LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 23, 2020, Page 1

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MINUTES
COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
Internet Conference Meeting (Zoom.us)
November 23, 2020
68. Call to Order and Opening Prayer
Commission Chairman Dr. George Gude called the meeting to order with all members present, opened with
prayer, and introduced the single item on the meeting agenda as follows.
69. Synod Convention Deferral Vote under Const. Art. XI B 8 (20-2960)
By a memorandum of November 12, prepared at the request of the President of the Synod and leadership
of the Council of Presidents, the Secretary of the Synod requested the commission’s opinion on the
following questions.
Background: With a coronavirus pandemic continuing to significantly impact gatherings and
accommodation planning for the foreseeable future in most parts of the country, many districts are either
experiencing difficulty scheduling and obtaining facilities for any reasonable district convention compliant
with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod and CCM Op. 20-2938, “District Conventions, Circuit and
Advisory Meetings, and Coronavirus Contingencies,” or are dissatisfied with the arrangements they have
made or understand themselves likely to be able to make. Some district presidents have expressed
uncertainty that their own districts will be able, within calendar year 2021, to convene at all, or to facilitate
an accustomed and salutary churchly deliberative assembly that will be well attended by the pastoral and
lay representatives of district congregations and parishes. Others have expressed concern for districts other
than their own, that prevailing circumstances should not be allowed to preclude any district from likely
meeting in regular convention during this triennium. 1 The extensive preparations required for district and
Synod conventions, and their lengthy prior processes, have also been noted—preparations complicated at
present by significant timeline uncertainties (some districts already have multiple possible convention dates
laid out, accounting for lower-than-usual probabilities of successfully convening and achieving quorum).
It has therefore been suggested that the 2022 Synod convention be delayed one year, stretching the 2019–
22 triennium to 2019–23, and that the window for district conventions to meet prior be extended from
calendar year 2021 to include also calendar year 2022, to allow selection of meeting dates apparently more
likely to be realized without significant complications.
The Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod do not provide specific, explicit mechanisms for the rescheduling
of a scheduled convention or for the alteration of the triennial schedule laid down for the Synod in Const.
Art. VIII A 1: “The Synod convenes every three years for its regular meeting,” and for the districts in Const.
Art. XII 13: “The regular sessions of the districts are held in the year immediately preceding the general
convention of the Synod.” Moreover, no provision is made for alteration of the Constitution or Bylaws
outside of a convention or its specific direction (Const. Art. XV; Bylaw section 7). Finally, it is unrealistic
to suggest the calling of a special session (Const. Art. VIII B 2) to amend the Constitution or Bylaws to
craft a remedy, as such a session would be impossible timely to conduct, being subject to the same in-person
attendance requirements as a regular convention (Op. 20-2938).
However, the Constitution of the Synod does make provision for the member congregations to take action
outside of a convention on specific matters that are “of such a nature that action thereon cannot be delayed
until the next convention.” This provision is as follows:

1

As was observed in Op. 20-2938, while it is incumbent on districts to make every reasonable effort to meet in the district
convention year, it is not necessary to the holding of a Synod convention that all districts have succeeded in meeting the year prior.

CCM Minutes – November 23, 2020 – Page 53