LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 16

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16 SYNOD REPORTS

ADDENDUM 1: Voting Delegate Registrations ,
and Attendance

The following is a comparison according to districts of voting
delegate registrations and attendance at the Synod’s 1998, 2001,
and 2004 conventions:

* The numbers in boldface print represent the number of voting
delegates registered for each convention.

¢ The numbers following in italic print represent the number of
voting delegates that actually attended each convention.

¢ The numbers following in parentheses ( ) indicate the number of
requested exceptions granted by the President of the Synod
according to Bylaw 3.03.

* The numbers in brackets [ ] indicate the number of such requests
for exceptions that were denied.

1998 2001 2004

Atlantic 24 22 (3) (1) 20-19 (4) [4} 24 24 (6)

Cal./Nev./Hawaii 36-35 (4) 32 32 (4) 36 36 (4)

Central Illinois 32 32 32 31 32 32

Eastern 3232 28 28 (1) 32 32 (5)

English 38 36 40 39 (11) [I] 38 38 (8)

Florida/Georgia 322052 (DT ot 32) I 44 44 (7)

Indiana 430 43 44 44 44 44-()

lowa East 26 (26 26 26 (1) 26 26

Iowa West 40 «40 39 40 40 40 (1)

Kansas 32 32 32 32 320 3/

Michigan 88 86 (3) 88 88 (5) 88 88 (5)

Mid-South 22 22 2127 (1) 24 24 (1)

Minnesota North 36 35 36 36 (1) 3% 36 (1)

Minnesota South $2 52 $2 52 $2 51 (2)

Missouri $8 58 $8 58 (1) $8 57 (1)

Montana 12/2 (I) 12/2 (1) 12 /2 (2)

Nebraska 4 43 44 44 44 44 (1)

New England 18 17 (2) 18 18 (2) 18 18 (3)

New Jersey 12 12 12 41 10 9 (1)

North Dakota 16 16 16 16 (3) 12 12

North Wisconsin 40 39 40 40 40 40

Northern Illinois 5252 49 49 (2) [)) $2 52 (3)

Northwest 48° 47 48 48 (1) 50 49 (5)

Ohio 30 (30 30 30 3 30

Oklahoma 4014 16 16 (1) 18 18 (4)

Pacific Southwest 56 55 (1) $2 52 (2) {3] 64 64 (2)

Rocky Mountain 28 28 28 28 (1) 28 28 (1)

SELC 6 6 6 6 6 6 (1)

South Dakota 220 «22 22 22 22 22 (2)

South Wisconsin $4 54 (1) $3 53 (2) $4 54 (1)

Southeastem 38 38 (1) {I] 36 36 (1) [1] 40 40 (2)

Southem 28 = 28 28 28 (2) 28 28 (3)

Souther Illinois 14 4 14 74 22 «22

Texas 62 67 (2) 72°72 (6) {2] 76 75 (43)

Wyoming lait (2) 14 14 14/4

TOTALS 1199 //85 (21) [3] 1191 1/88 (56) [13] 1246 1240 (88) [0]

In summary: 1998 2001 2004

* Number of visitation circuits: 629 627 644
+ Number of electoral circuits: 601 596 623
+ Number of voting delegates registered: 1199 1191 1246
* Number of voting delegates in attendance: 1185 1188 1240
+ Number of districts requesting exceptions: 11 23 28
+ Number of exceptions granted: 21 56 88
* Number of exceptions not granted: 3 13 0
+ Number of delegates from exceptions: 42 112 176
+ Percentage of delegates from exceptions: 3.5% 95% 14.2%

Excerpted from Report to LCMS Board of Directors,
February 24-25, 2005
Compiled by Dr. Raymond Hartwig, LCMS Secretary

[NOTE: In addition to the information in the original table in-
cluded above with this report, the numbers for the 2007 conven-
tion have been shown in a table included at the end of this special
report for the sake of complete comparison. (See Special Report
Addendum A)]

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

2007 Convention Workbook

had previously encouraged the filing of “a friendly lawsuit” to ad-
dress 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 law-
suit 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 offi-
cers to have separate legal counsel for the officer defendants and for the
Synod and to pursue insurance coverage and respond to the lawsuit ac-
cordingly. (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 in-
demnify 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 in-
cluded 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 summa-
rized 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 mem-
bers against President Gerald B. Kieschnick, First Vice-President
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 con-
vention 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 Com-
mission 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 dis-
miss 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 incomplete 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 be-
fore 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 plain-
tiffs to see if the matter could be resolved out of court. Accord-
ingly, a committee of four Board members was appointed which,