LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — December 10, 2012, Page 1

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MINUTES
COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
Conference Call
December 10, 2012

180. Call to Order and Opening Prayer
[Note: Due to his role as administrator of the Bylaw section 2.14 matter which was the subject of the
single agenda item to be considered in this telephone conference, Secretary Hartwig had previously
notified the chairman that he would recuse himself from consideration of this matter.]
Chairman Wilbert Sohns called the telephone conference call meeting to order. Participating in addition
to the chairman were: Daniel Lorenz, Philip Esala, George Gude, and Neely Owen.
After reviewing the recusal of Secretary Raymond Hartwig, Chairman Sohns called on Dan Lorenz to
provide an opening prayer.
181. Special Hearing Panel Procedures and Role of the Administrator (12-2660)
A request having two parts was submitted to the commission by a Final Hearing Panel, with each part
containing several questions.
Part 1
The panel referenced a single statement from CCM Opinion 02-2303: “The Commission rules that the
[special] panel itself shall establish the procedure it wishes to follow to reach a decision.” Four questions
were then asked regarding the meaning of this statement.
Opinion Introduction
The commission notes that CCM Opinion 02-2303 dealt with the question of the disqualification of
members of a Dispute Resolution Panel. The following portions of Opinion 02-2303 put the current
request into context:
A party to a dispute in a September 3, 2002 letter asked a series of questions regarding Bylaw 8.17 relating to
the procedure to be followed if a party to a dispute alleges that a member of a Dispute Resolution Panel has
actual partiality or the appearance thereof.….
Question 2: Who determines the procedure to be followed by the disqualification panel to reach a decision?
Opinion: The bylaw is silent on this issue also. The Commission rules that the panel itself shall establish the
procedure it wishes to follow to reach a decision. Thus, the panel may choose to reach a decision based on
written materials submitted by the parties to the dispute; the panel may decide to hold a formal hearing attended
by the parties and may follow the procedure used by a Dispute Resolution Panel, if deemed necessary. The
procedure to be followed should be sufficient to allow the panel to make an informed decision.

The commission notes that the Synod has made several significant changes in the Handbook since 2001.
In the 2001 Handbook, Chapter 8 of the Bylaws was used both for resolving disputes between members
of the Synod and for reaching a final decision regarding terminating membership in the Synod. In 2004,
the process of termination from membership was significantly modified, and expulsion from membership
in the Synod was given its own set of bylaws, sections 2.14–2.17. The 2001 process for resolving disputes