LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — June 27, 2002, Page 1

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MINUTES
COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
June 27, 2002

50. Call to Order and Prayer
Chairman Walter Tesch called the telephone conference call meeting to order with all members
participating except Norman Sincebaugh who was not able to take part due to illness.
President Gerald Kieschnick was granted opportunity to speak to the Commission. He was asked to open
the meeting with prayer, following which he spoke briefly to the Commission and provided further
background and explanation of the question he has submitted.
51. Question re Notification of Suspended Status of a District President (02-2279)
The President of the Synod in a June 26, 2002 e-mail message requested an opinion regarding his ongoing ecclesiastical responsibilities in the case of a District President on suspended status, with particular
reference to Bylaw 2.25 d.
Question:

“When the member on suspended status is a District President whose ecclesiastical
supervisor, the Synodical President (Bylaws 3.101 and 2.27 g), has been disqualified on the
basis of Bylaw 2.27 a. 1. from investigating the complaints brought against the District
President, is it nevertheless the responsibility of the Synodical President to carry out Bylaw
2.25 d. 2. and 3., or does that responsibility belong to the officer of the Synod who has been
charged on the basis of Bylaw 2.27 a. 1. with investigating the complaints brought against the
District President?”

Opinion: The President of the Synod is the ecclesiastical supervisor of all District Presidents
(Constitution Art. XI B; Bylaw 3.101 A 1). He continues to have this ecclesiastical supervisory
responsibility under the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod also when a District President is on
suspended status, even though he may have been disqualified from investigating complaints brought
against the District President on the basis of Bylaw 2.27 a 1.
Under ordinary circumstances, when formal proceedings are commenced against a District President
under the procedure set forth in Bylaw 2.27, the President of the Synod is responsible for carrying out its
requirements (Bylaw 2.27 g). When he is disqualified on the basis of Bylaw 2.27 a 1, “the next qualified
officer of the Synod shall function in the place of the President” (Bylaw 2.27 g).
Bylaw 2.25, which provides the conditions and requirements of suspended status, states in its final
paragraph f: “If the member on suspended status is a District President, the duties assigned to the District
President under sections d and e hereof shall be performed by the next proper successor District officer.”
The responsibilities outlined in Bylaw 2.25 d 2 and 3, therefore, belong neither to the President of the
Synod nor to the next qualified officer of the Synod but to the next proper successor District officer.
In the case of the suspension of a District President, therefore, it will be necessary for the investigating
officer of the Synod, whether the President or the next qualified officer, to inform the next proper
successor District officer of the suspension, which officer will then be responsible for performing the
duties described in paragraphs d and e of Bylaw 2.25.