LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 283

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OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
Opinion: Regarding the authority and responsibility of a district
president, Article XII 7 of the Synod’s Constitution directs:
The district presidents shall, moreover, especially exercise supervision over the doctrine, life, and administration of office of the ordained
and commissioned ministers of their district and acquaint themselves
with the religious conditions of the congregations of their district. To
this end they shall visit and, according as they deem it necessary, hold
investigations in the congregations. Their assistants in this work are the
circuit counselors, who therefore shall regularly make their reports to
the district president.

Ecclesiastical supervision within The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod is defined in Bylaw 1.2.1 (g) as follows:
(g) Ecclesiastical Supervision: The responsibility, primarily of the
President of the Synod and district presidents, to supervise on behalf of
the Synod the doctrine, life, and administration of its members, officers,
and agencies. Such supervision, subject to the provisions of the Synod’s
Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions, includes visitation, evangelical
encouragement and support, care, protection, counsel, advice, admonition, and, when necessary, appropriate disciplinary measures to assure
that the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod are followed
and implemented. Thus, ecclesiastical supervision is also the presenting,
interpreting, and applying of the collective will of the Synod’s congregations. Ecclesiastical supervision does not include the responsibility
to observe, monitor, control, or direct the day-to-day activities of individual members of the Synod, whether in the conduct of their work or
in their private lives [cf. Bylaw 2.14.1 (a)]. Further, those constitutional
articles and bylaws pertaining to ecclesiastical supervision shall determine the full definition of ecclesiastical supervision.

As the ecclesiastical supervisor of all members within his district—both individual and congregational members (see Constitution
Art. V and Bylaw sections 2.3 and 2.6)—not only does a district
president have supervision over the doctrine, life, and official administration of the ordained or commissioned ministers in his district
under Bylaw 4.4.5, he has similar responsibilities with respect to
member congregations. Bylaw 4.4.4 includes the following duties
and authority:
The district president shall, in accordance with the Constitution of
the Synod, in his ministry of ecclesiastical supervision visit the congregations of the district.
(a) He shall arrange in advance for an official visit to each congregation of his district.
…
(e) In his visits he shall include fraternal discussion in regard to worship and Communion attendance; participation by the congregation in
missions and the work of the church at large; the congregation’s evangelism and education endeavors; its cultivation of sound stewardship
principles; all aspects of compensation for professional church workers;
the need for maintenance of purity of doctrine; the strengthening of the
bond of Christian fellowship; and the provision of resources, opportunities, and assistance so God’s people can grow in their faith, hope, and
love.

When a controversy exists within a congregation, Bylaw 4.4.6
grants further authority:
The district president, even without formal request therefor, may
through the proper channels arrange for an official visit or investigation
when a controversy arises in a congregation or between two or more
congregations of the district or when there is evidence of a continuing
unresolved problem in doctrine and practice.
(a) He shall ask for a full report on the case in order that he may
have a clear understanding of the situation.
(b) If he authorizes anyone to represent him in such matters, his
representative shall be accorded the same rights as the district president.

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Further discussion of the authority and role of the district president
in such internal disputes is discussed under question 2 below.
Beyond these specifically enumerated responsibilities of a district
president, it should be noted that the Constitution of the Synod is also
the constitution of each district. As set forth in Bylaw 4.1.1.2, “The
Constitution of the Synod is also the constitution of each district. The
Bylaws of the Synod shall be primarily the bylaws of the district.” In
that regard, the ecclesiastical supervision duties of the President of
the Synod as regards the Synod as a whole are also the ecclesiastical
supervision duties of a district president in his district. Article XI B
of the Constitution includes these duties and authority:
B. Duties of the President
…
3. The President has and always shall have the power to advise,
admonish, and reprove. He shall conscientiously use all means at his
command to promote and maintain unity of doctrine and practice in all
the districts of the Synod.
4. The President shall see to it that the resolutions of the Synod are
carried out.

A district president has primary responsibility to supervise the
doctrine and practice of the congregations in his district, to advise
and admonish, and, if necessary, to take action to discipline up to
and including expulsion of a member under his supervision, whether
individual or a congregation.
Question 2: Article VII 1 of the Synod’s Constitution notes that “the
Synod is not an ecclesiastical government exercising
legislative or coercive powers” and with respect to the
right of self-government of the individual congregation
“it is but an advisory body.” Does the Synod, then, have
an ecclesiastical authority with which to oversee the
doctrine and practice of its member congregations? If
so, what is that authority and how is it exercised?
Opinion: Yes, for such authority see the answer to question 1. Regarding the relationship of the congregation and the Synod, Article
VII 1 provides:
1. In its relation to its members the Synod is not an ecclesiastical
government exercising legislative or coercive powers, and with respect
to the individual congregation’s right of self-government it is but an
advisory body. Accordingly, no resolution of the Synod imposing anything upon the individual congregation is of binding force if it is not in
accordance with the Word of God or if it appears to be inexpedient as far
as the condition of a congregation is concerned.

The following demonstrates how it is exercised with respect to
the congregation’s right of self-government. While a congregation
is not required to do so as a condition of membership, it may place
other restrictions on its own internal governance and may relinquish
further authority to the Synod voluntarily. While no congregation is
required as a condition of membership to do so, a congregation even
has the right and power in forming and governing itself to prohibit
its own future voluntary withdrawal from the Synod. It would be
contrary to the spirit of its polity for the Synod even to suggest that
such a provision should be considered by congregations, but it would
be similarly improper to reject such a provision.
While retaining the right to dissent and even to withdraw from
membership in the Synod, each congregation until such withdrawal
covenants and agrees to act in accordance with the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod. As the Bylaws of the Synod state:
Congregations together establish the requirements of membership in
the Synod (Constitution, Art. VI). In joining the Synod, congregations
and other members obligate themselves to fulfill such requirements and
to diligently and earnestly promote the purposes of the Synod by word

2013 Convention Workbook