LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — April 29, 2003, Page 17

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Opinion: While the officers of the Synod are responsible to the extent of their various responsibilities for
seeing to it that the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions, including CCM opinions, are carried out,
Article XI A 1 of the Constitution provides that “the officers of the Synod must assume only such rights
as have been expressly conferred upon them by the Synod.” None of the officers mentioned have been
expressly given the right to intervene in the dispute resolution process of the Synod. In its prior Opinion
02-2304 the CCM opined that not even a convention of the Synod can take any action relative to a final
decision of a matter in dispute. In matters pertaining to the dispute resolution process, it is the business of
investigating officers and panels, not officers and not even conventions, to become informed of and to
make application of all pertinent CCM rulings in given cases.
Question 5:

This opinion [01-2253], which predated the more recent CCM rulings which say that if a
person has sought authorization/permission or approval from his supervisor and has
received it based on the supervisor’s interpretation then the charges are obviously invalid,
would make sense in situations where such actions did not take place. However, surely it
would be recognized that if the charges are determined invalid, the process would not
continue, because to do that would continue to cause harm to the individual as well as to
the Synod. Thus my request for the CCM to review both the more recent rulings and the
one you cite above to determine if the earlier one still makes sense or whether it should be
set aside in circumstances such as the present one and after the newer rulings.

Opinion: Upon your request, the Commission has reviewed the rulings in question and concludes that
there is no reason to set aside Opinion 01-2253, for reasons included in the opinions provided to questions
1-4.
154. Discontinuance of Church Work Program (03-2335)
In a memorandum dated February 21, 2003, the President of the Concordia University System submitted
the following question regarding the discontinuance of the BA Deaconess program at Concordia
University, River Forest by the Board for Higher Education/Concordia University System Board at the
request of the university’s Board of Regents.
Question:

May the BHE/CUS Board discontinue a church work program, (in this case the BA
Deaconess program at River Forest) which was established by synodical resolution, without
submitting its intent to a synodical convention?

Opinion: Individual education programs may be established by colleges and universities of the Concordia
University System in various ways, including action by the Synod in convention under Chapter III of the
Bylaws as a result of the recommendations of the Board for Higher Education pursuant to Bylaw 3.409
(particularly paragraph b) or upon initiation by the Board of Regents of a particular institution in
coordination with the Board for Higher Education, as outlined in Bylaw 6.03 d. Unless restricted by an
action of the Synod in convention, the decision-making responsibility for the nature and extent of ongoing
programs, including the discontinuance of a particular program, falls to the authority both of the
individual institution’s Board of Regents under Bylaw 6.03 (in coordination with the Board for Higher
Education) and with the Board for Higher Education on its own initiative under Bylaw 3.409 (particularly
paragraphs c and k).
Resolution 6-05 of the 1979 convention authorized the Board for Higher Education to direct Concordia
College, River Forest, Illinois to establish a full deaconess training program on its campus by the fall of
1980. The convention recognized (in the resolution’s third whereas) that it was possible to add the
deaconess program without adding curriculum or academic staff. It is within the ongoing responsibilities
of the Board of Higher Education as well as the local Board of Regents to continue to monitor the
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