LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 11–13, 2011, Page 33

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and process of voting at meetings of electoral circuits for the purpose of selecting the delegates of that
circuit to conventions of the national Synod.
Bylaw 3.1.2.1 (c) delineates who has the privilege of voting in these electoral circuit meetings. It specifies
that the vote is exercised by one pastor and one layperson from each member congregation of the circuit,
who are selected in the manner prescribed by the congregation. A second sentence then continues and
specifies that each congregation in a multiple-congregation parish is entitled to a lay vote. The second
sentence was added to the Handbook in 1973 incorporating rulings from the Commission on
Constitutional Matters in 1968 and 1970:
142. Right to Vote for Convention Delegates: The Secretary of the Southern District had phoned
Sommermeyer asking whether each congregation is entitled to vote in the election of the delegate to a
synodical convention or only each parish. The commission resolved to inform Secretary Kleinhans of its
interpretation that each congregation in a multiple parish is entitled to a separate vote. (June 13 – 14, 1968
minutes of the Commission on Constitutional Matters)
115. Election of Convention Delegates, Bylaw 1.53: The commission formally ruled that each
congregation in a multiple parish is entitled to a lay ballot in this matter but that a pastor of a dual or
multiple parish should cast only one ballot.

The 1973 resolution adopting this insertion into the Handbook states in part:
WHEREAS, The bylaw on the election of delegates to synodical conventions is derived from the terms of the
Constitution which explicitly describe the Synod to be a federation of congregations which alone possess
the franchise and have the power to determine who shall exercise the pastoral and lay vote at synodical
conventions.

Since the right to vote belongs to congregations, therefore at the circuit forum to elect delegates to the
conventions of the national Synod, each congregation of a multiple-congregation parish is entitled to one
vote from a lay member of that congregation as expressly allowed by Bylaw 3.1.2.1 (c).
In the case of the pastor/pastors in a multiple-congregation parish the situation is different. He/they are
called by and serve the whole. In a multiple-congregation parish with more than one pastor, these pastors
are still pastors of the entire multiple-congregation parish and not simply one of the congregations. Even
if a pastor primarily serves one of the congregations, he remains a pastor of the whole. Therefore only one
pastor would be eligible to represent the multiple-congregation parish at meetings of the circuit forum to
elect delegates to a convention of the national Synod. The Bylaws do not grant pastors a similar exception
as given for the laity.
Question 2: In the case of a dual parish with two called pastors, may both pastors of this dual parish vote
at the circuit forum to select a circuit counselor, each pastor representing a different
congregation (governed by Bylaws 5.2.2 [c] and 5.3.2)?
Opinion: No. In contrast to lay representatives to circuit forums who are affiliated with only one
congregation, a pastor/pastors of a multiple-congregation parish is/are called by and serve the whole.
Therefore only one pastor of a multiple-congregation parish that has more than one pastor is entitled to
vote for the multiple-congregation parish at meetings of the circuit forum to select a circuit counselor.
In addressing question 2, it should be noted that while Bylaws 5.2.2 (c) and 5.3.2 make reference to
voting and representatives of the congregations at circuit forums, they do not offer specific parameters.
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