LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 239

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PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION 239

the satisfaction of the reviewer. If it cannot do so, the problem shall be
submitted to the Commission on Doctrinal Review #adee which shall
follow the appeals procedure and criteria stated in Bylaws 3.9.3.2.1.

Commission on Doctrinal Review

3.9.3 The Commission on Doctrinal Review exists to assist the
President of the Synod in the exercise of his responsibility that all
doctrinal content in its or any of its agencies’ materials be in ac-
cord with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

3.9.3.1 The Commission on Doctrinal Review shall consist of
five members appointed by the President of the Synod from the
total number of doctrinal reviewers.

(a) The commission shall elect its own officers.
(b) The commission shall effect its own organization.

3.9.3.2 The Commission on Doctrinal Review functions in ac-
cordance with Bylaw section 1.9 and shall meet as often as neces-
sary to provide guidelines for the work of doctrinal reviewers and
to concern itself with problem areas in the procedures of doctrinal
review and appeals.

Appeals Prior to Publication

3.9.3.2.1 Appeals regarding materials not yet published may be
initiated by an author, the sponsoring group, or an executive staff
member of that group and submitted to the chairman of the Com-
mission on Doctrinal Review.

(a) Within seven business days “rafter receipt of an appeal, the
chairman of the Commission on Doctrinal Review shall inform all con-
cerned and shall appoint three members of the commission to serve as a
review panel and shall designate one as its chairman. A panel member
shall disqualify himself on the basis of any kind of personal involve-
ment in the issue.

view. 1 shi TOV f [to the auth
id nsoring group and invite them to provide a response to the
ies to the a hall iven 14 rovide their

response.

(8c) To aid objectivity, the identity of author and review panel shall
ordinarily not be disclosed. However, consultation may at times be nec-
essary for clarification.

(ed) In making its recommendation, the panel shall decide within
30 days whether the item in question

()) is suitable for publication; or

(2) may be published after alteration; or

(3) may be published as a study document; or

(4) shall be denied publication.

(de) The decision of the panel shall be determined by a majority vote
and shall be final so far as the Commission on Doctrinal Review is con-
cerned. A report together with the panel’s minutes shall be submitted
to the chairman of the Commission on Doctrinal Review.

ob The chairman of the commission shall report the decision within
$ to the author, the original reviewer, the sponsoring
proup, and the President of the Synod.

Appeals Following Publication

3.9.3.2.2 A challenge to the doctrinal review certification of a
published item may be initiated by any member of the Synod and

shall be submitted_in writing via mail or personal delivery to the
chairman of the Commission on Doctrinal Review.

(a) In order for the Commission on Doctrinal Review to consider a
challenge, the challenger is obliged to provide specific references
demonstrating how the published item is not in agreement with Scrip-
ture and the Lutheran Confessions.

(b) After receipt or the challenge, the chairman of the commission
shall_wi inform the President of the Synod, the

sponsoring group_and. if applicable. Concordia Publishing House, end

shall appoint three members of the commission to Serve as a review
panel, and shall designate one as its chairman.

c hai of the C mmission on Doctrinal Review shall pro-
vis | P. nt of ni on orin
if 1 ia Publishing Ho
he the oppornunity to respon nd to the appeal within 14 days from ott date of

ne Te To aid in maintaining objectivity, the identity of the challenger
and the identity of the panel will ordinarily not be disclosed. There shall

n icity giv ffo i
Synod on a pending appeal.

(de) The panel shall after reviewing the published material declare,
within win: i - -

vi in view, i ion is af:
firmed or rev. whi i ial is i -

(ef) If the panel revokes the doctrinal review certification, it must
identify the part(s) of the item in need of clarification, amplification,
and/or deletion in order to bring it into agreement with Scripture and
the Lutheran Confessions, and withdraw the publication until such
agreement is reached.

(fg) The panel will appoint one of its members to be the doctrinal re-
viewer for the recycling of the revised material to assure the item’s
agreement with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions if republished.

Commission on Doctrinal Review

7-06

To Reaffirm Historic System
of Convention Representation

WuereEAs, The 2004 Synod convention resolved that the Synod
President appoint a task force to look into the current funding
process for the Synod in order that they might report their funding
recommendations back to the 2007 convention; and

WHEREAS, That convention amended the original motion, in-
structing the task force “to demonstrate that the funding system it
proposes is supported by Scripture”; and

WHEREAS, The Blue Ribbon Task Force released this report in
July 2006; and

WHEREAS, The report states that there are “significant funding
implications” (p. 17) in the Synod’s historical and current system of
representation at convention by delegates (that is, having one pastor
and one layperson represent a congregation at district conventions,
and having one pastor and one layperson represent a circuit at
Synod conventions); and

WHEREAS, The report suggests that two votes for each congre-
gation does not adequately represent the baptized membership of
the Synod, since certain congregations have a larger membership
than other congregations; and

WHEREAS, There is no rationale given in the report as to how
the historical and current system of convention representation af-
fects Synod funding at all; and

WHEREAS, Our Savior Jesus Christ says in Matt. 18:20 that “where
two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst
of them,” which means that Christ is just as present in faithful smaller
congregations as He is in faithful larger congregations; and

WHEREAS, The current Synod system of representation (one pas-
toral and one lay vote) at conventions is based on Matt. 18:20 in
that each congregation and each circuit of the Synod is equally rep-
resented, showing no partiality or bias between the congregations
of the Synod; and

WuereAS, | Tim. 5:21 also says that Christians are to do “noth-
ing with partiality,” which would include favoring larger congre-
gations over smaller congregations by a representation for conven-
tions based on the number of baptized membership; and

WHEREAS, Bylaw 3.1.2 states that for national conventions “‘vot-
ing delegates shall consist of one pastor and one layman from each
electoral circuit”; therefore be it