LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — December 4–5, 2015, Page 3

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Under ENGLISH DISTRICT ENDOWMENT FUND, section “4.0 Duration of the Fund,” the
second-last sentence should instead read: “If the English District fails to act in this matter, the
Fund becomes the absolute property of the LCMS FoundationThe Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod.” Also, the final sentence requires that the Bylaws of the English District be brought up to
date with the 2016 LCMS convention action regarding dissolution language already referred to in
the preceding paragraph.
The statement from paragraph 4, “A Statement from the ‘Carver Model’” under The General
Model for the Business of the Board of Directors fails to regard and even conflicts with the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod, which are the primary source for the conduct of board
meetings (Synod Bylaw section 1.5).
Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 5 regarding the “basic duties of the board” is an overstatement
when it speaks of the board as “the English District between conventions.” While the board
conducts some business of the Synod between conventions, it does not act in place of the
convention.
Under English District Board of Directors – Policies, “Part II. Board Process,” the inclusion of
“laity” in subparagraph A 1 is incorrect in that it confuses the rostered members of the Synod
(congregations, ordained and commissioned ministers) with lay members of the Synod’s
congregations (who are not individually members of the Synod).
Under English District Board of Directors – Policies, “Part III. Board/Executive Relationship,”
subparagraph A 1 will more accurately read: “1. The district president is authorized to establish
all further policies, make all decisions, take all actions and develop all activities which are true to
the board’s policies. The board may, by extending its policies, ‘undelegate’ areas of the district
president’s authority except when such authority has been delegated by the Synod and not the
board, and/or except as pertains to ecclesiastical supervision.”

142. College and University Boards of Regents and Foundations (15-2779)
With an October 7, 2015 email, the Secretary of the Synod submitted a series of questions regarding
college and university foundations, prompted by inquiries he had received. After offering opportunity for
input from Concordia University System and its colleges and universities, and after initial discussion
during the meeting, the commission agreed to solicit further input before offering its response.
143. Application of Constitution Articles II and VI (15-2780)
With an October 13, 2015 email, an ordained member of the Synod requested “clarification on two issues
by the CCM.” The commission prefaced its response by referencing the pertinent portions of the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod.
Article II of the Constitution of the Synod establishes the confessional basis for the Synod, stating:
The Synod, and every member of the Synod, accepts without reservation:
1.
2.

The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament as the written Word of God and the only rule and
norm of faith and of practice;
All the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement
and exposition of the Word of God, to wit: the three Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostles’ Creed, the
Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed), the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the
Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Large Catechism of Luther, the Small Catechism of
Luther, and the Formula of Concord.

Article III of the Constitution lists the objectives of the Synod. Items 1 and 6 are applicable to the
questions addressed to the commission. They state:
CCM Minutes – December 4–5, 2015 – Page 106