LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 315

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OPINIONS OF COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
additional provision allowing a congregation to initiate a request for
a transfer to another district and therefore was not in conflict with
Bylaw 4.03 a,b,c [2010 Bylaw 4.1.1.3]. The Bylaw 4.1.1.4 provision
for transfer of congregations between districts applies even though it
has the effect of changing the boundaries of the districts.
(Adopted April 13–14, 2012)

Confessional Standard—Treatise on the Power and
Primacy of the Pope (12-2638)
In an April 10, 2012 emailed letter, a district secretary asked for
an opinion from the commission regarding the requirement by his
district’s Constitutional Review Committee that the Treatise on the
Power and Primacy of the Pope be specifically listed with the other
symbolical books in the confessional paragraphs of congregations’
constitutions.
Opinion: The commission is aware of differing opinions regarding
the specific listing of the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the
Pope as one of the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church. The list provided in Article II of the Synod’s Constitution,
for example, has never included mention of the Treatise (reflecting
the document’s association historically with the Smalcald Articles).
At the same time, instances of specific listings of the Treatise as
one of the confessional documents in the Book of Concord can be
found in various materials published by the Synod.11
Whether separately listed or not, the inclusion of the Treatise
on the Power and Primacy of the Pope in the content of the Book of
Concord is not questioned. Any insistence, therefore, that the treatise
be listed as an expectation of membership in the Synod is excessive
on the part of a district constitution committee, whose responsibility it is “to ascertain that [member congregations’ constitutions and
bylaws] are in harmony with Holy Scripture, the Confessions, and the
teachings and practices of the Synod” (Bylaws 2.2.1 [b]; 2.4.1 [b]).
(Adopted April 13–14, 2012)

Prior Approval of CUS Theological Faculty (12-2643)
In a May 4, 2012, emailed letter, the interim executive director of
the Board of Directors of Concordia University System indicated a
problem and then asked two questions of the commission.
In accord with Bylaw 3.9.2.2 (b), the commission notified the
boards of regents of the Synod’s colleges and universities, the boards
of regents of the seminaries, and the Synod President, allowing them
to submit in writing information regarding the matters at issue. Prior
to finalizing this opinion, the commission also consulted with the
Commission on Handbook, given that commission’s conventionmandated responsibility to participate in updating the 2010 Handbook
(2010 Res. 8-12A) and to bring it into harmony with resolutions and
changes adopted by the Synod’s conventions (Bylaw 3.9.4.2 [b]).
Problem: Editions of the Handbook prior to 2010 contained the
following statement:
3.8.3.4 In keeping with the objectives and the Constitution, Bylaws,
and resolutions of the Synod, the Board for University Education shall…
(f) Grant approval for initial appointments of theological
faculty;…

This paragraph is not contained in the 2010 Handbook. However,
the policy is stated in the section on faculty in older editions of the
Handbook as well as the current edition.
Question 1: What is the correct text of the Handbook with regard to
prior approval of theology faculty members?
Opinion: The following portion of Bylaw 3.10.5.6.3 should be
stricken: “All initial appointments to college/university theology
faculties shall require the prior approval of the Board of Directors

315

of Concordia University System.” The following sentence should
be amended to read: “All other initial full-time appointments to college/university faculties shall require prior approval of the board
of regents and shall include a thorough theological review involving the district president and selected members of the boards of
regents.”
Prior to (and since) the 2010 Synod convention, the boards of
regents of the Synod’s colleges and universities as well as the Synod’s
seminaries had the responsibility to appoint all full-time members of
the faculty, including theological faculty. Prior to the 2010 Synod
convention, the Board for University Education also had the responsibility to grant prior approval for initial appointment of theological
faculty at the Synod’s colleges and universities. Prior to the 2010
Synod convention, the Board for Pastoral Education had similar responsibility to grant prior approval for initial faculty at the Synod’s
seminaries.
Prior to the 2010 convention, the Blue Ribbon Task Force on
Synod Structure and Governance made recommendations to the
Synod, many of which were adopted by the 2010 convention, to restructure the national office around two mission offices. Res. 8-08A
eliminated the Board for University Education and the Board for
Pastoral Education. Some of the responsibilities of the eliminated
Board for University Education were given to the boards of regents
of the colleges and universities and some were revised into the responsibilities of the Board of Directors of Concordia University System. No board other than the seminary boards of regents was given
responsibilities for the seminaries.
The responsibility to grant prior approval for initial appointments
of seminary faculty members in any body other than the boards of
regents of the seminaries was eliminated with the elimination of the
Board for Pastoral Education (2007 “Handbook Convention Version,” p. 263 of 2010 Today’s Business). Prior to the changes of the
2010 convention, a parallel reference to the responsibility to grant
prior approval of initial seminary faculties by the Board for Pastoral
Education had also been placed in the bylaw section for seminary
faculties (Bylaw 3.8.2.7.3, 2007 Handbook). This section was stricken
in the 2007 “Handbook Convention Version” (p. 286 of 2010 Today’s
Business).
The responsibility to grant approval of initial theological faculty
to the Synod’s colleges and universities was stricken from the text
of the responsibilities transferred from what had been the Board for
University Education to the Board of Directors of Concordia University System (2007 “Handbook Convention Version,” p. 256 of
2010 Today’s Business). This responsibility for prior approval of
initial theological faculty at the Synod’s colleges and universities
was then not included in the bylaws delineating the responsibilities
of the Board of Directors of Concordia University System (Bylaw
3.6.6.5, 2010 Handbook). Prior to the changes of the 2010 convention, a parallel reference to the responsibility to grant prior approval
of initial theological faculty by the Board for University Education
had been placed in the bylaw section for college and university faculties (Bylaw 3.8.3.8.3, 2007 Handbook). This section (renumbered
as 3.10.5.6.3 in the 2010 Handbook) did not get stricken in the 2007
“Handbook Convention Version,” (p. 297 of 2010 Today’s Business)
and remains in the 2010 Handbook, with the exception that the reference to the Board for University Education was changed to the Board
of Directors of Concordia University System.
The responsibility to revise the Handbook of the Synod after a
convention is that of the Commission on Handbook and the Commission on Constitutional Matters. Bylaw 3.9.4.2 (b) indicates: “In
consultation with the Commission on Constitutional Matters, [the
Commission on Handbook] shall revise the Handbook of the Synod
2013 Convention Workbook