LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 243

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ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

243

6-24

6-23

To Amend Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 re CCM Review
of Agency Documents
Whereas, Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 states:
3.9.2.2.3
The Commission on Constitutional Matters shall examine the articles of incorporation, bylaws, and policy manuals of every
agency of the Synod to ascertain whether they are in harmony with the
Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod.
(a) Agencies intending to make amendments to articles of incorporation
or bylaws shall make such intentions known and receive approval
from the commission in advance.
(b) The commission shall maintain a file of the articles of incorporation,
bylaws, and policy manuals of all agencies of the Synod.

and
Whereas, Bylaw 1.2.1 (a) (1) states: “Agencies include each
board, commission, council, seminary, university, college, district,
Concordia Plan Services, and each synodwide corporate entity”; and
Whereas, Districts amend their articles of incorporation
and bylaws in conventions, at which the Synod Commission on
Constitutional Matters (CCM) is not present, and therefore could
not give “approval … in advance” for any changes in wording of
articles of incorporation or bylaws made at such conventions; and
Whereas, The parliamentarian at the 2007 LCMS convention
ruled that, according to the Synod’s Bylaws, amendments from the
floor could not be debated unless they had first been examined by the
CCM, in effect allowing the CCM to kill any amendments simply by
failing to examine them; and
Whereas, By such a reading, Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 would rule out all
amendments from the floor of any district convention, thus robbing
the districts of the insights of the delegates who are not on floor committees, even prohibiting districts from voting on their own bylaws if
their floor committees failed to provide the CCM with advance copies of their proposed changes or if the CCM failed to approve them,
thus giving the five appointed members of the CCM veto power over
all the district conventions of the Synod; therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 be amended to read as follows:
3.9.2.2.3
The Commission on Constitutional Matters shall examine the articles of incorporation, bylaws, and policy manuals of every
agency of the Synod to ascertain whether they are in harmony with the
Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod.
(a) Agencies intending to make amendments to articles of incorporation
or bylaws shall submit their proposed amendments to the commission for review.
(b) The commission shall examine the proposed wording of all amendments received from these agencies and report their findings to the
submitting agency, including suggestions for any corrections the
commission deems necessary.
(c) After agencies amend their articles of incorporation or bylaws, they
shall submit them to the commission for similar review.
(d) The commission shall maintain a file of the articles of incorporation,
bylaws, and policy manuals of all agencies of the Synod.

and be it further
Resolved, That the Central Illinois District of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod submit this resolution as an overture to
the 2013 LCMS convention.
Central Illinois District

To Take Up Bylaw Amendments from Convention
Floor without CCM Examination
Rationale

The duties and responsibilities of the Commission on
Constitutional Matters are spelled out in two places in the Handbook:
Bylaws 3.9.2.2 and 3.9.2.2.1 and also, regarding amendments to the
Bylaws at conventions, in Bylaw 7.1.1 (paragraph [c]):
7.1.1
Synod.

Amendments may be made by conventions of the

(a) They shall be presented in writing to a convention of the Synod.
(b) They shall be specified as bylaw amendments and considered by a
convention floor committee.
(c) They shall be examined by the Commission on Constitutional Matters prior to presentation to the convention to determine that they are
not in conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod.
(d) They shall be adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the
delegates present and voting.
[Note: This applies specially only to amendments to the Bylaws of
the Synod. This was interpreted at the 2010 convention of the Synod to
mean that each time a delegate offered an amendment to a resolution on
the floor of the convention, the Commission on Constitutional Matters
had to be queried, with a commensurate delay of business.]

In the general jurisprudence of the United States and its separate states, the president or executive branch of government proposes
bills, regulations, policy changes, and perhaps amendments to the
Constitution. The legislative branch passes the bills, and they are
signed or vetoed by the president or governor. Then somebody may
file suit that a provision of a bill is unconstitutional, and the judicial branch gets involved. Now, perhaps it would be beneficial for
the courts to review a bill before it is passed, but it is not required.
As this relates to conventions of Synod, the convention may vote
on resolutions to the Constitution or Bylaws of the Synod. If the resolution is a change to the Constitution, then the congregations must also
ratify the convention decision. (If it is only a change to the Bylaws,
then it is implemented without further action.) If after an amendment is passed and ratified by the congregations and, if necessary, a
member of the Synod, be that an officer, pastor, congregation, etc.,
questions whether an amendment or other change is in accord with
the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod, such member may appeal to the CCM for a ruling.
Whereas, The duties of the CCM, specified in the bylaws referenced above, pertain to examining “all reports, overtures, and
resolutions to the Synod asking for amendments to the Constitution
and Bylaws of the Synod.” (Bylaw 3.9.2.2.1); and
Whereas, Amendments shall be presented in writing to a convention (Bylaw 7.1.1[a]); and
Whereas, The Commission on Constitutional Matters shall be
“represented at the meetings of national convention floor committees
considering constitution and bylaw matters” (Bylaw 3.9.2.2.2), but
there is no requirement for their presence or voice on the convention
floor other than in an advisory capacity; and
Whereas, Review on the convention floor for a single word may
drag on for many minutes; and
Whereas, Other pertinent discussion is delayed or even bypassed
as time runs out; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Circuit Forum of the Mondovi Circuit of the
North Wisconsin District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
commends the CCM for its dedicated work to ensure that changes to
2013 Convention Workbook