LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 199

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9. STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION
advisory representation of the Synod’s commissions at Synod
conventions, for CTCR, providing for a single “principal staff
person” (Bylaw 3.1.4.1 [a]) to participate unless the Board of
Directors (BOD) makes an exception prior to each convention.
CTCR has two executive staff members (not just one
“principal staff person”), of whom it desires to make maximal
use at the convention and during prior floor committee work.
The BOD has regularly granted an exception to allow this, but
CTCR desires not to have to make this a standing request.
Bylaw 3.1.4.1 (a) was amended in 2016 (Res. 11-17) to include
the executive directors of the Office of National Mission and
Office of International Mission. The CTCR staff issue was left
unaddressed. The CTCR is the only commission with
executive staff. The COH has proposed the following (Item 19022).

No corresponding change has, however, been made to Synod
Bylaws to indicate explicitly that the formula is to be applied
on a pro rata basis. Noting that this is not a change to the
formula but a clarification of how the formula has historically
been applied, it is proposed to revise Bylaw 3.6.4.2.2 as follows
to reflect more clearly what is the established and ongoing
practice. The proposal leaves the definite number of delegates
to be prescribed in LCEF bylaws, where, subject to approval by
the Synod’s CCM and BOD, as well as by the LCEF
membership (Bylaws 3.6.1.7, 8 [c]), the cap may someday be
adjusted in the interest of efficient and effective membership
meetings. The COH has proposed the following (Item 19-021).

Therefore be it

PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING

Resolved, That Bylaw 3.1.4.1 (b) be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
Other Advisory Representatives
3.1.4.1
Each board and commission of the Synod shall be
represented at conventions of the Synod.
(a) Each board or commission shall be represented by
its chairman or another board or commission member
and by its principal staff person. The boards for National
and International Mission shall also be represented by
the executive directors of the Offices of National and
International Mission, respectively.
(b) Standing exceptions shall be the Board of Directors,
the Commission on Constitutional Matters, the
Commission on Handbook, and the Commission on
Theology and Church Relations, who may be
represented by as many of their membership and
executive staff as they deem necessary.
(c) Other exceptions must have the approval of the
Board of Directors of the Synod prior to each convention.

Therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.6.4.2.2 be amended as follows:
The Lutheran Church Extension Fund—Missouri Synod
…
3.6.4.2
As established by its bylaws, the members of the
Lutheran Church Extension Fund—Missouri Synod are
divided into two classes.
3.6.4.2.1 One class of members consists of the President of
the Synod or his representative, the Chief Financial Officer
of the Synod, and such additional members appointed by
the Board of Directors of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod as shall equal one for each ten members of the other
class of members.
3.6.4.2.2 The second class of members consists of
representatives of participating districts, the number
determined according to the following formula, with any
fraction rounded to the nearest whole number of a total
number set by the bylaws of The Lutheran Church
Extension Fund—Missouri Synod, with representation
allotted proportionally to the districts according to the
following formula, except that at least one representative
shall be allotted to each district:

D. LUTHERAN CHURCH EXTENSION FUND
DISTRICT MEMBERSHIP FORMULA

Baptized
Members
50,000

Rationale
The formula by which the corporate membership of The
Lutheran Church Extension Fund—Missouri Synod (LCEF) is
calculated is stated in the Bylaws of LCEF and was also copied
into the Synod Bylaws pursuant to 1983 Res. 4-03 (Proceedings,
166), presently as Bylaw 3.6.4.2.2. (Typographical errors in the
formula, present in the printed 2016 and 2019 Handbooks, have
already been corrected by the COH.)
While the formula itself has remained unchanged, the LCEF
Bylaws were amended in November 1990 to limit the total
number of district members to a maximum of 135, so that the
formula was used thereafter on a pro rata basis, to compute
the fraction of the total 135 district members to be assigned to
each district, rather than to compute a raw number of
members per district, which would have allowed the
membership to grow without bound. The formula has been
applied in this manner ever since.
Resolutions

+

+

Investments
$10,000,000

Fund
Balance × 0.010 =
$100,000

+

Investments
Baptized
Members

× 0.015 +

Number of Members per
District

E. SEMINARY AND UNIVERSITY “SURPLUS FUNDS”
Rationale
Bylaws 3.10.5.5 (e)(2) and 3.10.6.4 lack a clear definition of
“surplus institutional funds.” The BOD Governance
Committee (Minutes of the BOD, November 15–16, 2018, and
May 21–22, 2021) has addressed itself to the requirement that
such be deposited with the Chief Financial Officer of the
Synod (seminaries) or Concordia University System
(universities) for investment, the earnings being credited to
the depositing institution. It may be noted that: (1) the
requirement of Bylaw 3.10.6.4 (e)(2), dealing with the Synod’s
universities, is proposed for removal in the 2019 Res. 7-03
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 199