LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — August 17–18, 2018, Page 15

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professional church workers of the Synod, and others desiring a Christian liberal arts
education by facilitating prior approval as set forth in Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3 for theology
appointments to college/university faculties and by coordinating the activities of the
Synod’s colleges and universities as a unified system of the Synod through their respective
boards of regents.
The authority and process delineated in Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3 (adopted 2016, Proceedings, pp. 178–9) clearly
places under the purview of this prior approval all manner of appointments and calls related to theological
teaching responsibilities, with a single exception (italicized):
3.10.6.7.3 All initial appointments to persons serving on theology faculties, or teaching classes in or
cross-listed with the theology department, shall require prior approval by a majority vote
of the President of the Synod (or his designee), the chairman of the Council of Presidents
(or his designee), and a member of the Concordia University System board selected by the
chair, and shall include a thorough theological review. The three voters shall be ordained.
The process shall be facilitated by the president of Concordia University System. Initial
appointment refers to the initial engagement of any person to teach one or more theology
courses, regardless of assigned academic department, other than faculty who teach
theology courses no more than one academic year in any three-year period.
2016 Bylaw 3.10.6.7.3 thus—like the corresponding seminary prior approval bylaw, Bylaw 3.10.5.7.3 (a)—
requires approval for “all initial appointments,” whether full- or part-time. The bylaw does make exception
for college and university faculty who teach theology courses no more than one academic year in any threeyear period. Though this provision was granted to give the broadest latitude to the individual school so that
timely response may be given to changing conditions and non-traditional formats, it does not relieve the
individual board of regents or the president of the school from their solemn responsibility to both the
theological integrity of the classroom with respect to our confessional standard as a church (cf. Bylaw
3.10.6.7.2, which applies to all full- and part-time faculty, whether with theological teaching responsibilities
or not) and to providing the highest quality education for the benefit of the student.
Absent any other specific exception, the requirement for prior approval also applies to adjunct as well as
full-time theological professors and the same process applies to both, and, by extension, to any other
category of initial appointment of those who teach theological courses in a college or university within the
CUS system.
164. Concordia University System Educational Arrangements with Other Church Bodies (18-2890)
The President of the Concordia University System (CUS) posed questions of the commission, stating
initially by way of background the following:
Several of the Concordia universities have entered into or are contemplating an educational
relationship with church bodies that are not in fellowship with the Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod. One university has announced that another church body, which ordains
women, will recognize the university’s courses (Greek, Hebrew, Church history, etc.) as a
portion of the church body’s pre-ministerial training. Similar arrangements are being
considered by other universities, with other church bodies with which the Synod is not in
fellowship, both Lutheran and Anglican.
Response and discussion of “Background” material:
Synod Bylaws 3.6.6.6 (a) and (b) require the CUS Board, in consultation with the colleges and universities
of the Synod, to develop and have in place policies that would assist and ensure that those responsible for
the educational programs of the institutions do so in a manner designed to “preserve their Lutheran identity”
as relating to the Article III objectives of the Synod’s Constitution. These objectives grow out of the

CCM Minutes – August 17–18, 2018 – Page 136