LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 1, 2001, Page 4

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If a person is hired after pledging full compliance with the stated positions of the Synod and fails
to honor that commitment, one of the causes for which members of a faculty may be removed
from office is “advocacy of false doctrine (Constitution, Art. II) or failure to honor and uphold the
doctrinal position of the Synod as defined further in Bylaw 1.09” (Bylaw 6.43 c 6).
In other words, the Bylaws of the Synod and prior rulings of the Commission establish that rostered and
lay members of faculties are held to the same standard of conduct. Accordingly, Bylaw 6.47, as it
describes the process to be followed when a board of regents receives a complaint against a member of a
school faculty or administration, does not distinguish between rostered and lay faculty members: “If the
Board of Regents receives a complaint against that institution’s faculty or administration concerning any
matter…,” a commonality that continues throughout the process until the Review Committee issues its
decision and the Board of Regents takes appropriate action.
The action of the board is final in most cases. However, Bylaw 6.47 g provides that when the complaint
involves “5. Conduct unbecoming a Christian; 6. Advocacy of false doctrine (Constitution, Art. II) or
failure to honor and uphold the doctrinal position of the Synod as defined further in Bylaw 1.09” (Bylaw
6.43 c), the complainant “may take the complaint to the District President.” If the Review Committee
finds grounds to establish a violation of Bylaw 6.43 c 5-6, Bylaw 6.47 h requires that it “must refer the
complaint to the District President” in order that “the procedure set forth in Bylaw 2.27” may be followed
prior to final action by the Board of Regents. Bylaw 2.27 deals with action to terminate an individual’s
membership in the Synod. If the person in question is not a member of the Synod, that bylaw is
inapplicable. It is not possible to terminate a membership that does not exist in the first instance.
The Commission rules, therefore, that complaints against lay members of a faculty are to be handled in
the same manner as complaints against rostered workers, except that the process ends with action by the
Board of Regents, since it is not possible to apply Bylaw 2.27 to one who is not a member of Synod. The
action of the Board of Regents will be final as to one who is not a member of Synod. However, that
action is subject to review by the Synod’s President under Bylaw 3.101, subsections 2 and 5, which allow
the President to visit the Synod’s educational institutions, call up for review any action that may violate
the Constitution, Bylaws or resolutions of the Synod and request that it be reversed. The President is to
report an unsatisfactory response to the Board of Directors, this Commission, or the Synod in convention,
as appropriate, for further action.
215. Question re District Membership and Ecclesiastical Supervision of Rostered Workers Called
or Appointed by Recognized Service Organizations (01-2234)
An executive director of a program board of the Synod in a letter dated October 17, 2001, brought
forward a question that arose in his conversations with a District President regarding District membership
and ecclesiastical supervision of two pastors called by a Recognized Service Organization.
Question:

When a pastor accepts a call from a Recognized Service Organization, to which
District will he belong and from which District President will he receive his
ecclesiastical supervision?

Response: A church worker who is called by a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) remains an
active member of the Synod (Bylaw 2.15 j) so long as the following requirements are met:
§

He or she must be a communicant member of a congregation which is a member of the Synod
(Bylaw 2.15) and must be regularly performing the duties of an executive or professional
staff member of the RSO (Bylaw 2.15 j).

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