LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — February 7–8, 2009, Page 7

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sentence under H should be shown to be deleted, which is not the case in the copy of the overture
received by the commission.
The commission, upon review of the entire Bylaws document submitted with the proposed overtures,
calls attention to the following:


Under Article I A: Paragraph 2 should include reference to the need for submission of all bylaw
changes to the Synod’s Commission on Constitutional Matters for review prior to consideration
by the district’s convention.



Under Article V B: The Synod bylaw reference under Paragraph 4 should read: “(Handbook,
Bylaw sections 4.7 and 3.12).”



Under Article V H: Here again, the date “August 1” in the first sentence in paragraph 1 should be
shown to be deleted.

(E) Southern Illinois District (08-2543)
With an e-mailed letter dated January 25, 2009, the president of the Southern Illinois District submitted a
copy of an overture to be presented to the district convention advocating a single bylaw change to
eliminate all references to a particular commission of the district. After review, the commission approved
the proposed change.
76. LCMS Foundation Amendments to Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (08-2539)
In a December 9, 2008 letter the LCMS Foundation submitted amendments to its Articles of Incorporation
and Bylaws adding a new section providing for the indemnification of officers and trustees, re-numbering
certain internal cross-references, and permitting two (instead of one) elected trustees to be from the same
district of the Synod. After brief discussion, the changes to the documents were approved as presented.
77. “Binding Force” Convention Resolutions (08-2542)
A pastor of the Synod in a December 30, 2008 letter requested on opinion regarding the “binding force”
of resolutions of the Synod in light of the commission’s use of that terminology in its Opinion 08-2524.
The commission asked the secretary to send letters to the Council of Presidents and the President of the
Synod to allow them opportunity to submit in writing information regarding the matter at issue (Bylaw
3.9.2.2 [b]).
78. Constitution Article VI Terminology (09-2544)
In a December 1, 2008 letter addressed to the Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM) and the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR), a district president requested definitions of key
terms in Article VI of the Synod’s Constitution, such as “unionism,” “separatism,” “heterodox,” “mixed
confession,” etc. The CCM discussed the request in light of prior opinions by the commission touching on
the subject of this request. It was agreed that the CCM would suggest that the CTCR take the lead in
addressing the theological questions at issue, after which the CCM would respond to any remaining
constitutional or bylaw questions. The secretary of the commission was asked to communicate with the
CTCR in this regard, sharing a copy of the prior opinions of the CCM on this subject.
79. Voting Rights of Congregations (09-2545)
In a January 18, 2009 e-mailed letter, a parish pastor requested an opinion with respect to the
representation of a four-congregation partnership (a multiple parish) at a district convention.
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