LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 69

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
imum number of 7 member congregations or a minimum “aggregate communicant membership” of 1,500.
It is my intention and pledge to work with each of you and
with your District Board of Directors in resolving any unusual
cases that may be received in my office as a request for exception to the “requirements and limitations” noted above.
Although it may seem a bit early to be thinking about such
matters, I am sensitive to the rapidity with which time passes,
especially with the first District Convention scheduled to
begin January 26 in Grand Forks, ND. You will have many
items “on your plate” in the months preceding your District
Convention!
The Handbook defines the timetable for election of delegates to the Synodical Convention:

3.05 Election of Delegates
a. Each electoral Circuit shall meet at the call of the Counselor(s) to elect its delegates not later than nine months prior to
the opening day of the convention.
Since the Synodical Convention begins July 10, 2004, this
means that your Electoral Circuits must have their work of
delegate elections completed no later than October 10, 2003.
Therefore, if your Board of Directors desires to request an exception to the electoral circuit “requirements and limitations,”
my office will need to receive these requests no later than July
10, 2003. This notification should provide ample time for you
to process your requests and for me to consider them. Thanks
for your assistance and understanding in this matter.

November 2002 Synod President’s Report
to LCMS Council of Presidents
Electoral Circuits
In an attempt to provide guidelines for each District that
are consistent with historic practice, I envision giving positive
consideration to requests for “exceptions to … requirements
and limitations” of the definition of a Circuit that satisfy at
least one of the requirements for a minimum number of 7
member congregations or a minimum “aggregate communicant membership” of 1,500.

February 2005 Synod President’s Report
to LCMS Council of Presidents
Voting Delegates for 2007 Synod Convention
While I have already mentioned this matter verbally on
two previous occasions, I encourage you again to review your
District’s Electoral Circuit configuration to determine whether
or not any changes need to be made. If that should be the case,
my counsel is to handle this matter through the appropriate
channels ASAP, in order to avoid the necessity of requesting
exceptions to voting delegate requirements in preparation for
the 2007 Synod convention.

April 2005 Synod President’s Report to LCMS
Council of Presidents
Voting Delegates for 2007 Synod Convention
In preparation for the 2007 convention of the Synod, at
each meeting of the COP since the issue addressed in the
paragraph above was raised I have counseled all District Presidents to address the question of electoral circuits in your respective Districts. Specifically, I encourage your District Board
of Directors or District convention, as the case may be, to
make any changes to the configuration of your electoral circuits deemed prudent and proper in accord with Bylaw re-

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quirements of 7–20 congregations and 1,500–10,000 communicants per circuit. I repeat that counsel once more, with the
evangelical encouragement that this be done as soon as possible. Doing so will help avoid any further anxiety, criticisms,
or concerns. It will also assist in preparation and logistics regarding the number of voting delegates to the 2007 convention of the Synod.

SYNOD BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTIONS
In response to a November 3, 2004, letter from an LCMS
pastor asking the Board of Directors of the Synod to file a
similar suit against the Synod President and others, the
board conducted an investigation into the matter of exceptions for electoral circuits sending voting delegates to the
2004 convention. This study included an inquiry into the actions of district boards of directors, who must request that
such exceptions be made by the President of the Synod. The
investigation demonstrated that the decisions and actions of
the President were in accord with the Bylaws of the Synod.
To the extent that district secretaries responded to requests
for their board of directors’ minutes, the investigation also
demonstrated that the districts were in compliance with
Bylaw 3.03. A brief chart showing the number of voting delegates, the number of delegate exceptions requested and
granted, and a review of these facts for the past three conventions is included as Addendum 1 to this communication.
The complete report of the Secretary of the Synod regarding
this matter is available on the Synod’s Web site.
The Board of Directors also took the following related action recorded in the February 24–25, 2005, minutes of the
board:
(F.) To Proceed with Seeking a Judicial
Declaration
A member of the Board placed into the docket a proposed
action advocating that the Board of Directors proceed with
seeking a judicial declaration to decide whether the delegate
representation at the 2004 convention was valid and whether
the outcome of any action taken by the convention was affected. After discussion, the following resolution was introduced: “Resolved, That the Board of Directors deny the request
made in the November 3, 2004, letter that asked the Board to
initiate a lawsuit against President Kieschnick and others regarding the creation of 188 [sic] additional delegates to the
2004 convention, the legality of convention Resolution 7-02A
that relates to the authority of the Board of Directors, and the
validity of certain CCM opinions; and be it further Resolved,
That the Board of Directors express its concern regarding
these issues and the need that they be resolved definitively
and clearly.” After further discussion, an amendment was offered to shorten the resolution to end with the words “…and
others” in the first resolve. The amendment carried, as also
did the amended resolution. President Kieschnick asked that
the minutes record that he refrained from voting. The resolution as adopted read as follows:
Resolved, That the Board of Directors deny the request
made in the November 3, 2004 letter that asked the Board to
initiate a lawsuit against President Kieschnick and others.

It should also be noted that the Board of Directors and the
President of the Synod are moving forward with the requirement of Resolution 7-02A of the 2004 convention that “directs
the President and the Board of Directors jointly to appoint a
committee to address the matter and report to the 2007 con2007 Convention Proceedings