LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 268

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268

Structure and Ecclesiastical Matters

held. 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 the district membership of
the congregation to which that individual belongs.

And be it further
Resolved, That in order to accomplish the objectives described
above regarding district membership and ecclesiastical supervision of
congregations that are members of the Synod, the 2013 LCMS convention adopt the following bylaw changes:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
Rites of Ordination or Commissioning
2.10.3 The president of the district of which the calling congregation is a member or in which the eligible calling agency is located or
with which it is otherwise identified shall be responsible for the rites of
ordination and commissioning of candidates for the ministry called to
that congregation or agency.
(a) The rite of ordination or commissioning should normally take place
in the presence of the congregation or other agency to which the
candidate has been called.
(b) In the case of missionaries called by the Synod, ordained or commissioned ministers called by international congregations, members
of a faculty of an institution of the Synod, or institutional chaplains,
the rite shall take place in a setting approved by the district president
of the calling body.
(c) If an unusual circumstance warrants it, the appropriate district president may authorize that the rite take place in the home congregation
of the candidate, or other appropriate congregation, with the permission of the calling congregation or other agency.
(d) A service of celebration on the part of the candidate’s home congregation is encouraged.
(e) The district president shall issue a diploma of ordination or commissioning.

Regional Elections
3.12.1 For all elections requiring regional representation, the Board
of Directors of the Synod and the Council of Presidents acting jointly
shall designate five geographical regions.
(a) Regions shall be designated 24 months prior to conventions of the
Synod and shall take into consideration geographical and numberof-congregations information in the interest of fair representation.
(b) For the purposes of regional elections, individuals will be considered a part of the geographical region where their congregational
membership is held. Canadian congregations will be placed as a
whole into the region which the Board of Directors and the Council
of Presidents deem appropriate. International congregations will be
placed as a whole into the region to which their district has been
assigned.
(c) This information shall be shared immediately with all districts of
the Synod.

4.4 District President
4.4.3 The district president shall represent the Synod in connection
with all ordinations, commissionings, and installations.
(a) First Calls: Ordinations, commissionings, and initial installations
shall be conducted by or at the direction of the district president of
the calling body’s district when the requirements of Bylaw 2.10.2 (a)
have been satisfied.
(b) Missionaries and Ministers of International Congregations: The authorization for the ordination or commissioning and the installation
of a missionary called into the foreign fields or an ordained or commissioned minister called by an international congregation, whether
as a first or subsequent call, shall be issued upon the request of the
Board for International Mission by the president of the district of the
calling body in which the missionary resides. …

And be it further

2013 Convention Workbook

Resolved, That the Missouri District of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod add to its existing circuits an additional circuit
consisting solely of international congregations of the Synod; and
be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 5.1.2 be amended to allow circuits to meet
as via electronic means when geographical considerations make faceto-face meetings of congregational representatives impractical, to
read as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
5.1.2 Districts shall establish circuits according to geographical criteria. When face-to-face meetings of congregational representatives are
deemed impractical, as in the case of a circuit of international congregations, electronic means for communication may be used upon approval
of the president of the district.

And be it finally
Resolved, That the Office of International Mission provide assistance as necessary to enable this circuit to function properly and to
enable the district president to provide ecclesiastical supervision to
its congregations and called church workers.
Commission on Handbook
7-24

To Respond to 2010 Res. 8-05B
The 2010 convention of the Synod referred Res. 8-05B “To Elect
Delegates to the Synod Convention” to the Commission on Handbook
for further attention. After discussion of the resolution by the commission during earlier meetings, a committee was asked to return
with a recommendation for submission to the 2013 convention. After
extensive discussion of the committee’s recommendation during this
August 2012 meeting, it was adopted for submission as two overtures
to the 2013 convention, as follows.

(A) To Establish Number of Delegates to Synod
Conventions
Whereas, The Synod convention is the “… principal legislative
assembly, which amends the Constitution and Bylaws, considers
and takes action on reports and overtures, and handles appropriate appeals”…“and establishes general positions and policies of the
Synod, provides overall program direction and priorities, and evaluates all such positions, programs, policies, directions, and priorities
in order to provide responsible service for and on behalf of its members” (Bylaw 3.1.1); and
Whereas, Conventions of the Synod “afford an opportunity
for worship, nurture, inspiration, fellowship, and communication”
(Bylaw 3.1.1); and
Whereas, Voting membership in the Synod is held by all member congregations of the Synod and exercised through their elected
representatives to the Synod and district conventions; and
Whereas, The current system for determining the number of delegates to the national convention is based on a process that includes
variables which result in electoral circuits that vary widely in their
size (Bylaw 3.1.2), including the number of congregations (7 to 20)
and the number of communicant members (1,500 to 10,000); and
Whereas, A process to determine district representation at the
national convention ideally should be based on objective criteria
designed to promote fairness and equity across the Synod, eliminating the need to grant approval for exceptional circuits (Bylaw 3.1.2
[b]); and