LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 11–13, 2011, Page 25

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Bylaw 3.353 c: The first sentence must exclude the president and vice-president from its
reference to “officers” to the extent that ecclesiastical matters are involved. Where ecclesiastical
matters are involved, the work of the district president is under the ecclesiastical supervision of
the President of the Synod.
Bylaw 3.40 a: The parenthetical reference “(Adjudication)” should be deleted (also in Bylaw
3.401 a), since the Synod no longer has an adjudication system. The same is true for Bylaw 3.401
a.
Bylaw 3.401 e and h: References to “teachers” and “pastors” should be changed to
“commissioned ministers” and “ordained ministers,” since “pastors” and “teachers” are narrow
terms referring only to pastors of congregations and classroom teachers.
Bylaws 4.03 and 4.05: Care needs to be taken to make certain terms used accomplish what is
intended. “Pastors Conference” limits the conference to participation solely by parish pastors
(4.03 a); listing “commissioned ministers” and teachers separately (4.03 b) is confusing in that
teachers already are commissioned ministers (unless non-rostered teachers are being referenced;
and the term “Teachers/Educators Conferences” (4.05 a and b) is confusing as to who is being
referenced.
Bylaw 4.03: Another 4.03 probably should be 4.06.
Bylaw 5.01 a 1: This phrase should read: “1) not contrary to the Constitution and Bylaws of the
Synod or the bylaws of the district.
Bylaw 5.03: The first sentence should read “shall be examined and approved in advance by the
Synod’s Commission on Constitutional Matters before final approval. In addition, if floor
amendments are to be allowed, they also are not to go into effect until examined and approved by
the commission.”

The commission also gave cursory consideration to the “Guidelines and Procedures for Pastors in Receipt
of a Call,” “Pastoral Conference Guidelines,” “Worker Compensation Guidelines,” “Multiple
Congregation Guidelines,” and “Conflict of Interest Policy” documents appended to the bylaws
document. In brief, the commission noted the following:
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The district will want to take care that its use of the term “interim” in reference to pastors serving
congregations corresponds with the use of the term by others in the Synod, especially the Council
of Presidents.
The district will want to use consistently the terms “commissioned ministers” and “ordained
ministers” where appropriate.
Consistent use of the term “multi-congregation” when speaking of two or more congregations
being served by the same pastor will be helpful to clarify the Synod’s understanding of a
“parish.”
Article I 4 a of the “Guidelines for Articles of Agreement for Multi-Congregation Parishes”
should be clarified to state that “only one lay voting delegate” (line 1) is permitted.

80. Review of Minnesota South District Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (11-2615)
With a September 14, 2011 letter, the secretary of the Minnesota South District submitted the district’s
Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws and accompanying proposed changes to the commission for review
and approval, noting the district’s intention to bring the proposed changes before the district convention in
June 2012 for adoption. After thorough review of the entire documents, the commission offered the
following recommendations:

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