LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — September 3-4, 2011, Page 7

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a copy of its “Frequently Noted Concerns and Aberrations Document” to assist the district in preparing
documents that mirror grammatical usage in the Handbook and other publications of the Synod.
52. Ecclesiastical Supervision and Right to Dissent (11-2589)
In a letter dated April 4, 2011, a pastor of the Synod submitted background information and questions
pertaining to organizations of members within the Synod as well as individual members and congregation
members of the Synod; the ecclesiastical supervisory duties of the President, vice-presidents, and district
presidents of the Synod; and several formal related opinions of the Commission on Constitutional
Matters. After inviting and receiving input from involved officers and agencies of the Synod in
accordance with Bylaw 3.9.2.2 (b), the commission responded to the questioner as follows.
Among the questions and concerns expressed by the questioner were issues and concerns outside the
authority and responsibility of the commission to address, because they did not involve interpretation of
the Synod’s Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions. The questioner is urged to submit such concerns to his
ecclesiastical supervisor and, as necessary, through the Synod’s processes of ecclesiastical supervision
and dispute resolution.
The questioner provided background to the commission regarding an organization of pastors and lay
people called the “Association of Confessing Evangelical Lutheran Churches” (ACELC), which has sent
out the document “A Fraternal Admonition to Correct Errors of our Beloved Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod, July 15, 2010” and other documents. It was this organization’s published documents that resulted
in the concerns of the questioner.
The member asked questions surrounding four primary issues associated with the Constitution, Bylaws,
and resolutions of the Synod, as follows:
Issue 1: Under the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod, must individual members or
congregational members of the Synod follow the dissent procedures of the Synod if they
disagree with or dissent from any of the Synod’s stated doctrinal resolutions or statements?
Issue 2: Under the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod, must individual members or
congregational members of the Synod follow the dispute resolution processes of the Synod if
they have a dispute with another member of the Synod involving theological, doctrinal, or
ecclesiastical issues?
Issue 3: Under the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod, what authority does an individual
or congregational member of the Synod have in regard to ecclesiastical supervision in the
LCMS?
Issue 4: Under the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod, what consequences are there if an
individual member or a congregational member of the Synod disagrees with or dissents from any
of the Synod’s doctrinal resolutions or statements and does not follow the dissent processes of
the Synod; and what consequences are there if an individual member or a congregational
member of the Synod publicizes that another member of the Synod is not upholding the Synod’s
Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions, doing so in a manner that does not honor the dispute
resolution process of the Synod; and what consequences are there if an individual or a
congregational member of the Synod attempt themselves or become a part of an organization
which attempts to usurp the ecclesiastical supervision given to those persons authorized by the
Synod to exercise ecclesiastical supervision?
The commission responded to each of these issues as follows.
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