LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 109

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SYNOD REPORTS
comprise the slate for the election of the First Vice-President during
an early session of the convention.
Nomination and Election of First Vice-President

The October 2012 nominations ballot mailing to all congregations also included opportunity to nominate two ordained ministers
for First Vice-President. A total number of 1,565 nominations were
received. Top nominees were contacted to determine 20 nominees
willing to serve, if elected. As noted above, from this list of nominees
the President-elect will choose five candidates to form the slate for
the election of the First Vice-President by the convention.
Nomination and Election of Regional Vice-Presidents

Within months of the 2010 convention, the Council of Presidents
and the Board of Directors carried out their Bylaw 3.2.1 (a) responsibility to designate five geographical regions for the 2013 election of
regional vice-presidents and certain board members. These regional
designations provided the basis for the mailing of regional vice-president nomination ballots accompanying the ballots for President and
First Vice-President in the October 2012 mailing. These ballots (along
with ballots for regional members of the Board of Directors of the
Synod, as appropriate) were received and tabulated in the Secretary’s
Office. The top five nominees for each regional vice-president and
regional board member election will comprise the slates to be voted
on at the 2013 convention for those positions, without opportunity
for floor nominations.
Responsibilities with Reference to Committee for Convention Nominations

As required by bylaw, the Secretary’s Office is in charge of
receiving nominations for the more than 80 office, board, and commission positions to be filled through the regular nominations and
election process of the convention. The more than 380 nominations
and accompanying biographical and evaluative information that were
received were in turn provided to the Committee for Convention
Nominations at a meeting convened in early January. The slates of
candidates developed by the committee, along with all other nomination and election information, are published in the “Biographical
Synopses and Statements of Nominees” booklet accompanying this
Convention Workbook.
Guidelines for the Committee on Elections

As required by bylaw, the Committee on Elections for the 2013
convention was provided a current manual with suggested election
procedures to assist the committee in carrying out its important convention responsibilities. Included are recommendations for working
with audio-visual and voting apparatus to be used for convention elections and decision making. Here again, the 2010 convention made
changes to many of the rules governing elections that will require
careful attention on the part of the committee when the convention
does its electing.
Convention Publications

The Secretary serves as the editor of all convention publications.
This Convention Workbook, while its content is the responsibility
of the President’s Office, is produced by the Secretary’s Office in
close cooperation with Concordia Publishing House. Publication of
Today’s Business (initial mailing and daily editions) containing the
business to come before the convention will follow after floor-committee meetings and throughout the convention, and the Convention
Proceedings containing the official report of the activities and actions
of the convention and the 2013 Handbook of the Synod will be published during the months following the convention.
A significant change in the distribution of convention publications
was made by the 2010 convention. Printed copies of this Convention

109

Workbook are received by all delegates and alternates, officers of the
Synod, and members of boards, commissions, and councils. Its content has been posted on the Synod’s Web site for all other interested
persons. The same will be true to a large extent for the first issue
of Today’s Business containing the proposed resolutions prepared
by floor committees and the Convention Proceedings following the
convention.
3. Other Work of the Office

As provided in Bylaw 3.3.3.2 and various other bylaws through
the Handbook, the Secretary of the Synod also serves in a variety
of other capacities, such as a nonvoting member and secretary of
the Commission on Constitutional Matters, the administrator of the
Synod’s dispute resolution process, a voting member of the Board
of Governors of Concordia Historical Institute, and the editor of The
Lutheran Annual. The Secretary’s Office is responsible for maintaining records, keeping a file of the governing instruments of all agencies
of the Synod, and supervising the maintenance of the official rosters
of member congregations and church workers of the Synod.
Of particular note are the Secretary’s duties as administrator of
the Synod’s dispute-resolution process, which continues to facilitate
much good throughout the Synod, especially on the district level.
What began as something of a general process for bringing people
together to resolve disputes in a more casually structured manner has
grown over the years to become a more formal process governed by
detailed bylaws and accompanying standard operating procedures
manuals. Accordingly, and in the ongoing interest of adding helpful regulation to the processes, I have advocated a number of bylaw
changes to the Commission on Handbook, and the commission has
proposed convention actions to accomplish some of those changes.
I wish also to add a positive comment as a member of the Board
of Governors of Concordia Historical Institute. The Institute has been
something of a “poor sister” in the Synod’s family of synodwide corporate entities and has struggled in recent years. I am proud to say,
however, that under the very able and generous leadership of Mr.
Larry Lumpe as Executive Director, with the very helpful support of
the current Synod administration and Board of Directors, and with a
forward-looking Board of Governors, a rejuvenation of CHI has taken
place during the triennium, including plans to elect a new executive
director in months to come. How important and what a blessing this
is to have a historical institute not only to keep records intact but to
maintain an accurate record of the history of Lutheranism in general
and our Synod in particular, especially in a day and time when history is often ignored and even altered to suit current-day interests.
4. Other Assigned Duties
Board of Directors, Concordia Publishing House

Early in the triennium, I was asked by the President of the Synod
to serve as his representative on the Board of Directors of Concordia
Publishing House. Here I add another personal comment: At a time
when our society is flooded with religious materials of all kinds in
print and electronically, what a great blessing is ours to have our
own publishing house to provide trustworthy printed materials for
use by our congregations and in our homes. Add to that the leadership and administration at our publishing house that is successfully
weathering the economic storm, not just staying afloat but powering forward, winning the highest business awards in the land while
producing the highest quality materials to be found on shelves and
computer apps anywhere.
Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Task Force

Later in the triennium, I was asked by the President of the Synod
to serve on and chair a Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Task Force to
2013 Convention Workbook