LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — October 16–18, 2005, Page 4

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Standard Operating Procedures Manual, which shall serve as a comprehensive procedures manual for
this bylaw.” Resolution 8-01A even more explicitly states that the Board is to develop such a manual and
amend it as necessary. The Board for University Education is therefore required, in consultation with the
Commission on Constitutional Matters, to develop and maintain a operating procedures manual that will
set forth in detail a standard manner for carrying out the provisions of Bylaw 3.8.3.8.9 by any and all
boards of regents of the Synod’s educational institutions, to be applied in all cases dealing with
complaints arising out of Bylaw 3.8.3.8.5 and other such bylaws. This Standard Operating Procedures
Manual is to be made available to and for the benefit of each board of regents, the president of each
educational institution, the parties in a dispute, each Review Committee that is formed, and others as
necessary or required.
The Commission recommends that the Board for University Education proceed to develop the required
manual for Bylaw 3.8.3.8.9, referring for resource help to the standard operating procedures manuals
already developed by the Commission and the Council of Presidents for Bylaw sections 1.10, 2.14, and
2.17. Upon its development, the Bylaw 3.8.3.8.9 manual should be submitted to the Commission on
Constitutional Matters for review.
79. Conduct of Board of Directors and Its Chairman (05-2432)
In a July 11, 2005 letter, a pastor of the Synod submitted a series of questions regarding the conduct of
the Board of Directors and of its chairman in regard to 2004 convention Resolution 7-21. The questions
were forwarded to the Board of Directors and the Synod’s legal counsel for consultation, but a response
had not been received from the Board in time for this meeting. The Board will be informed that this
matter will be placed on the agenda of the Commission’s November 28–29, 2005 meeting and that the
Commission anticipates a response from the Board prior to that meeting.
80. Dissent by a Member Congregation of the Synod (05-2433)
In a letter dated July 26, 2005, a district president asked for an opinion regarding the manner in which a
congregation may express its dissent to decisions of the Synod.
Question:

If a congregation dissents, would Bylaw 1.8.2 of the 2004 LCMS Handbook apply and, if so,
what steps would they follow to express their dissent? Who would be their peers, and where
and how would they verbalize their dissent?

Opinion: The question is correct in recognizing that a congregation has the right of dissent based on its
membership in the Synod (Article V of the Constitution). The right of brotherly dissent is granted to
members of the Synod, including congregations, in Bylaw section 1.8.
Bylaw 1.8.2 is silent on the question of steps to be taken by congregations to express dissent, including
who would be their peers and how they would verbalize their dissent. However, the following paragraph
of a 1969 CCM opinion on dissenting groups, “An Opinion Regarding Dissenting Groups and Activities
Within the Synod,” is helpful in understanding who may be included in the fellowship of peers:
Christians as well as non-Christians expect differences of opinion and judgment to arise
when people walk together. The Synod has provided for forums in which such
differences can be discussed and evaluated beyond the confines of the local congregation.
The pastors and teacher conferences; the circuit meetings; the synodical and district
board, commission, and committee meetings; the doctrinal supervision and appeals
procedures; and above all the conventions of the districts and of the Synod provide the
proper channels through which the issues of opinion and judgment are to be discussed

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