LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — February 23, 2013, Page 30

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post the list on the Synod’s Web site and provide for its publication in a pre-convention issue
of an official periodical of the Synod and in the Convention Workbook.
(c) The committee’s report shall list the qualifications of various positions used in the
solicitation of nomineescandidates and contain pertinent information concerning each
candidate, such as occupation or profession; district affiliation; residence; specific
experience; number of years as a member of an LCMS congregation; present position; offices
previously held in a congregation, district or the Synod; qualifications for the office in
question; and, if the candidate so desires, also a brief personal statement.
(B) Staggered Terms for Members of Certain Boards and Commissions
(Bylaws 3.8.2.2; 3.8.3.2; 3.9.4.1–3.9.4.2)
Rationale
The 2010 convention of the Synod created new boards for international and national mission and
changed the composition and appointment process of the Commission on Handbook. However, the
convention failed to give thought to the advisability of creating staggered terms for these new board and
commission positions, resulting in the election or appointment of all members for six-year terms. This
failure to create staggered terms has created the possibility of a total turnover of board and commission
membership each six years, potentially resulting in a corresponding loss of continuity. In order to enable
the 2016 convention to create a staggering of terms by electing one-half of all mission board members
and appointing some of the commission members to three-year terms, the Commission on Handbook
proposes the following changes to Bylaws 3.8.2.2 and 3.8.3.2.
In addition, the terms of those board and commission members elected or appointed to three-year
terms will not be counted as full terms in this case, allowing those who will have served one six-year and
one three-year term to be eligible for an additional six-year term at the time of the 2019 convention. In
order to accommodate this change, the Commission on Handbook proposes that Bylaw 3.2.4.2 (b) also be
amended, as follows.
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
3.8.2.2 The Board for National Mission shall be comprised of eleven members:
1. Five laypersons and five individual members of the Synod (one of each from each
region of the Synod) elected in the same manner as are all other regional elections
(Bylaws 3.12.1 and 3.12.2.5)
2. The President of the Synod or his representative
In 2016, the laypersons elected from the Great Plains and East/Southeast regions and the
individual members of the Synod elected from the West/Southwest, Central, and Great Lakes
regions shall be elected for three-year terms.
3.8.3.2 The Board for International Mission shall be comprised of eleven members:
1. Five laypersons and five individual members of the Synod (one of each from each region
of the Synod) elected in the same manner as are all other regional elections (Bylaws
3.12.1 and 3.12.2.5)
2. The President of the Synod or his representative
In 2016, the individual members of the Synod elected from the Great Plains and East/Southeast
regions and the laypersons elected from the West/Southwest, Central, and Great Lakes regions
shall be elected for three-year terms.
Page 100 – 02.23.13 – COH Minutes