LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 5–6, 2017, Page 7

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Question 5: Considering the posed situation, in which district(s) would he be advisory to the district
convention?
Opinion: The Bylaws make no provision for membership in more than one district. Since the missionarypastor might presumably retain membership in District A, which he serves as missionary (Bylaw section
2.12 providing no clear rationale for a change in membership as a result of his acceptance of the second
call to District B), he would in that case be an advisory delegate to that district convention (Bylaw 4.2.3).
Question 6: Since he would be the congregation’s sole pastor, could the congregation send him as its
(voting) pastoral delegate to the District B convention?
Opinion: Once the missionary pastor accepts the call to the congregation, he no longer fits under the
definition of an “advisory member only” under Const. Art. V B. Const. Art. V A defines the voting members
of the Synod as being “all organized congregations that have joined the Synod.” “At the meetings of the
districts of the Synod every congregation or parish is entitled to two votes, one of which is to be cast by
the pastor and the other by the lay delegate. At the meetings of the Synod a number of congregations shall
form a group which shall be represented by two voting delegates, one a pastor and one a lay delegate.”
Const. Art. XII A and B designate the same status within the Districts of Synod (with the exception of the
word only with regard to advisory members).
Prior CCM opinions dealing with multi-congregation parishes crossing district boundaries have set a
precedent for the pastor not voting outside the district in which he holds membership, but the situation at
hand is not a multi-congregation parish and the precedent has not heretofore denied to a congregation or
parish the pastoral vote granted it by the Synod Constitution. This vote, while exercised by the pastor of the
congregation or parish, belongs natively to the congregation or parish and not the pastor. The CCM dealt
with a related matter in its meeting of Oct. 14–15, 1971 (Ag. 282):
President Herman Scherer of the Missouri District had asked whether synodical staff men
and others in similar positions could serve as voting pastoral delegates from those smaller
congregations which they serve in a pastoral capacity on the side. After considerable
discussion the Commission ruled:
According to Article V of the Constitution every member congregation or parish is entitled
to two votes, a pastoral vote and a lay vote.
The Commission rules that voting pastoral privileges shall be extended to any clergyman
who is called by a congregation and properly installed as its pastor according to the
regulations of the Synod set forth especially in Article XII, 9, c and Bylaws 4.15 to 4.19.
Therefore the missionary of District A who accepts the additional call to become pastor of a District B
congregation may cast the pastoral vote of the congregation in District B even though he is not a member
of that district.
All this raises further questions (presuming the minister remains a member of District A):
•

Would he be counted in District A’s advisory member pool or be eligible to serve as an advisory
delegate to the Synod convention from District A (Bylaw 3.1.3.1)? The commission, finding that
the minister would not be an advisory member at the Synod level (being a called pastor of a
congregation of the Synod and not falling under any of the “advisory only” categories of Const.
Art. V B), answers in the negative.

•

Is the minister eligible to serve as the voting delegate from the District B congregation’s circuit?
The commission, finding that he would not be, at the Synod level, an advisory member “under
Article V B of the Constitution,” and so long as he is not a specific ministry pastor (Bylaw 3.1.2.1
[d]), answers in the affirmative.

CCM Minutes – May 5–6, 2017 – Page 34