LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — January 25–26, 2013, Page 32

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Regional Elections
3.12.1 For all elections requiring regional representation, the Board of Directors of the Synod and the
Council of Presidents acting jointly shall designate five geographical regions.
(a) Regions shall be designated 24 months prior to conventions of the Synod and shall take
into consideration geographical and number-of-congregations information in the interest of
fair representation.
(b) For the purposes of regional elections, individuals will be considered a part of the
geographical region where their congregational membership is held. Canadian congregations
will be placed as a whole into the region which the Board of Directors and the Council of
Presidents deem appropriate. International congregations will be placed as a whole into the
region to which their district has been assigned.
(c) This information shall be shared immediately with all districts of the Synod.
4.4 District President
4.4.3

The district president shall represent the Synod in connection with all ordinations,
commissionings, and installations.
(a) First Calls: Ordinations, commissionings, and initial installations shall be conducted by
or at the direction of the district president of the calling body’s district when the requirements
of Bylaw 2.10.2 (a) have been satisfied.
(b) Missionaries and Ministers of International Congregations: The authorization for the
ordination or commissioning and the installation of a missionary called into the foreign fields
or an ordained or commissioned minister called by an international congregation, whether as
a first or subsequent call, shall be issued upon the request of the Board for International
Mission by the president of the district of the calling body in which the missionary resides….

And be it further
Resolved, That the Missouri District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod add to its existing
circuits an additional circuit consisting solely of international congregations of the Synod; and be it
further
Resolved, That Bylaw 5.1.2 be amended to allow circuits to meet as via electronic means when
geographical considerations make face-to-face meetings of congregational representatives impractical, to
read as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
5.1.2

Districts shall establish circuits according to geographical criteria. When face-to-face meetings of
congregational representatives are deemed impractical, as in the case of a circuit of international
congregations, electionic means for communication may be used upon approval of the President
of the district.

And be it finally
Resolved, That the Office of International Mission provide assistance as necessary to enable this
circuit to function properly and to enable the district president to provide ecclesiastical supervision to its
congregations and called church workers.
Page 59 – 01.25 to 01.26.13 – COH Minutes