LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 14

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

14 SYNOD REPORTS

R1-8-01

Special Report of the President to the 2007
Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
regarding the Lawsuit against the President and First Vice-
President of the Synod and against the Synod Itself

A notable event that occurred within this past triennium that has
caused much concern in the Synod was a lawsuit filed Aug. 15,
2005, against the President and First Vice-President of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod and against the Synod itself. This special
report from the President to the 2007 convention of the Synod at-
tempts to relate, as objectively as is humanly possible, details and
actions taken in regard to the issues and resolution of that lawsuit.

To begin, the following news release from the Nov. 1, 2006, issue
of LCMS e-News offers a summary of the essence of the matter.

*EKE

DISMISSAL OF LAWSUIT

The lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Mo.,
in August 2005 (known as the “Anderson Lawsuit”) has now been
fully dismissed, with all clerical details and waiting periods satis-
fied. The lawsuit was filed initially by approximately 80 LCMS
members against President Gerald Kieschnick, First Vice-President
William Diekelman, and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
(as a necessary nominal defendant).

The plaintiffs initiated the lawsuit based upon their belief that
exceptions requested by district boards of directors and granted by
the President of the Synod that allowed circuits not meeting bylaw
criteria to send delegates to the Synod’s 2004 convention were ex-
cessive. A second issue in the lawsuit was the plaintiffs’ belief that
certain official opinions of the Commission .on Constitutional Mat-
ters of the Synod unlawfully restricted the authority of the Synod’s
Board of Directors.

In February of 2006, at the initiative of the Board of Directors, a
four-member committee of the Board met and conferred with a
four-member committee of the plaintiffs. After a series of meetings,
an agreement was reached (see separate news release, “Anderson
Lawsuit Agreement”).

In the weeks after agreement was reached, the Agreement was
signed by a large majority of the plaintiffs. However, prior to the
court date for presenting the Agreement and advocating dismissal of
the lawsuit, four members of the Board of Directors filed a Motion
to Intervene as a result of concerns associated with that portion of
the lawsuit pertaining to Board of Directors and Commission on
Constitutional Matters authority issues.

Subsequent discussions resulted in the withdrawing of the Mo-
tion to Intervene, paving the way for a final dismissal of the Ander-
son suit.

Additional information of significance is contained in a public
statement titled “Response to Question re 2004 LCMS Convention
Delegates and Other Matters” issued by eight elected leaders of the
Synod on May 6, 2005, which is reprinted in the following section.

RESPONSE TO QUESTION RE 2004 LCMS CONVENTION
DELEGATES AND OTHER MATTERS

In recent days, some members and individuals in congregations of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod have contacted Synod and
some district headquarters with questions and concerns regarding a
letter that has been circulated to a number of LCMS congregations.
The letter solicits participation in proposed litigation regarding
exceptions granted for electoral circuits for the 2004 Synod conven-
tion, the authority of the Board of the Directors under Missouri law,
and the status of related opinions of the Commission on Constitu-
tional Matters. The purpose of this communication is to provide fac-
tual information in response to these questions and concerns.

2007 Convention Workbook

BYLAW REGARDING VOTING DELEGATES

First, it is important to note the bylaw of the Synod regarding
voting delegates and the granting of exceptions to electoral circuits
sending voting delegates to a convention of the Synod. The
applicable bylaw is from the 2001 Handbook of the Synod, which
reads as follows.

Bylaw 3.03 Voting Delegates

Voting delegates shall consist of one pastor and one layman from
each electoral Circuit. An electoral Circuit shall consist either of one
or two adjacent visitation Circuits, as shall be determined by each Dis-
trict, on the basis of the following requirements: Each pair of delegates
shall represent from 7 to 20 member congregations, involving an ag-

’ gregate communicant membership ranging from 1,500 to 10,000. Ex-
ceptions to these requirements and limitations can be made only by the
President of the Synod upon request of a District Board of Directors.

SYNOD PRESIDENT’S COMMUNICATIONS
WITH COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS

The following information shared by the Synod President with
the Council of Presidents in their regular meetings (and subse-
quently with the Board of Directors) in reference to the granting
of exceptions may also be helpful.

September 2002 Synod President’s Report
to LCMS Council of Presidents

Electoral Circuits

In my initial long range planning and preparation for the 2004 Syn-
odical Convention, I have reviewed the Handbook of the Synod re-
garding the matter of Electoral Circuits.

As I recall the practice of previous Synodical Presidents, I am re-
minded of the following quote in a letter from President Barry regard-
ing this subject prior to the 1998 LCMS Convention, in a letter dated
April 9, 1998, granting exemption to two Electoral Circuits in the Texas
District. President Barry wrote:

“Exemptions are made on the basis of a circuit fulfilling one of two
requirements of the Bylaws for an electoral circuit; namely, either
seven congregations or 1500 communicant members.”

In an attempt to provide guidelines for each District that are con-
sistent with historic practice, I plan to follow a similar principle, in gen-
eral, when considering any request that may come from your District
Board of Directors. Specifically, I envision giving positive considera-
tion to requests for “exceptions to these 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 “‘ag-
gregate 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 “‘require-
ments 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 “re-
quirements and limitations,” my office will need to receive these re-
quests 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.