LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — January 28, 2004, Page 6

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Question 3:

LCMS Bylaw 3.101 C 11 provides that the President shall “be authorized, in the event that
the affairs of the Synod require the exercise of executive power for a purpose for which
there is no specific directive of the Synod, to exercise such power after consultation with
the Vice-Presidents, the Board of Directors of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod or
the Council of Presidents, whichever, in his judgment, is most appropriate.” What, if any,
are the constitutional or bylaw definitions, boundaries, or limits of such “executive power”?

Opinion: The general duties of the President and the power to fulfill those duties are described in Article
XI B of the Constitution and in Bylaw 3.101. The term “executive power” is not used in the Constitution
of the Synod. The term does appear in Bylaw 3.101 C 10, which directs that the President shall “exercise
executive power when the affairs of the Synod demand it and when he has been expressly invested with
such power by the Synod in convention,” and in paragraph c 11 of that bylaw as quoted in the question
above.
Article XI B of the Constitution defines the duties of the President and inherently the power to carry out
those duties as follows:
B. Duties of the President
1. The President has the supervision regarding the doctrine and the administration of
a. All officers of the Synod;
b. All such as are employed by the Synod;
c. The individual Districts of the Synod;
d. All District Presidents.
2. It is the President's duty to see to it that all the aforementioned act in accordance with the
Synod's Constitution, to admonish all who in any way depart from it, and, if such admonition is not
heeded, to report such cases to the Synod.
3. The President has and always shall have the power to advise, admonish, and reprove. He
shall conscientiously use all means at his command to promote and maintain unity of doctrine and
practice in all the Districts of the Synod.
4. The President shall see to it that the resolutions of the Synod are carried out.
5. When the Synod meets in convention the President shall give a report of his administration.
He shall conduct the sessions of the convention so that all things are done in a Christian manner and
in accord with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod.
6. It is the duty of the President, or an officer of the Synod appointed by the President, to be
present at the meetings of the Districts, to advise them, and to report at the next session of the
Synod.
7. The President shall perform all additional duties assigned to him by the Bylaws or by special
resolution of the Synod in convention.
8. When matters arise between meetings of the Synod in convention which are of such a nature
that action thereon cannot be delayed until the next convention, the President is authorized to submit
them to a written vote of the member congregations of the Synod only after full and complete
information regarding the matter has been sent to member congregations by presidential letter and
has been published in an official periodical of the Synod. If such matters are related to the business
affairs of the Synod, such a vote shall be conducted only after the President has consulted with the
synodical Board of Directors. In all cases at least one-fourth of the member congregations must
register their vote.
The Bylaws further define the President’s powers and duties in Bylaw 3.101, dividing those powers and
duties as to ecclesiastical, administrative, and those which are both ecclesia stical and administrative. The
President, together with all the officers of the Synod, is limited in his powers by Article XI A 1 of the

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