LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — January 15–16, 2021, Page 3

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being called by the district and serving in concert with some other entity. The language as proposed
combines these two models and may cause confusion.
Noting this issue and the matter of the Bylaw 1.5.3.6 language, which awaits inclusion either in the Articles
or in the Bylaws with the approval of the Synod Board of Directors for its inclusion there, the commission
awaits a final draft of this revision addressing these two points, which draft it can then approve for
presentation to the district convention. The district and its secretary are thanked for their diligent efforts
and for submitting these documents for review.
76. Kansas District Bylaws, Revised Proposal (20-2945A)
By an email of Nov. 4, and in response to the commission’s previous review in Op. 20-2945, the President
of the Kansas District forwarded a revised version of his district’s bylaw proposal. The commission notes
that its previous concerns have been addressed. It notes, however, the following additional items related to
the implementation of recommended changes:
•

•

Article III 2 a: While district staff are not permitted to be advisory members of the board, the District
Treasurer, an officer, would be eligible to be an advisory member of the board (and by default is a
member thereof, Const. Art. XII 11); the district may (although it is not required to) therefore wish
to restore the Treasurer to advisory membership on the board.
Article III 2 b, VI. Executive Committee / VII. Emergency meetings: “performed by the agency”
should read “performed by the board” and “actions of the agency” should read “actions of the
board.” It may be clearer to remove the heading “Emergency meetings” from the second paragraph,
as not all of the material of VII relates to emergency meetings, while all of it does relate to the
executive committee.

With the above-noted changes made, the commission approves the proposal for presentation to the district
convention as consistent with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod. The district is thanked for its work
on these bylaws and for submitting the documents for review and is reminded to submit for the
commission’s files a clean copy of the bylaws once amended by the convention. The commission also notes
and reiterates its request for submission of the district’s operations manual, apparently a district policy
manual, as well as the noted convention manual, for the commission’s review under Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3.
77. Southern District Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, Revised Proposal (20-2949A)
By an email of Dec. 7, the Office of the Southern District President, on behalf of the District Secretary and
in response to the commission’s previous review of Op. 20-2949, submitted a revised proposal for revision
of the district’s articles and bylaws. The commission notes the inclusion of changes consistent with its
approval, in Op. 20-2949, of the articles as proposed. All issues identified with the previous bylaw draft
have been addressed. The bylaw proposal is therefore now approved for presentation to the convention as
in harmony with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod. The district is thanked for its diligent work on
these documents and for submitting its documents for review; it is reminded to file its articles with the state
when adopted and to submit a clean copy of the articles and bylaws as adopted by the convention to the
commission for its files.
78. Mid-South District Bylaws, Proposed (20-2958)
By a memorandum of Nov. 6, the Mid-South District Secretary forwarded for the commission’s review a
number of district bylaw amendments, beyond those having to do strictly with changes necessitated by the
2019 Synod convention, those having been dealt with in Op. 20-2933. The proposal amends Mid-South
Bylaws 4.2.2 and 8.4.1 and inserts Bylaws 8.3.5–8.3.6.1 to detail nomination and election processes for the
Nominations Committee and for the Mid-South representative to the Synod Committee for Convention
Nominations. With regard to these, the commission notes the following:
•

In Bylaws 8.3.5.2 (a) and 8.3.5.3 (a), the commission suggests, but does not require, that the “roster
of the Synod” be changed to “roster of the district,” in analogy to Bylaw 4.3.1. (It is possible for an

CCM Minutes – January 15–16, 2021 – Page 59