LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — January 25–26, 2013, Page 3

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(ef) The hearing facilitator shall administrate the hearing and may draw upon persons and
resources that he/she deems necessary for conducting a hearing in a fair and equitable
manner.
(fg) The hearing facilitator shall serve as an advisor to the panel on the form but not the
substance of the decision.
(gh) If a Referral Panel was formed, the three district presidents that served in that capacity
are not eligible to serve on a Hearing Panel.
2.17.7.2 A Hearing Panel consisting of two district presidents (excluding the involved district
president[s]) and one reconciler who is a layperson, selected as follows, shall conduct the
hearing:
(a) One district president shall be selected by the accused.
(b) One district president shall be selected by the ecclesiastical supervisor who imposed the
suspended status (a district president may not choose himself).
(c) One reconciler who is a layperson shall be chosen by blind draw from the Synod’s
roster of reconcilers, with the blind draw administered by the Secretary of the Synod and
audited by witnesses.
(d) Each Hearing Panel shall be assisted by a nonvoting hearing facilitator selected
according to Bylaw 2.14.2 (j).
(e) No two members of the panel nor the hearing facilitator shall be from the same district.
(ef) The hearing facilitator shall administrate the hearing, shall serve as chairman of the
panel, and may draw upon persons and resources that he deems necessary for conducting a
hearing in a fair and equitable manner.
(fg) The hearing facilitator shall serve as an advisor to the panel on the form but not the
substance of the decision.

(C) Disqualification of Panel Members or Hearing Facilitators
(Bylaw 2.14.7.8)
Rationale
Bylaw section 1.10 “Dispute Resolution of the Synod” contains subsection 1.10.16 “Disqualification,”
which provides guidance regarding the disqualification of reconcilers, panel members, and hearing
facilitators from participation in the dispute resolution process due to “actual partiality or the appearance
thereof.” The absence of such provisions in the Synod’s expulsion processes has been remedied in the
Standard Operating Procedures Manuals accompanying the expulsion processes. Believing, however,
that inclusion of such provision in the bylaws governing expulsion from membership in the Synod is
important, the Commission on Handbook proposes the adoption of the following new paragraph (h) for
Bylaw 2.14.7.8.
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
2.14.7.8

(h) Any party and/or parties to a dispute shall have the right to request disqualification of a
panel member or hearing facilitator. The standard for disqualification shall be actual
partiality or the appearance thereof. If that individual does not agree to the disqualification,
the decision shall be made by a separate three-member panel of district presidents not
involved in the case, selected as follows.
(1) Nine names shall be selected by blind draw by the Secretary of the Synod or his
representative, to be mailed to each party with the opportunity to strike up to three of
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