LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 20–21, 2014, Page 1

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MINUTES
COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Garden Grove, CA
November 20–21, 2014
[Note: Prior to the meeting, the Commission on Constitutional Matters participated in a joint meeting with the
Council of Presidents and the Commission on Handbook to fulfill requirements of 2013 Res. 6-16A for such a
meeting. The Commission on Constitutional Matters, charged with providing the business for the meeting, reviewed
its responsibilities, its involvement with districts, its procedure to be followed to express concern with a CCM
opinion, and general observations regarding requests for opinions. Following the presentation, discussion centered
on 2004 Res. 4-11 expectations for agency articles of incorporation as articulated in the commission’s “Articles of
Incorporation Template,” and the commission’s opinion, “Synod as the ‘Only Sending Agency’—Bylaw 3.8.3” (142724).]

74. Call to Order / Opening Devotion/Review of Agenda
Chairman George Gude called the meeting to order with all members present. He called on Tom
Deadrick, who served as devotional leader for the meeting, to provide an opening devotion.
Chairman Gude reviewed the agenda for the meeting and the correspondence received by the
commission. It was agreed that a request that the commission embed links to documents referred to or
quoted by the commission in its opinions could not be granted. Although it might be useful if some links
were embedded in its opinions, the commission has neither the staff nor the budget to do so at this time.
Chairman Gude will respond to the submitter of the request.
Chairman Gude also called attention to the discussion by the joint meeting of the commission with the
Council of Presidents and Commission on Handbook earlier in the day regarding the requirement of 2004
Res. 4-11 that all agencies of the Synod include specific dissolution wording in their articles, resulting in
widespread concern and involvement of district legal counsel. At the meeting, the Council of Presidents
adopted the following resolution as prepared and previously adopted by the Commission on Handbook:
Resolved, That a committee comprised of the Chief Administrative Officer and the Secretary
of the Synod, single representatives from the Commission on Constitutional Matters and the
Commission on Handbook, and two representatives of the Council of Presidents be formed to
review and make recommendation to the 2016 convention for a convention action that will
continue to honor the intentions of 2004 Res. 4-11 while taking into consideration legal and other
concerns that have arisen with implementation of the original resolution.
A motion was introduced and adopted to approve the resolution and to request that Chairman Gude serve
as the commission’s representative on the committee.
Later in the meeting, the commission also discussed how informal requests should be handled. It was
agreed that the chairman will handle such requests, obtaining assistance from commission members as
necessary. Such requests and responses will not be reported in the commission’s minutes.
75. Review of Submitted District Articles of Incorporation
The commission determined to place on hold all further review of district articles of incorporation (other
than those to be addressed during this meeting) pending review of the matter by the Council of