LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — July 13–19, 2007, Page 13

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VI. Signatures
[The chairman and secretary of the committee shall sign the final decision on behalf of the committee.]
_______________________________
Chairman

_____________________________
Secretary

_______________________________
Date

210. Voting Delegate and Restricted Status (07-2497)
On June 13, 2007, the Commission on Constitutional Matters received a request from the President of the
Synod with respect to a pastor on restricted status serving as a voting delegate to a Synod convention.
Question:

Does such restricted status, imposed after the pastor was duly elected to be a voting delegate,
affect his status as a voting delegate to the convention?

Opinion: Under the provision of Restricted Status, Bylaw 2.13.3.2 states:
An individual member of the Synod on restricted status is ineligible to
(a) perform functions of ministry except in the position of service, if any, held at the
inception of restricted status and otherwise only if approved by the district president; and
(b) accept a call to any other position of service in the Synod.
This provision (Bylaw 2.13.3.2), unlike the provision under Suspended Status (Bylaw 2.13.5.2), does not
explicitly relieve an individual member of the Synod of one’s membership duties (e.g., as a delegate to a
district or Synod convention or as a member of any district or Synod board or commission).
Thus restricted status does not affect one’s status as a voting delegate to a convention of the district or
national Synod.
211. Disability Issues (07-2498)
The Commission received a letter from a district president, dated June 29, 2007, asking questions
regarding possible actions by a congregation when its pastor is placed on disability. The Commission
asked the Secretary to respond that the question does not involve an interpretation of the Constitution and
Bylaws of the LCMS but is a matter of local congregational governance. The Commission notes and
supports the intention that the question is also being sent to the CTCR.
212. Specific Ministry Pastor Program (07-2499)
A pastor of the Synod, in a letter dated July 9, 2007, asked a question regarding the proposed Specific
Ministry Pastor Program to come before the 2007 convention. After introductory comments regarding the
status of specific ministry pastors and their relationship with other pastors, he asked the following
question.
Question:

In view of the foregoing, would not the implementation of the Specific Ministry Pastor
Program require a change of the Synod’s Constitution, and would that not require a twothirds majority approval of the congregations of the Synod after the convention?

Opinion: The implementation of the program will not require a change of the Synod’s Constitution and
therefore will not require a two-thirds majority approval of the congregations of the Synod after the
convention.
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