LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — December 3–4, 2021, Page 2

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At Article III 5 (as renumbered), dealing with election of directors, the following is added (note
also related language in Appendix E):
The election for members to the district board of directors will take place at the regional
caucus prior to the district convention. See Appendix B (Election Cycle for Each Region)
for individuals to be elected. The nominations for board of directors members must be
received by the regional vice president the day before the meeting.
While the commission notes the language, earlier in the paragraph, that the board includes “nine
(9) members selected at regional caucuses and ratified by the district in convention, which
ratification constitutes election,” the newly-added language may introduce confusion about the
process, by which regional caucuses can select but not elect district office-holders. The slate of
selections must be presented to the convention—with possibility for amendment—for ratification,
as is the case with circuit visitors (See Bylaw 4.7.1 and compare Bylaw 5.2.2). The new language
would be consistent with the Bylaws of the Synod if proposed as follows (with suitable changes
also to Appendix E):
Selection of candidates for the district board of directors will take place at the regional
caucus prior to the district convention. The slate of candidates so selected shall be ratified
by the district convention, which ratification shall constitute election as directors; the
convention shall have the right to alter the slate by amendment. See Appendix B (Election
Cycle for Each Region) for individuals to be elected. The nominations for board of
directors members must be received by the regional vice president the day before the
meeting.
The language earlier in the paragraph should then be modified as follows: “nine (9) members
selected at regional caucuses and ratified by the district in convention, which ratification constitutes
election as detailed below.”
Later in the same passage, the requirement for action without a meeting needs to be clarified as
follows: “LCMS Board of Directors Policy 2.4.6 also requires that action to be taken outside a
meeting by electronic ballot must have the participation of all board members and all must vote in
favor.”

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At Article III 7 c, an individual member of the Synod who is a district reconciler must be a member
of the district as well as of the Synod.

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At Article V 1 a, the advisory delegate of a congregation in a multi-congregation parish that is not
supplying the lay voting delegate must be a lay advisory delegate.

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The commission questions the addition, in Article V 1 a, as follows: “Each congregation or parish
(a parish being two or more congregations served by the same pastor) shall be represented by one
(1) pastor and one (1) lay delegate duly elected by the congregation at least one hundred and fifty
(150) days prior to the day before the convention begins.” In the existing language, election of the
delegates one hundred fifty days prior seems excessively in advance of the convention, and the
addition of one day is curious. Was the intention here a different change, perhaps, to eliminate the
150-day requirement (which exists without apparent provisions for replacement) and replace it with
a one-day-prior requirement? At a minimum there seems to need to be an allowance for
substitutions to be made during the period between this initial election and the opening of the
convention, as is the case with delegates to the Synod convention.

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At Article V 1 b, the following change is proposed:
Voting at all district conventions shall be restricted to voting to* duly elected pastors and
lay delegates of the congregations. The congregation’s delegates for all meetings of the
district (circuit forums, regional caucuses, district conventions, etc.) will be elected prior
CCM Minutes – December 3–4, 2021 – Page 74