered pro-
fessional church worker. The consequences of this solution would
be that it would effectively eliminate the whole category of advi-
sory membership in the Synod, except for a few rare instances, and
would require extensive changes in the Constitution and Bylaws.

Rationale

The national youth gatherings of our Synod have demonstrated
that today it is possible to have large gatherings. The youth gather-
ing normally is an event that is two times what would be the size of
a synodical convention if it were attended by two delegates from
each congregation. Such a convention would not only provide op-
portunity for congregational representatives to come together for
worship, nurture, inspiration, fellowship and communication of
vital information; it would also allow for greater participation by a
wider representation from the congregations of the Synod when re-
sponding to reports and overtures.

Such a major change in representation at national conventions
of the Synod will require careful planning leading to Constitution
and Bylaw changes. The process for submitting reports and pro-
posed actions to such a convention will require careful design to
ensure adequate discussion of issues prior to the convention, possi-
bly by making more intentional use of Circuit and District gather-
ings. If such a major change in representation were considered it
would also provide opportunity for reconsideration of the matter of
advisory membership in the Synod.

However, the Commission did not think it wise to make recom-
mendations for drastic changes or even spend a great deal of time
developing the kind of structure that would be necessary for such
changes without first having a directive to do so from the Synod.
Therefore the Commission has decided to present to matter to the
2004 synodical convention to determine if such alternatives should
be explored and a plan developed and presented to a later conven-
tion for action.

Resolved, That the Commission on Structure develop a proposal
for every parish (one or more congregations served by the same
pastor) to send two delegates to the conventions of the Synod; and
be it further

Resolved, That the Commission on Structure explore the ques-
tion of whether these representatives should be one rostered worker
and one layperson; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Commission.on Structure submit the neces-
sary Constitution and Bylaw changes to the 2007 Synod conven-
tion.

Commission on Structure

7-40

To Review Requirements for Electoral Circuits

Wuereas, Over the course of many District and synodical con-
ventions, the subject of equality of Circuit representation has been
discussed without action; and