LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — October 30–31, 2020, Page 6

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58. Southern District “Handbook of Operations” Review (20-2950)
By the same email of September 4, 2020, mentioned in Op. 20-2949, the office of the President of the
Southern District, on behalf of the district’s secretary, also submitted the Southern District “Handbook of
Operations” for review. The commission offers the following observations:
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The character of this item is somewhat unusual, as it summarizes—not always with reference—
many items dictated by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod alongside other “policies,”
presumably as determined by the board of directors. It may be helpful to clarify by citation which
portions are summaries of convention directives and which are policies of the board. The
maintenance of such a document—especially without significant references—is that it will omit
important details or fall out of consistency with controlling documents as they are amended from
time to time. The commission has reviewed the policies for consistency with the Bylaws of the
Synod but has made no attempt to check the present item against the district’s own bylaws.
Page 5, President, Authority and Responsibility, (c)(3): the parenthetical “pertinent to the district”
should be removed.
Page 7, Vice-Presidents, Tenure of Office: The final sentence requires modification thus: “To
qualify for the office of District vice-president, a candidate shall be listed on the clergy roster of
the Synod and shall hold membership in a voting congregation of the District. Requirements for
congregational membership of regional vice-presidents should also likely be listed here.
Page 8, Secretary, Authority and Responsibility: Duties of the district secretary with respect to the
Synod and its Bylaws, including in relation to the Synod’s Dispute Resolution Process, are omitted
(Synod Bylaw 1.10.10.2).
Page 8, Secretary, Relationships: As an officer of the district in his own right, the Secretary is
responsible to the convention for his bylaw-mandated responsibilities.
Page 9, Treasurer, Relationships: As an officer of the district in his own right, the Treasurer is
responsible to the convention for his bylaw-mandated responsibilities.
Page 11, Board of Directors, Membership: executive assistants of the district may be advisors to
the board but are not advisory members.
Page 14, Board of Directors, The Executive Committee: the restrictions of Bylaw 1.5.3.2 on
executive committee actions should be noted here.

The district is thanked for its careful attention to revision of these documents and for submitting its policy
manual for the commission’s review.
59. Concordia University, St. Paul, Proposed Revision of Bylaws, Resubmission (20-2944B)
The president of Concordia University, St. Paul, by an e-mail of Oct. 15, submitted a revised bylaw proposal
in response to the commission’s earlier review, Op. 20-2944. The commission found the present submission
to have addressed the concerns noted in that review and approves the proposal for adoption by the
institution’s board of regents. The president and board are thanked for undertaking a very significant
revision of the university’s bylaws and for their careful attention to the review process. The commission
requests a clean copy of the bylaws as finally adopted for its files.
60. Concordia University, St. Paul, Policy Manual (20-2944A)
By an August 4, 2020, email, the President of Concordia University, St. Paul, forwarded proposed restated
articles of incorporation and proposed revised bylaws for the university, along with the board of regents’
policy manual. The articles and bylaws were reviewed in Op. 20-2944; the commission now turns to its
review of the policy manual. The commission notes the following:
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As a specific example of a general observation, with regard to Membership of Board of Regents:
Composition, Qualification and Election on p. 1, incomplete recitations of bylaws, especially where
a bylaw reference is absent, can be misleading if this document is intended to be the primary

CCM Minutes – October 30–31, 2020 – Page 44