LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — January 23-24, 2010, Page 4

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Accordingly, I respectfully request that the commission prepare a succinct yet
comprehensive review and summary of the topics addressed by CCM Opinions 02-2309
and any subsequent opinions, reports, resolutions, or other documents that pertain thereto.
Although Opinion 02-2309 was issued over seven years ago and has been reviewed by two subsequent
conventions of the Synod, the fact that it continues to attract attention and misunderstanding warrants this
further review and summary. As noted, this subject has also been periodically addressed in prior Opinions
02-2296, 02-2320, and 03-2338 A–C.
Opinion: In forming the Synod, the founding members established both the conditions and requirements
for joining and the circumstances under which membership could be removed against a member’s will.
For the protection of its members and in order to avoid unintended, unwarranted, or arbitrary attempts to
terminate membership, the Synod also established as part of its initial formation a system of ecclesiastical
supervision, and imposed upon the supervisors it selected the responsibility on behalf of the Synod itself
to keep members apprised of those actions which might place membership in jeopardy. 1
Article XIII 1 2 of the Synod’s Constitution protects members from unwitting loss of membership by
requiring prior futile admonition before expulsion. The term “admonition” by definition suggests that one
is advised of the appropriateness or inappropriateness of a course of action. Admonition cannot by
definition be futile until given and subsequently ignored or rejected. The Synod’s theological positions
are determined by the collective understanding of the Synod as expressed in convention, not by the
individual understanding of ecclesiastical supervisors. Opinion 02-2309 is not an expression of our
theology, but rather of our ecclesiastical polity. As a Synod it grants that a member can look to the
ecclesiastical supervisors provided by the Synod for such counsel, advice, and admonition as may be
necessary to avoid taking actions which might result in one’s unintended expulsion.
The Synod and all its members have acknowledged the joint confession contained in Article II of the
Constitution 3 and the conditions of membership as set forth in Article VI. 4 A necessary corollary to the
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Constitution, Article III Objectives
The Synod, under Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, shall—…
8. Provide evangelical supervision, counsel, and care for pastors, teachers, and other professional
church workers of the Synod in the performance of their official duties;
9. Provide protection for congregations, pastors, teachers, and other church workers in the
performance of their official duties and the maintenance of their rights;….
Constitution, Article XIII Expulsion from the Synod
1. Members who act contrary to the confession laid down in Article II and to the conditions of
membership laid down in Article VI or persist in an offensive conduct, shall, after previous futile
admonition, be expelled from the Synod.

Constitution, Article II Confession
The Synod, and every member of the Synod, accepts without reservation:
1. The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament as the written Word of God and the only rule and
norm of faith and of practice;
2. All the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement
and exposition of the Word of God, to wit: the three Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostles' Creed, the
Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed), the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the
Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Large Catechism of Luther, the Small Catechism of
Luther, and the Formula of Concord.

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