LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — December 13, 2003, Page 4

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In addressing accountability of the District President and the President of the Synod, Article XII 7 of the
Constitution provides that "the District President shall, moreover, especially exercise supervision over the
doctrine, life, and administration of office of the ordained and commissioned ministers of their District
...." Who then exercises ecclesiastical supervision over a District President? Bylaw 3.101 A 1 provides,
"The President of the Synod has ecclesiastical supervision of all officers of the Synod and its agencies,
the individual Districts of the Synod, and all District Presidents." Who then has ecclesiastical supervision
of the President of The Synod? Neither the Constitution nor the Bylaws provide a specific answer to that
question. However, in 1992 the Commission issued an opinion (Ag. 1915), which has not been overruled
by any subsequent convention of the Synod. That opinion provided in part as follows: The Synod has a
right to call its officers to account and to remove them from office in accordance with Christian procedure
(Article XI 2). The Commission then commented, "It would seem that the only recourse is an appeal to
the convention of the Synod.…”
223. President and Board of Directors’ Appointments (03-2371)
In a letter received September 29, 2003, an ordained member of the Synod submitted a series of questions
regarding the President’s right and the Board of Directors’ practice of making board and commission
appointments for the new triennium prior to the end of the previous triennium.
Question 1: CCM 01-2231 addresses the question, “May a President-elect of the Synod make
appointments, which a President is required to make under the Bylaws, prior to being
inducted into office?” The CCM cites Bylaw 3.67 c, which applies to boards of directors as
well as the President. Would the CCM’s answer regarding the President-elect be the same,
therefore, to this similar question: “May a Board of Directors-elect of the Synod make
appointments, which a Board of Directors is required to make under the Bylaws, prior to
being inducted into office?”
Opinion: In Opinion 01-2231, the Commission referred to Bylaw 3.67, “Interim Authority,” and quoted
paragraph c: “No appointments to synodical boards or commissions shall be made and no new programs
shall be initiated by the outgoing President [or the boards of directors or elected or appointed boards or
commissions] during the interim.” The Commission concluded that “the outgoing President may not
make any appointments after the election by which his successor was chosen,” noting that the President
has no powers or duties as President, including the power and duty to make presidential appointments,
until his induction into office “on or subsequent to September 1st following the convention” (Bylaw 3.65).
This same applies to the Board of Directors of the Synod, since Bylaw 3.67 c specifically mentions
“boards of directors” as well as the President.
Question 2: Carrying the question a bit further, to before a convention rather than after a convention:
“May an outgoing Board of Directors make appointments for a new triennium prior to being
elected (or re-elected) for that new triennium by the Synod in convention?” Put another way,
“May the BOD elected for one triennium make appointments for the following triennium?
For example, may the Board of Directors that was elected by the 2001 convention for the
2001-2004 triennium make appointments to agencies, boards and commissions that will not
take office until after a new Board of Directors is elected by the 2004 national convention of
the Synod?”
Opinion: Whereas paragraph c of Bylaw 3.67 provides that no appointments are to be made to synodical
boards or commissions by the outgoing President or any other boards or commissions during the interim
between the convention and induction into office, it does not address this question. There is at present no

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