LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 23, 2020, Page 2

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Article XI Rights and Duties of Officers
B. Duties of the President
8.

When matters arise between meetings of the Synod in convention which are of such a nature that action
thereon cannot be delayed until the next convention, the President is authorized to submit them to a written
vote of the member congregations of the Synod only after full and complete information regarding the matter
has been sent to member congregations by presidential letter and has been published in an official periodical
of the Synod. If such matters are related to the business affairs of the Synod, such a vote shall be conducted
only after the President has consulted with the synodical Board of Directors. In all cases at least one-fourth
of the member congregations must register their vote.

In 1944 this provision was used to authorize postponement of the Synod convention due to the
government’s wartime urging to conserve fuel. By a majority vote the congregations approved delaying the
convention that had, three years before, been scheduled to meet that year. (Circumstances ultimately
changed and the convention was—the vote to postpone notwithstanding—held in 1944; the first act of the
convention was to ratify and confirm the president’s calling of the convention on schedule.) 2 In 1944, the
agreed-upon (but ultimately reversed) deferral of the Synod convention would not have impacted the
schedule of the prior district conventions (though there is some evidence in that period of districts at least
contemplating an inability to meet on schedule due to wartime fuel restrictions). In the present situation,
the timing of both district and Synod conventions is involved; indeed, the full accommodation of the former
is the principal impetus for the questions posed.
At present, it would be impossible to complete a vote of the congregations before the first district convention
may open in January 2021. Some districts may now or, by that time, will have made definite arrangements
to meet in calendar year 2021 that may yet succeed. Thus, it has been suggested that instead of deferring
all district conventions to 2022 (the year before a Synod convention rescheduled to 2023), district
conventions be allowed to occur any time in calendar 2021 and 2022, as noted above.
Implications of the Articles of Incorporation and Missouri Non-profit Law (RSMo. 355) have been explored
separately in an opinion from Synod’s legal counsel. The commission is now asked to determine whether
the measure proposed is compatible with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod.
Question 1:

2

Is it consistent with the Constitution and Bylaws for the President of the Synod to submit
to a written vote of the congregations of the Synod, as detailed in Const. Art. XI B 8, the
following: Shall the upcoming convention of the Synod be delayed one year, in effect
stretching one triennium to four years’ duration?

The first act of the 1944 convention (Proceedings, pp. 2–3; see also BOD Minutes, Mar. 6 and May 15, 1944) details this use:
The following resolution was adopted in the first session on June 21, 1944, having been drawn up by our Synodical
Attorney, Mr. George Eigel:
WHEREAS, The Office of Defense Transportation urged all associations and organizations to cancel their conventions
for the year 1944 on account of the transportation problem; and
WHEREAS, In compliance with said request the President of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and
Other States did request all congregations to vote on the question of postponing their convention for the year 1944; and
WHEREAS, A majority of the congregations did vote in favor of canceling and postponing said convention; and
WHEREAS, It did later develop that the convention could be held, and as a consequence thereof the President notified
all congregations that the convention would be held at the time and place decided upon at the 1941 convention, to wit,
June 21 to June 30, 1944, in the City of Saginaw, Michigan: therefore be it
Resolved by the delegates in convention assembled, being, a majority of all delegates elected to said convention,
and representing all of the congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, that we
do hereby ratify and confirm the action of the President in calling said convention as agreed in the resolution at the
convention of 1941, and we agree that the convention may proceed with its regular business in due course in accordance
with said call.

CCM Minutes – November 23, 2020 – Page 54