LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — December 13, 2003, Page 3

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3.905 d provides that "an opinion rendered by the commission shall be binding on the question decided
unless and until it is overruled by a synodical convention."
Further, regarding the issues of evangelical and ecclesiastical supervision, responsibility, and
accountability, the Commission calls attention to the following: In the formation of our synodical union,
“the Synod, under Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions” established various objectives including
“evangelical supervision, counsel, and care for pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers of
the Synod in the performance of their official duties” and “protection for congregations, pastors, teachers,
and other church workers in the performance of their official duties and the maintenance of their rights”
(Article III 8 and 9). [Emphasis added]
Bylaw 3.51 k defines ecclesiastical supervision as follows: “…ecclesiastical supervision shall be
determined exclusively by those Bylaws pertaining to ecclesiastical supervision.” Among the bylaws that
primarily address this issue are Bylaw 3.101 which relates to the President of the Synod and Bylaws
4.71−4.75 which relate to District Presidents. Both segments of the Bylaws indicate that the President of
the Synod and a District President have the duty to "supervise the doctrine" and “see to it that” the
Constitution and Bylaws and resolutions of the Synod are carried out as part of their respective areas of
responsibility (cf. Constitution Article XI b and Article XII 7 & 8).
Therefore, this Synod-provided ecclesiastical supervision, which is neither a matter of giving permission
nor exercising legislative control or coercive power (Article VII) but is one of giving advice and counsel,
is circumscribed and exercised not by the will of the ecclesiastical supervisor, not by individual
interpretation, and not by public opinion or by groups within or outside of Synod but by the collective
will of the congregations of the Synod in convention. This also holds true in administering the
supervisory and disciplinary provisions of the Bylaws in carrying out Article XIII of the Constitution.
Under the authority of the Synod, the ecclesiastical supervisor does what he has been authorized and
directed to do on behalf of the Synod and is accountable to the Synod in convention.
Thus, Opinion 02-2309 opined that in the forming of the Synod, one of the objectives and protections of
the Synod itself was that the Synod was to provide for ecclesiastical supervisors, and inherent in such
supervision is that those so supervised can reasonably rely on the counsel and advice in the performance
of their official duties without having to fear that actions taken in accord therewith will place their very
membership in the Synod at risk. That is not to say, however, that the advice will always be correct and
that therefore the member’s action is correct. It is noted in Opinion 02-2309 “that when an ecclesiastical
supervisor discovers error in his counsel, it is incumbent upon that supervisor to correct or amend it. The
member should then be held to consider the corrected counsel.” The protections of the Synod as
expressed in Opinion 02-2309 are protections of one’s membership in the Synod and not a protection
from the duty and responsibility to constantly consider the appropriateness of one’s actions in view of the
Word of God. No one is immune from responsible, God-pleasing conduct and behavior or personal
accountability before God.
The Commission also calls attention to the language of Opinion 02-2309. Both in the second to last
paragraph of the answer to Question 1 and in answer to Question 2, the opinion specifically references
official duty and action, not personal offensive conduct. The opinion notes in Question 1 that “the Synod
has promised its individual members supervision and counsel when the member is performing his/her
official duties.” The answer to Question 2 concludes that “the Synod is precluded from taking any action
to terminate the membership of its member who, when performing his/her official duties, follows the
advice and counsel of the ecclesiastical supervisor designated by the Synod” (emphases added). Thus,
personal offensive conduct or conduct that is illegal or criminal can certainly not be included in the
context of the quoted prior opinion.

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