LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — February 23, 2013, Page 40

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Resolved, That in order to accomplish the objectives described above regarding district membership
and ecclesiastical supervision of congregations that are members of the Synod, the 2013 LCMS
convention adopt the following bylaw changes:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
Rites of Ordination or Commissioning
2.10.3 The president of the district of which the calling congregation is a member or in which the
eligible calling agency is located or with which it is otherwise identified shall be responsible for
the rites of ordination and commissioning of candidates for the ministry called to that
congregation or agency.
(a) The rite of ordination or commissioning should normally take place in the presence of the
congregation or other agency to which the candidate has been called.
(b) In the case of missionaries called by the Synod, ordained or commissioned ministers
called by international congregations, members of a faculty of an institution of the Synod, or
institutional chaplains, the rite shall take place in a setting approved by the district president
of the calling body.
(c) If an unusual circumstance warrants it, the appropriate district president may authorize
that the rite take place in the home congregation of the candidate, or other appropriate
congregation, with the permission of the calling congregation or other agency.
(d) A service of celebration on the part of the candidate’s home congregation is encouraged.
(e) The district president shall issue a diploma of ordination or commissioning.
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
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