LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 248

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248 PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION

7-34

To Equalize Convention Exposure
for Presidential Candidates

WuereEas, Bylaw 3.1.9 (i) (1) specifies that during the first (or
opening) session of Synod conventions, right after “the report of
the committee on credentials,” “The President [of Synod] shall then
make his presidential address and submit his official report”; and

WHEREAS, Because the election of the President of Synod is tra-
ditionally conducted immediately or shortly thereafter, this tends
to give the standing President, if himself a candidate, a strong ad-
vantage over other candidates for this position because most voting
delegates will tend to have limited knowledge of said candidates;
and

WHEREAS, The goal of this election process is to identify and
elect the best candidate for this most important elected position in
Synod; therefore be it

Resolved, That the President of Synod turn over control of the
convention to a Vice-President of Synod of his choice immediately
after the report on credentials until after the presidential election is
completed; and be it further

Resolved, That during this time each candidate for Synod Pres-
ident be given 5 to 10 minutes in which to speak to the assembled
voting delegates, so that they may have a better understanding of
all the presidential candidates.

Grace
Lexington, MO

7-35

To Limit Incumbent President’s Time in Front
of the Convention until Election

WHEREAS, The secular world recognizes that campaign litera-
ture for one candidate at an election site would provide an unfair
advantage for that candidate and, therefore, bans all campaign lit-
erature from such sites; and

Whereas, A continued presence at the polling site of only one
candidate or his representative would provide an even greater un-
fair advantage for that candidate; and

WHEREAS, The secular world prohibits candidates or their rep-
resentatives from having a continuing presence at the polling place;
and

WHEREAS, The church should be at least as concerned about
fairness in its elections as the secular world; and

WHEREAS, The current practice at our Synod conventions pro-
vides a number of appearances of the incumbent presidential can-
didate in front of the delegates before the election (e.g., orientation
sessions, opening worship, a presidential report) and no time for
the other candidates; and

WHEREAS, It is impractical to provide equal time before the con-
vention delegates to all the candidates for the Synod presidency;
therefore be it

Resolved, That this Synod convention establish a policy that
limits the time an incumbent Synod President may appear before
the delegates before the presidential election, limiting that time to
the declaration of the opening of the convention, after which he
would be required to relinquish the chair to a Vice-President who is
not a candidate for the presidency until after the election of the
Synod President takes place.

St. Peter
Swanville, MN

7-36

To Revise the Election of the President
and First Vice-President of Synod

WHEREAS, Bylaw 3.1.2 specifies regarding the election of vot-
ing delegates to the Synod convention:
“3.1.2: Voting delegates shall consist of one pastor and one layman
from each electoral circuit.
“(a) An electoral circuit shall consist either of one or two adja-
cent visitation circuits, as shall be determined by each district
on the basis of the following requirements: each pair of dele-
gates shall represent from seven to 20 member congregations,
involving an aggregate communicant membership ranging from
1,500 to 10,000.
“(b) Exceptions to these requirements may be made only by the
President of the Synod upon request of a district board of direc-
tors;”
and

WHEREAS, The use of Bylaw 3.1.2 (b) has caused offense
among members of the Synod, as evidenced by a lawsuit filed in
secular courts; and

WHEREAS, Bylaw 3.1.2.2 (b) makes clear that the votes cast by
voting delegates may not and need not reflect either the wishes of
their circuits or the congregations within (Bylaw 3.1.2.2 [b]); and

WHEREAS, Because the President of Synod is defined as having
“ecclesiastical supervision,” which includes “‘the presenting, inter-
preting, and applying of the collective will of the Synod’s congre-
gations” (Bylaw 1.2.1 [f]), the President should, therefore, agree
with the collective will of the Synod’s congregations, not the per-
sonal conscience of individual voting delegates; and

WHEREAS, The First Vice-President serves in a full-time execu-
tive position (Bylaw 3.3.2.2) and has the duty of assisting the Pres-
ident “in discharging his responsibilities” (Bylaw 3.3.2) and repre-
senting him, and, therefore, should also agree with the collective
will of the Synod’s congregations; therefore be it

- Resolved, That the election of the President of the Synod be re-
vised as follows:

1. Nominations for the President and vice-presidents of the Synod shall
be gathered in accordance with Bylaws 3.12.1 and 3.12.1.1. How-
ever, nominations will be gathered early enough to accommodate the
following schedule:

2. Four months prior to the convening of a convention of Synod, the
Secretary of Synod shail send out ballots for President and First Vice-
President of Synod to every voting member of the Synod, as defined
in Art. V A of the Constitution of the LCMS. .

3. Voting members will have two months to cast their votes for the
President and First Vice-President of Synod, and ballots must be sent
back to the Secretary with a postmark of no less than 60 days before
the convention convenes.

4. As currently provided in the bylaw for nominations (Bylaw 3.12.1
[d]), the Secretary of Synod may engage an external auditing firm for
tabulation of the ballots.

5. Ballots will be tabulated, and the President-elect and First Vice-Pres-
ident-elect shall be announced to the Synod one month before the
convention begins.

Holy Cross, Albany, OR; St. James, Bothell/Mill Creek, WA

7-37

To Adopt New Election Process

WHEREAS, When our congregation was urged to nominate can-
didates for Synod President and First Vice-President, the voters of
our congregation were unfamiliar with any qualified individuals to
fill these positions; and

Wuereas, Allowing their pastor to recommend individuals did
not seem appropriate; and

WHEREAS, The “politics” within our Synod tend to pull the
Synod into divisions; and

WHEREAS, These divisions generated lists of recommended in-
dividuals; and