LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 267

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Structure and Ecclesiastical Matters
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.1.9 (e) All travel and convention expenses of the Synod’s Praesidium, Secretary, Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Financial Officer,
Chief Mission Officer, Board of Directors, district presidents, Commission on Constitutional Matters, Commission on Handbook, Commission on Theology and Church Relations, and legal counsel are included
in the operating cost of the convention and as such are included in the
district levy.

(D) Appointed Officers as Advisory
Representatives
(Bylaw 3.1.4)
Rationale
Current Bylaw 3.1.4 speaks only of “elected officers” serving as
advisory representatives to conventions of the Synod. As a result of
2010 convention actions, the Synod is now served by three officers
who are appointed to their positions: the Chief Administrative Officer,
the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chief Mission Officer. In order
for Bylaw 3.1.4 to include all officers in attendance at Synod conventions, elected and appointed, the Commission on Handbook proposes
the following bylaw amendment for adoption by the 2013 convention.
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
Other Advisory Representatives
3.1.4 Elected officers Officers of the Synod, including district
presidents, and representatives of the Synod’s boards, commissions,
educational institutions, mission areas, chaplains, and district boards of
directors shall also serve as advisory representatives to the conventions
of the Synod.

Commission on Handbook
7-23

To Address District Membership/Ecclesiastical
Supervision Issues (Bylaw 2.12 et al.)
Introduction
Extensive discussions involving the Commission on Handbook,
the Council of Presidents, and Synod officers and staff in an effort
to address ongoing and newly surfacing district membership and
ecclesiastical supervision issues, especially as pertaining to Bylaw
section 2.12 “District Membership and Ecclesiastical Supervision,”
has culminated in the submission of this overture to the 2013 LCMS
convention.
The primary goals of these discussions were twofold: (1) the
provision of proper ecclesiastical supervision of church workers (missionaries, commissioned ministers, etc.) living outside the United
States; and (2) the provision of a means whereby interested international congregations could be received into membership in the Synod.
It was agreed that the solution to (1) above would depend on
the involved district presidents (with the assistance of the Office
of International Mission) providing more intentional ecclesiastical
supervision through regular contact with the foreign workers. It was
agreed that the best approach to (2) above, at least for the present,
would be to request the Missouri District to create an additional international circuit to admit these congregations into membership in the
Synod and to provide ecclesiastical supervision (with the assistance
of the Office of International Mission).

267

To accomplish these objectives, the Commission on Handbook
offers the following proposed bylaw amendments and provisions to
the 2013 convention for adoption.
Resolved, That in order to accomplish the objectives described
above regarding district membership and ecclesiastical supervision of
individual members of the Synod, the 2013 LCMS convention adopt
the following bylaw changes:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
2.12 District Membership and Ecclesiastical Supervision and District Membership
2.12.1 Except as otherwise provided in this section, a member shall
be under the ecclesiastical supervision of the president of the district
through which membership in the Synod is held Each individual member of the Synod shall hold membership through a district. 2.12.1.1 The
district through which an individual holds membership and the district
through which a member is ecclesiastically supervised will not be determined in any case on the basis of district membership of the congregation to which the individual belongs.
2.12.2 2.12.1.2 An individual member of the Synod who is serving
a congregation shall hold membership in the Synod through the district
ofin which his/her calling body is located or headquartered, except the
following:the congregation is a member.
(a) 2.12.1.3 An individual member of the Synod who is serving a district
shall hold membership in the Synod through that district.2.12.1.4A
missionary or chaplain serving under a call by a mission board of
the Synod shall hold membership in the Synod through the district
designated by the missionary or chaplain if approved by the president of that district after consultation with the Office of International
Mission and the president of the district through which membership
is currently held.
(b) 2.12.1.5 An individual member of the Synod other than a missionary
or chaplain serving under call by a mission board of the Synod and
who is serving an agency other than a congregation or district and
other than a missionary or chaplain serving under call by the Synod
shall hold membership through the district designated by that person
if approved by both the president of that district and the president
of the district in which the agency is located, but shall be subject to
the ecclesiastical supervision of the president of the geographical
district in which the agency is located. When all voting members of
the agency are members of a non-geographical district, membership
shall be held through that district.
(c) 2.12.1.6 An individual member of the Synod who is an executive
or professional staff member called or appointed by an auxiliary or
other recognized service organization shall hold membership in the
geographical district in which the member resides is employed or
the non-geographical district in which he or she holds membership.
2.12.1.7 An emeritus member shall continue to hold membership
through the district through which membership was held at the inception of emeritus status unless a transfer is approved by both the
president of that district and the president of the district to which
membership would be transferred.
(d) 2.12.1.8 An inactive member having emeritus, candidate, or noncandidate status shall continue to hold membership in the Synod
through the district through which membership was held at the inception of the emeritus, candidate, or non-candidate status except
when a transfer is approved by both the president of that district and
the president of the district to which membership would be transferred.
(e) 2.12.1.9 A member having restricted status while not serving a congregation or other eligible agency shall continue to hold membership through the district through which membership was held at the
inception of restricted status unless a transfer is approved by both
the president of that district and the president of the district to which
membership would be transferred. 2.12.1.10 A member having suspended status shall continue to hold membership through the district
through which membership was held at the time of the suspension.
2.12.3 A member shall be under the ecclesiastical supervision of
the president of the district through which membership in the Synod is

2013 Convention Workbook