LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — April 1–2, 2016, Page 13

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In responding to this question, the commission provided a detailed discussion of 2010 Res. 8-14A “To
Elect Five Vice-Presidents by Geographic Region” and the reasons for the development of regional
representation by referencing 2010 Res. 8-16A “To Ensure Regional Representation on the Board of
Directors.” The commission concluded that
[t]hese convention resolutions and bylaw statements indicated that “residence” and “congregational
membership” requirements serve representational and other purposes, expectations that cannot be met by
regionally elected individuals who relocate outside the region from which they were elected. Therefore, when a
regionally elected board member or officer relocates to a different region of the Synod, this member must resign
from the office or board member position [CCM Opinion 13-2689, Dec. 13-14, 2013].

The concept of regional representation at the national level was put into place at the 2010 LCMS
convention by the adoption of Res. 8-14A, enacting Synod Bylaw 3.12.1 which provided for the Synod’s
Board of Directors and the Council of Presidents jointly to designate five geographic regions 24 months
prior to the next convention of the Synod. Designation of these regions was to take into consideration
“geographical and number-of-congregations information in the interest of fair representation” (Synod
Bylaw 3.12.1 [a]).
The provisions for restrictions related to eligibility for election based upon district membership, as
contained in current Synod Bylaw 3.3.4.1, first appeared in the 1966 Synod Handbook, as follows:
The Board of Directors shall be constituted as follows: The President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer of the
Synod shall be members of the board by virtue of their office. Three pastors, one teacher, and seven laymen
shall be elected according to the procedures defined in these bylaws. No more than one of the three pastors
may be elected from any one district. No more that one of the seven laymen may be elected from any one
district [emphasis added]. No persons salaried by the Synod or by a district or by a corporation organized by
the Synod shall be elected as a member of the board. The vice-presidents of the Synod shall be advisory
members of the board [Bylaw 2.71, 1966 Handbook].

Over the years this bylaw has been adjusted occasionally, until in its current version the provision for
eligibility for election based on district membership reads as follows:
3.3.4.1 With the exception of the President and the Secretary of the Synod, no more than one voting member
from each category and no more than two voting members total may be elected from any one district
[Bylaw 3.3.4.1, 2013 Handbook].

When this version was adopted by the 2010 LCMS convention, the rationale for the resolution stated:
When in past conventions elections for ordained, commissioned, and lay positions on the board were conducted
simultaneously (as in 2001), the filling of some positions on early ballots disqualified candidates for other
positions due to the only-one-member-per-district bylaw requirement, favoring candidates for those categories
with few candidates (who were more likely to receive a majority of votes on an early ballot). When elections
were conducted and positions filled one category at a time, this also disqualified candidates in other categories
due to the only-one-member-per-district requirement, which favored candidates for positions that were filled
early.
The following bylaw changes are advocated to help alleviate adverse effects of the only-one-member-perdistrict requirement and to distribute more evenly among the categories of candidates any adverse effects [2010
Res. 4-05, Proceedings, p. 120].

Since that time, the commission has had occasion to address a similar issue concerning regionally elected
board members. In Opinion 13-2689 (Dec. 13–14, 2013), questions had been submitted regarding whether
a regionally elected individual on a “mission board, the Board of Directors, or vice-presidents two
through six” would be able to serve out his/her term if he/she had voluntarily relocated to a region other
than that for which he/she had been elected or if he/she ended up midterm in a region other than that to
which elected due to a change in region boundaries by action of the Board of Directors and Council of
Presidents (Bylaw 3.12.1 [a]).

CCM Minutes – April 1–2, 2016 – Page 127