LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 12, 2017, Page 2

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the President of the Synod has no ecclesiastical supervision over a member of the Synod. Here
CCM Ag. 1970 and Op. 03-2338, 03-2338A, 03-2338C, 03-2354, 10-2581, 13-2669 and 15-2570
[sic 15-2750] are cited in support of the request’s proposed interpretation.
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Const. Art. XI gives, it is held, no specific authority to the Synod President to suspend (as does
Const. Art. XII 8)—this, it is proposed, is part of the broader ecclesiastical supervision given only
(it is proposed) to district presidents. Furthermore, it is noted that the Const. Art. XI B 2 duties of
the President include seeing to, admonishing, and reporting, but not suspending.

•

On the basis of Const. Articles XI A 1 and XIV, it is argued that because the President has no
explicit constitutional authority to suspend or expel members, the bylaws cannot confer upon him
such a right.

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Finally, it is argued that the commission fundamentally misread 1956 Bylaw 5.23 and Res. 6-11,
the argument being that the provision there provided applied only to the expulsion of a district
president and not to the expulsion of other members of the Synod.

Opinion: The commission, having given careful consideration to the arguments advanced in the request for
reconsideration, but having found no reason to overturn its previous Op. 16-2791 or the conclusion of the
1956 convention, which is certainly as Op. 16-2791 understands it, responds as follows:
1. The Meaning of 1956 Bylaw 5.23 and Res. 6-11 and their Constitutional Context
The request for reconsideration argues that the commission fundamentally misread 1956 Res. 6-11, by
which the convention adopted the language of 1956 Bylaw 5.23 (to wit, that “If the District officers fail to
act, the President of Synod, by virtue of the power given him in the Constitution [Article XI, B, 1, 2, 3]
may on his own initiative institute proceedings, take administrative action, and, if necessary, present
charges to the District Board of Appeals”), as allowing the President of the Synod to lay charges against
members other than a district president. The commission notes, however, the rationale paragraph from 1956
Res. 6-11 (already included in the text of CCM Op. 16-2791):
WHEREAS, It is necessary to clarify Article XI, B, 1, 2, 3, concerning the powers of the
President if District officers fail to act in cases involving ineligibility for service of pastors,
professors, or teachers; therefore be it Resolved, That Section 5.23 be amended to read as
follows… (1956 Proceedings, p. 451) (emphasis added)
As the underscored portion clearly indicates, the provision adopted does not apply only to the case of a
district president “charged with any action that would disqualify him from office,” but also (indeed, with
the apparent intention to apply primarily) to the cases of pastors, professors, or teachers, in which the
“district officers,” inclusive of the District President, “fail to act.” Subsequent developments of this bylaw
provision in 1971, 1983, 1986, etc., as already noted in the footnotes to CCM Op. 16-2791, consistently
bear out this understanding. 2 The commission’s reading of 1956 Res. 6-11 and Bylaw 5.23 in CCM Op.

2

See, for example, 1971 Bylaws 5.11–5.13, Handbook, pp. 114–115, in which the intent is the same as 1956 but the
outline is much clearer:
B. SUSPENSION AND EXPULSION
5.11 Notification of Accusation
When a member of the Synod is accused of an act or of conduct which could result in expulsion from
the Synod under Article XIII of the Constitution, the accusation shall be addressed in writing to the President
of the District in which said member holds membership. The District President shall promptly inform such
member that such an accusation has been made against him. If the member consents to the expulsion, the
District President shall publish such fact in the official periodical of the Synod and shall so report to the next
District convention.

CCM Minutes – May 12, 2017 – Page 41