LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 16–17, 2013, Page 5

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

give counsel to the President. The Council of Presidents also exists to provide opportunity for the presidents of
the districts and the Praesidium of the Synod to counsel with one another on matters regarding the doctrine and
administration of the Synod, its regions, and its districts, and to edify and support one another in the work they
share. [Emphases added]

The Synod’s Constitution, to which all members subscribe when they become members of the Synod,
provides: “In its relation to its members, the Synod is not an ecclesiastical government exercising
legislative or coercive powers, and with respect to the individual congregation’s right of self-government
it is but an advisory body” (Constitution Art. VII). “Article VII is intended to assure its members that the
Synod is not an organization that forces its collective will upon its congregations and ministers, but rather
that it employs the power of the Word of God as it advises, encourages, and assists them to do what they
have voluntarily promised to do when they became members of the Synod by signing its Constitution”
(CCM Opinion 09-2573, Feb. 26–28, 2010).
In addition, the bylaw definition of “ecclesiastical supervision” quoted above clearly states that
ecclesiastical supervision is “subject to the provisions of the Synod’s Constitution, Bylaws, and
resolutions,” which do not grant the right or power to have authority over, to direct the actions, or to
control activities of those supervised. With respect to resolutions of the Synod, Opinion 02-2294
(“Application of 2001 Resolution 3-07A, ‘The Lutheran Understanding of Church Fellowship’”) made
clear: “In carrying out their official responsibilities, officers of the Synod are expected, as with other
doctrinal resolutions and statements of the Synod, to heed the resolution and submit to it.” If there is
disagreement or questions with regard to the interpretation of the resolutions of Synod (collective will),
the Synod has authorized the Commission on Constitutional Matters to interpret the resolutions (Bylaw
3.9.2.2). It is understood that the Synod in convention may adopt subsequent resolutions that “clarify its
witness” and settle the controversy (Bylaw 1.6.2).
Rather than ecclesiastical supervision including the right or power to have authority over, to direct the
actions, or to control activities of those supervised, Bylaw 1.2.1 (g) provides: “…ecclesiastical
supervision is also the presenting, interpreting, and applying of the collective will of the Synod’s
congregations.” Thus, a basic governing principle of ecclesiastical supervision in The Lutheran
Church―Missouri Synod is expressed in Opinion 11-2598, “Interpretation of Constitution Art. VI 2 b”:
“Ecclesiastical supervision in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is not determined by
“contemporary situations,” “gut feelings,” “individual” judgment, personal opinion, or personal
conscience, but by the collective will, judgment, and conscience of the Synod, a human organization, as
stated in its Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions.”
This also means, if in a given “situation” the Synod has no position or a position that is considered to be
unclear, that too must be shared by the ecclesiastical supervisor so there is no dictatorial action or attitude
of control or “authority over” on either the part of the Synod and its ecclesiastical supervisors or on the
part of the Synod’s members when it is a matter of discretion and Christian liberty. Thus, ecclesiastical
supervision has a salutary function in such a gap.
When there is disagreement with the ecclesiastical supervisor in the presentation and application of the
Synod’s will and understanding, the Synod encourages the brotherly expression of that disagreement
through the procedures agreed to in the Constitution and Bylaws without reverting to “have authority
over, to direct the actions, or to control activities of those supervised” (Bylaw 1.2.1 [u]).
Ecclesiastical supervision also includes “admonition, and, when necessary, appropriate disciplinary
measures to assure that the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod are followed and
implemented” as stated in Bylaw 1.2.1 (g). While ecclesiastical supervision is essentially providing
CCM Minutes – May 2013 – Page 361