LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 53

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SPECIAL STANDING RULES
technical nature, these whereas sections of resolutions from
floor committees that are printed in Today’s Business will not
be read by the chairman or presenting member of the floor
committee. In addition, the chair of the convention is not
required to read each resolution as he states the questions and
then as he takes the vote.
10. Delegates wishing to address the convention, when recognized by the chair, shall state their name and the name of the
district or other entity of the Synod that they represent.
11. No delegate may speak in debate for longer than two (2)
minutes per speech. No delegate may speak more than twice
on the same motion on the same day and may not speak the
second time until all delegates desiring to speak the first time
have had the opportunity. The chair shall have discretion to
make exceptions to this rule. When a floor committee is
called on to answer a question or to give information, this rule
shall not apply.
12. A delegate who speaks on an issue may not move to call the
question at the close of his or her speech.
13. An electronic response system shall ordinarily be used to
register votes. If the system is not available, the chair shall
take votes by voice, by show of hands, or by a rising vote.
The chair may order a count if any voice, show of hands, or
rising vote seems inconclusive.
14. Whenever possible, amendments to proposed resolutions and
substitute resolutions shall be submitted to Today’s Business
for publication prior to convention consideration of the
resolutions to which they pertain. When this is not possible, as
in the course of a discussion, a written copy of proposed
amendments shall be provided to the Secretary immediately
after it is offered from the floor.
15. If a substitute motion is offered and seconded, the presenter
shall be offered two (2) minutes to provide the rationale for
offering it and a member of the floor committee shall be
offered two (2) minutes to present rationale for not
considering the proposed substitute, after which the
convention shall decide by majority vote without further
debate whether or not to consider the substitute. If the
decision is in the affirmative and if the substitute motion is
subsequently adopted, the original motion fails. If the
substitute motion does not receive favorable action either to
consider or to adopt, the original motion is again considered.
(This is an adaptation of the so-called Behnken Rule for
addressing substitute motions.)
16. While any voting delegate may move to close debate (call the
question) at any time, a vote on closing debate (two-thirds
vote required) on the pending motion shall be put by the chair
after every twenty (20) minutes of debate (except those to
which Standing Rule 7 pertains). The chair may also call for a
vote on closing debate (two-thirds vote required) when in his
judgment the assembly has heard sufficient speaking from
both sides of the issue.
17. In order to promote an orderly and non-distracting convention
atmosphere, the following guidance shall apply to the use, and
area of use, of wire and wireless communication devices,
including laptops, cell phones, pagers, PDAs, or other similar
devices. In all cases where use is permitted, the soundproducing capabilities of such devices shall not be used.

1. The Chair shall see that the agenda is followed as closely as
possible.
2. During the last two days of the convention, the President shall
have the privilege of calling up for action those resolutions
that in his judgment must be acted upon before adjournment.
3. No motion to reconsider or rescind shall be made or called up
during the last day of the convention.
4. If any resolution is not acted upon by the convention before
adjournment, it dies and the subject matter may be reintroduced for possible consideration by an overture to the next
convention.
5. Minutes shall be distributed every next morning in Today’s
Business. The first item of business of the afternoon session
shall be the formal approval of these minutes, with the
exception of the final day’s minutes, which shall be approved
by the Board of Directors at its first meeting following the
convention. Only corrections to the minutes involving
convention actions shall be offered from the floor for
consideration. Editorial corrections addressing misspellings of
names or faulty references or titles should be provided in
writing to the Secretary for incorporation into the minutes.
6. Resolutions shall be prioritized by floor committees and
normally shall be presented to the convention in numerical
sequence. However, resolutions that impact nominations or
elections may be given earlier consideration at the discretion
of the chair, in consultation with the floor committee
chairman and the chairmen of the floor committees on
nominations and elections.
7. The convention chairman, in consultation with floor
committee chairmen, may identify resolutions to which up to
11⁄2 hours of continuous consideration should be allotted, as
follows:
15 minutes (if needed)
Floor committee presentation
30 minutes (if needed) Debate on the main motion
45 minutes (if needed) Presentation of and debate on
amendments, substitute motions,
main motion, or main motion as
amended
No motion to amend, to lay on the table, or to call the
previous question (close debate) may be made during the first
two segments of floor committee presentation and debate on
the main motion. Alternate pro and con speaking will be
followed during debate. Any speaking in favor of the motion
done by the floor committee will be considered pro speaking
and will be followed by a con speaker. Time not used in any
one segment of the above schedule may be added to the next
succeeding segment.
The chair shall have the right to inquire of the assembly at
any point its readiness to vote. If not concluded earlier,
debate shall cease at the end of 90 minutes and all motions
shall be put to vote.
8. The preface, preamble, rationale, and whereas sections shall
be regarded as integral parts of resolutions and therefore
subject to the same consideration and adoption as the main
motion.
9. Except in unusual circumstances where the reading of the
whereas sections of a resolution is necessary due to their
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2007 Convention Proceedings