LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 310

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310

OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS

Question 1: In the case of a dual parish with two called pastors,
may both pastors of this dual parish vote at the circuit
forum to elect delegates to a convention of the national
Synod, each pastor representing a different congregation
(governed by Bylaw 3.1.2.1 [c])?
Opinion: No. In contrast to lay delegates who are affiliated with
only one congregation, a pastor/pastors of a multiple-congregation
parish is/are called by and serve the whole. Therefore, only one
pastor would be eligible to represent the multiple-congregation parish at meetings of the circuit forum to elect delegates to a convention of the national Synod.
The commission observes that Article V of the Constitution of
the Synod lays the foundation for the matter of franchise within the
Synod. Paragraph A of Article V states:
A. Voting Members
All organized congregations that have joined the Synod hold voting
membership. At the meetings of the districts of the Synod, every congregation or parish is entitled to two votes, one of which is to be cast by the
pastor and the other by the lay delegate. At the meetings of the Synod, a
number of congregations shall form a group which shall be represented
by two voting delegates, one a pastor and one a lay delegate.

At district conventions, Article V A establishes that each congregation or multiple-congregation parish is entitled to two votes, one by
a pastor and the other by a lay delegate representing the congregation.
At its February 7–8, 2009 meeting, the provision that at district conventions a multiple parish was entitled to two votes, one by a pastor
and the other by a lay delegate, was reexamined and affirmed by the
Commission on Constitutional Matters:
79. Voting Rights of Congregations (09-2545)
In a January 18, 2009 e-mailed letter, a parish pastor requested an opinion with respect to the representation of a four-congregation partnership
(a multiple-congregation parish) at a district convention.
Question:	Four congregations have formed a partnership. They each
have called the two pastors who serve this partnership. Can
each of the four congregations send a lay delegate to our
district convention which is in June? Also, what is the status
of the two pastors in regards to being the pastoral delegate
or delegates to the district convention?
Opinion: The four-congregation partnership is entitled to two votes, that
of a pastor who serves the four-congregation partnership and a lay delegate, both chosen by the four-congregation partnership.
Article V of the Synod’s Constitution states: “At the meetings of the
districts of the Synod, every congregation or parish is entitled to two
votes, one of which is to be cast by the pastor and the other by the lay
delegate.”
In its Opinion 03-2327 (January 20–21, 2003), the Commission on Constitutional Matters opined with respect to Article V the opinion, “Voting
Rights of Congregations,” included the definition of the term “parish”
and addressed a multiple-congregation arrangement.
“In the May 3–4, 1985 ruling (Ag. 1748), the commission ratified an
opinion that had been offered by the Secretary of the Synod regarding the voting rights of congregations at district conventions when
several congregations form a dual or multiple parish, namely, ‘that a
multiple parish has only two votes, that of the pastor who serves the
parish and a lay delegate chosen by the parish.’
“This opinion took into consideration earlier versions of the Handbook that had provided a definition of the term ‘parish,’ e.g., ‘If a
pastor serves two or more congregations, these shall be regarded as
one parish and shall be entitled to only one lay vote’ (1963 Handbook, Bylaw 3.09). The term [parish] therefore refers to a dual or
multiple-congregation arrangement served by the same pastor and is
not synonymous with ‘congregation.’ As such, two or more congre-

2013 Convention Workbook

gations are served by one pastor share the right of representation by
one lay delegate and one pastoral delegate to a district convention.”
The four-congregation partnership constitutes one “parish” as defined
above.

Article V of the Constitution, however, does not specifically address the issue of voting at forums of circuits. Voting at the forums
of circuits is addressed in the Bylaws. Bylaw 3.1.2.1 describes the
policy and process of voting at meetings of electoral circuits for the
purpose of selecting the delegates of that circuit to conventions of
the national Synod.
Bylaw 3.1.2.1 (c) delineates who has the privilege of voting in
these electoral circuit meetings. It specifies that the vote is exercised
by one pastor and one layperson from each member congregation
of the circuit, who are selected in the manner prescribed by the congregation. A second sentence then continues and specifies that each
congregation in a multiple-congregation parish is entitled to a lay
vote. The second sentence was added to the Handbook in 1973 incorporating rulings from the Commission on Constitutional Matters
in 1968 and 1970:
142. Right to Vote for Convention Delegates: The Secretary of the
Southern District had phoned Sommermeyer asking whether each congregation is entitled to vote in the election of the delegate to a synodical convention or only each parish. The commission resolved to inform
Secretary Kleinhans of its interpretation that each congregation in a
multiple parish is entitled to a separate vote. (June 13–14, 1968 minutes
of the Commission on Constitutional Matters)
115. Election of Convention Delegates, Bylaw 1.53: The commission
formally ruled that each congregation in a multiple parish is entitled to
a lay ballot in this matter but that a pastor of a dual or multiple parish
should cast only one ballot.

The 1973 resolution adopting this insertion into the Handbook
states in part:
Whereas, The bylaw on the election of delegates to synodical conventions is derived from the terms of the Constitution which explicitly
describe the Synod to be a federation of congregations which alone possess the franchise and have the power to determine who shall exercise
the pastoral and lay vote at synodical conventions.

Since the right to vote belongs to congregations, therefore at the
circuit forum to elect delegates to the conventions of the national
Synod, each congregation of a multiple-congregation parish is entitled
to one vote from a lay member of that congregation as expressly allowed by Bylaw 3.1.2.1 (c).
In the case of the pastor/pastors in a multiple-congregation parish
the situation is different. He/they are called by and serve the whole. In
a multiple-congregation parish with more than one pastor, these pastors are still pastors of the entire multiple-congregation parish and not
simply one of the congregations. Even if a pastor primarily serves one
of the congregations, he remains a pastor of the whole. Therefore only
one pastor would be eligible to represent the multiple-congregation
parish at meetings of the circuit forum to elect delegates to a convention of the national Synod. The Bylaws do not grant pastors a similar
exception as given for the laity.
Question 2: In the case of a dual parish with two called pastors, may
both pastors of this dual parish vote at the circuit forum
to select a circuit counselor, each pastor representing a
different congregation (governed by Bylaws 5.2.2 [c]
and 5.3.2)?
Opinion: No. In contrast to lay representatives to circuit forums
who are affiliated with only one congregation, a pastor/pastors of a
multiple-congregation parish is/are called by and serve the whole.
Therefore only one pastor of a multiple-congregation parish that
has more than one pastor is entitled to vote for the multiple-con-