LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 28−29, 2005, Page 14

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8. District presidents are empowered to suspend from membership ordained and
commissioned ministers for persistently adhering to false doctrine or for having given
offense by an ungodly life, in accordance with such procedure as shall be set forth in
the Bylaws of the Synod. (Art. XII)
The ecclesiastical and administrative powers and duties of the President of the Synod provide remedy for
the matter as set forth in Bylaws 3.3.1.1, 3.3.1.2, and 3.3.1.3, as do the duties of the district president as
set forth especially in Bylaws 4.4.4–4.4.6.
110. New Jersey District Bylaws (05-2448)
The president of the New Jersey District forwarded the proposed amended Bylaws of his district for
review by the Commission prior to their submission for convention action. Upon careful review of the
entire document and the proposed amendments, the Commission offers the following in response.
•

For the sake of uniformity, the Commission recommends that care be taken to follow the same
principles for capitalization etc., in district documents that are used by the Synod in its Handbook,
e.g., reserving capitalization for proper nouns. References to documents such as the Handbook of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod should also be uniform.

•

It is unclear how the district will develop and approve its budget if the proposed amendments are
approved. Synod Bylaw 4.5.1 (c) requires district boards of directors to be guided by the
functions of the Synod’s Board of Directors, which includes the responsibility for adopting an
annual budget (paragraph (b) (2) of Bylaw 3.3.5.5). Synod Bylaw 4.5.1 (d) requires district
boards to “allocate necessary funds for the support of the national and district budgets.”

•

The district should consider including in its Bylaws a paragraph under section I “District
Organization” that states that the Constitution and primary Bylaws of the district are the
Constitution and Bylaws of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

•

Under 2.01, it would be helpful to identify The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod by its full
name.

•

Under 2.02, clarification that the “voting members” referred to are the voting congregations of the
district will be helpful.

•

Under 2.03, paragraph a is unclear when applied to multiple congregation parishes and does not
specify that only the administrative pastor or an associate pastor may serve as a delegate.

•

The title line of 3.11 should include reference to the district president for uniformity with the
other title lines in this section.

•

Under 3.11, the reference to the president carrying out his supervisory responsibilities through the
district board of directors should be clarified to refer to his administrative duties and not his
ecclesiastical supervisory responsibilities.

•

Under 3.13, the positions listed are not defined elsewhere in the Bylaws. In addition, the
appointments of council members by the president is not listed.

•

Under 3.22, the second sentence would better read: “The remaining vacancy shall be filled from
the nominees left after the previous election.”

•

Under 3.40, is it possible for the district treasurer personally to “keep an exact record of all
moneys received and expended” or does he rather assume responsibility that this is done?

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