LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 268

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268 , STRUCTURE, PLANNING, AND ADMINISTRATION

Resolved, That each congregation determine its District con-
vention church worker voter and its nominee for Circuit church
worker Synod convention voter from among the full-time church
workers who are active members of that congregation; and be it
further

Resolved, That the advisory delegate category be reduced to re-
tired workers and those on CRM status only; and be it further

Resolved, That all appropriate District and Synod bylaw changes
be drafted as soon as possible toward the implementation of this
resolution; and be it finally

Resolved, That the President of Synod appoint and empower a
committee to determine all necessary changes and implement this
resolution.

St. John
Spokane, WA

7-49

To Encourage More Equitable Election
of Women Lay Delegates

Wuereas, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has grown
under the blessing of God to include many congregations of dedi-
cated and talented Christian men and women; and

WHEREAS, Scripture (Eph. 2:18-22 and Gal. 3:28) teaches that
we are joined together in one Spirit, united in Christ; and

WHEREAS, The 1968 CTCR document Woman Suffrage in the
Church found “nothing in Scripture which prohibits women from
exercising the franchise in voters’ assemblies”; and

WHEREAS, The addendum to the 1995 CTCR document re the
role of women in the church found that “Scripture does not pro-
hibit women from exercising the franchise in congregational or
synodical assemblies”; and

WHEREAS, There yet exists a great disparity in the representation
of women and a perceived inequality in the representation of voting
delegates to Synod conventions (while women comprise at least 50
percent of congregational membership nationwide, fewer than 5 per-
cent of lay delegates at past Synod conventions were women); and

WhereaS, “The Scriptures without qualification affirm that all
believing Christians, both men and women, are priests of God
(1 Peter 2:9; Rev. 1:6). Through Baptism God has made them all,
equally and without distinctions of importance or value, members
of the one body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12—13; Gal. 3:27-28; Rom.
12:5). No one is baptized to be either man or woman. To the mem-
bers of the ‘royal priesthood’ (1 Peter 2:9) of believers belong all of
the rights, privileges, and responsibilities which Christ has given
to His church on earth (1 Cor. 3:21, 22; Matt. 16:13-19; 18:17~20;
John 20:22, 23; Matt. 28:18-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25; Treatise 24). By
the mercies of God, His priests are exhorted to present themselves
‘as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [their}
spiritual worship’ (Rom. 12:1)” (CTCR, The Service of Women in
Congregational and Synodical Offices [1994]); and

Wuertas, “The church is the people of God, among whom the
structures of organization exist as means of ministering to others
(cf. Eph. 4:12; Luke 22:25). In this understanding of the church,
the exercise of the franchise offers the privilege of service to the
body of Christ rather than the prerogative of power over a political
entity” (Woman Suffrage in the Church, 1968); and

WHEREAS, Research in effective decision-making on complex

issues finds that better decisions are made by mixed-sex groups;
therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod encourage congregations to nominate
a more representative number of women for election as lay dele-
gates for Synod convention; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod encourage electoral Circuits to elect a
more representative number of women to serve as lay delegates;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod encourage District Presidents and Cir-
cuit Counselors to fill vacancies with a more representative number
of women; and be it finally

Resolved, That all action taken in this resolution shall be used to
help carry out “The Great Commission” and shall not in any way
detract or distract from the primary mission of God’s kingdom here
on earth.

St. Paul
Ann Arbor, MI

7-50

To Establish More Equitable Representation
at Synod Conventions

WHEREAS, The current method of electing delegates to the
Synod convention is based on every congregation in the Synod
having the same number of votes; and

WHEREAS, There is a wide range in size of congregations in our
Synod, resulting in situations where a congregation of 1,000 com-
municants has no more representation in a Synod convention than a
congregation of 100 communicants; and

WHEREAS, This inequity is evidenced by synodical statistics,
which indicate that 50 percent of LCMS baptized members are in
20 percent of LCMS congregations and that 25 percent of LCMS
members are in 5 percent (the 300 largest) of the congregations;
and

Whereas, Larger congregations contribute a greater financial
portion for the Synod’s mission; and

WHEREAS, We have an excellent example within the Congress
of the United States of America, where states elect representatives
in two manners—each state having two senators, but each state’s
delegation to the House of Representatives being based upon the
population of the state; and

WuerEAS, A similar approach within the LCMS would allow
for a fair representation of all the people who are members of
LCMS congregations; and

WHEREAS, Sending more delegates to the convention would be
cumbersome and expensive; therefore be it

Resolved, That the manner of electing delegates to the LCMS
convention be changed so that all the people of this church body
are fairly represented at the Synod convention; and be it further

Resolved, That a system be implemented whereby at the Circuit
election meeting for Synod delegates two different voting systems
are implemented. For the election of the Circuit lay delegate to the
Synod convention every congregation shall have two votes: one lay
and one pastoral. For the election of the Circuit pastoral delegate to
the Synod convention every congregation shall have two votes, one
lay and one pastoral, but these votes would be “weighted.” These
weighted votes will be based on the communicant membership of
the congregation. Every portion of 100 communicant members
shall result in a weighted point value of ]. For example: for a con-
gregation with 75 communicant members, each of their votes shall
count as | vote; for a congregation of 150 communicant members,
each of their votes shall count as 2; for a congregation of 525 com-
municants, each of their votes shall count as 6; and so on; and be it
further

Resolved, That the weighted vote would alternate, so that for
the following convention it would be applied to the Circuit’s lay
delegate; and be it further

Resolved, That the establishment of the communicant member-
ship of each congregation shall be based upon the statistics offi-
cially recorded by the LCMS Secretary in the calendar year prior to
the election meeting; and be it finally

Resolved, That the appropriate steps will be taken to implement
this change for the 2007 convention.

Christ the King
Kingwood, TX