LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 71

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
In spite of the counsel offered above, a number of individuals pursued the matter, soliciting pastors and congregations
to add their names to the lawsuit. Two LCMS laymen who
were leaders of the movement to file the lawsuit met with the
President and Synod’s legal counsel on July 25, 2005, to discuss their intentions. Others had previously encouraged the
filing of “a friendly lawsuit” to address the issues of the relationship between the Board of Directors and the Commission
on Constitutional Matters, a matter addressed by Resolution
7-02A of the 2004 convention. Ultimately, the lawsuit was
filed Aug. 15, 2005.
At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors on Aug.
19–20, 2005, the following resolutions were adopted after
being discussed in executive session, with the President
and First Vice-President of the Synod being excused from
that session:
Resolved, That it is in the best interests of the Synod and its
officers to have separate legal counsel for the officer defendants
and for the Synod and to pursue insurance coverage and respond
to the lawsuit accordingly. (The President of the Synod abstained from voting due to potential conflict of interest.)
Resolved, That the Synod indemnify the officers of the
Synod to the extent of the deductible if insurance coverage is
available and to indemnify them for their full legal expenses if
coverage is not available, pursuant to Board of Directors Policy 5.8.5. (The President of the Synod abstained from voting
due to potential conflict of interest.)

The Vice-President–Finance—Treasurer of the Synod has
included in his report to the convention that the cost to the
Synod for responding to this lawsuit was $500,000, which includes the cost of responding to the motion to intervene filed
by four members of the Board of Directors on July 26, 2006.
That motion to intervene was subsequently withdrawn during a regular meeting of the Board of Directors on Aug.
25–26, 2006.
As of the date this report is being written, all but a few
original plaintiffs have signed the agreement to dismiss,
which is summarized in the official summary report below.
SUMMARY REPORT (5/24/06)
A lawsuit that was filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis
County, Mo., in August, 2005, by approximately 80 LCMS
members against President Gerald B. Kieschnick, First VicePresident William R. Diekelman, and The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod as a necessary nominal defendant has been
resolved with all claims dismissed.
The plaintiffs initiated the suit based upon their beliefs
that the number of exceptions made for delegates to the
Synod’s 2004 convention by the President of the Synod
upon request of district boards of directors was excessive
and not in compliance with the Synod’s Bylaw 3.1.2, and
that certain official opinions of the Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM) unlawfully restricted the authority of the Synod’s Board of Directors. The President and
Vice-President denied all allegations of wrongdoing and
moved to dismiss the claims. The Synod also filed a separate motion to dismiss the suit.
The questions raised in the lawsuit regarding the exceptions were based upon the increased numbers of exceptions
made for the 2004 convention compared to exceptions made
for the Synod’s 1998 and 2001 conventions and upon incom-

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plete information from an early report published by the Secretary of the Synod. Following the initiation of the lawsuit,
an updated report was prepared by the Secretary and posted
on the Synod’s Web site.
The concerns regarding certain CCM opinions that address or impact the authority of the Board of Directors had
been raised before and during the Synod’s 2004 convention
and were the subject of a convention resolution (Res. 7-02A)
that directed the President and the Board of Directors to appoint a committee to conduct a study and to report and make
recommendations to the Synod’s 2007 convention.
In January of this year the Synod’s Board of Directors
adopted a resolution, “consistent with Matthew 5:25, in the
best interests of the Synod, and with a desire for peace and
unity,” to establish a committee of the Board to meet with
representatives of the plaintiffs to see if the matter could
be resolved out of court. Accordingly, a committee of four
Board members was appointed which, along with President
Kieschnick and Vice-President Diekelman, met and conferred
with a committee of the plaintiffs until an agreement to resolve the claims was reached.
The Agreement includes a dismissal of all claims against
President Kieschnick, Vice-President Diekelman, and the
Synod. It also includes an expression of regret by the plaintiffs for the pejorative language contained in and resulting
from the filing of the lawsuit and an apology to the Synod,
the President, the First Vice-President, and all others offended by the lawsuit. No disciplinary action for participation in the lawsuit will be taken against plaintiffs who sign
the Agreement.
In the Agreement the President commits to reaffirming his
communications to the district presidents of the Synod regarding the implementation of bylaws governing visitation
and electoral circuits. In the spirit of Bylaw 3.1.2, he will first
direct individual visitation circuits not meeting bylaw requirements for electoral circuits to the remedy provided by
the bylaw (to combine with an adjacent visitation circuit to
form an electoral circuit).
The Agreement also includes provisions related to the
issue of the CCM opinions and the authority of the Board of
Directors, the subject of Resolution 7-02A adopted by the
2004 Synod convention. The President will give priority to the
Resolution 7-02A Committee created by the 2004 Synod convention by referencing the committee’s work in his convention report, by including it in the convention Workbook, and
by allowing ample time for the convention floor committee to
which the committee’s work is assigned to present its report
and resolutions to the convention. He will also recommend to
the convention the approval of a standing rule that will allow
90 minutes of continuous consideration, presentation, and debate of the resolution(s) pertaining to the 7-02A Committee’s
report and will schedule the floor committee’s report for presentation in a session of the conventi.on early enough to allow
for proper consideration of and action on its resolution(s) regarding the Resolution 7-02A Committee’s report.
In the interest of peace and harmony in the Synod, neither
the plaintiffs nor the defendants will request of the other or of
the Court payment of their attorneys’ fees and costs associated with the lawsuit.
2007 Convention Proceedings