LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — August 10, 2020, Page 1

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MINUTES
COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
Internet Conference Meeting (Zoom.us)
August 10, 2020
39. Call to Order and Opening Prayer
Commission Chairman Dr. George Gude called the meeting to order with all members present, calling upon
the Rev. Larry Peters to offer the opening prayer.
40. Ohio District Bylaw Revision (20-2932)
By a May 11, 2020, e-mail, the Secretary of the Ohio District forwarded for review proposed changes to
the district’s Bylaws (a.k.a. the “Ohio District Code of Regulations”). The commission requested and
received for examination a copy of the district’s “Covenant of Trust,” dated March 31, 1989, referenced by
the district bylaws and dealing with standards of conduct for politicking in connection with the district
convention. An updated draft and synopsis of the bylaw changes were received on July 9, 2020; these are
the subject of this review.
The commission first notes the insertion of many references to Synod Bylaws, which it understands to be
intended as part of the adopted text of the district Bylaws. It further understands these to be intended as
helpful references and not, by absence of possibly relevant references, to diminish the force of Synod’s
Constitution or Bylaws as they may apply.
At Art. IV B, “the pastor and the other by the lay delegate” might well be replaced by “its pastor and the
other by the lay delegate elected and deputed by the congregation or parish,” the exact language of Const.
XII 10 a. Here, while the bulk of Bylaw section 2.5 does not apply to this particular item, the commission
suspects the reference is to the Bylaw section and should be labeled as such.
In Art. IV C, the now-extraneous word only should be deleted.
In Art. IV D, dealing with conditions for acquiring and holding membership, the item should also include
the requirement that changes to existing member congregation constitutions and bylaws must be submitted
for the same examination (Synod Bylaw section 2.4).
In Art. VIII A 2, it should be clarified that the standard for region membership is on the basis of
congregational membership: “…candidates representative of the five regions of the District, with not more
than two from being members of congregations that are part of any one conference region...”
The initial paragraph of Art. XII, if properly understood, should read: “All congregations of the Ohio
District shall be divided into five regions which may be described as follows: The Southeast, the Southwest,
the Northeast, the North Central and the Northwest. The region to which a person belongs, for purposes of
regional service, shall be the region of the congregation of which he or she is a member.”
In Art. XIII, the second paragraph, the final sentence (“Each congregation shall be represented by…”) needs
to be revised to correspond to Bylaw 5.3.2: “The circuit forum consists of one pastor and one layperson
from each member congregation or multi-congregation parish designated by the congregation or parish.
Congregations of a multi-congregation parish not contributing a lay voter may send an advisory
representative, with voice but no vote.”
In the following paragraph, dealing with electoral circuits, the word “adjacent” should be included between
the words “two” and “visitation.” It would be clearer for this paragraph to follow that dealing with the
circuit convocation, rather than preceding it, as the circuit convocation would naturally be a function of a
visitation rather than an electoral circuit.
Finally, the commission notes the omission of a reference to the requirement of Synod Bylaw 1.5.2 (a);
while not required to be referenced in the district bylaws, the commission wishes to ensure the district is

CCM Minutes – August 10, 2020 – Page 26