LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — April 8–9, 2022, Page 9

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permissible.” This is especially noteworthy, because it appears that nominations for president and
vice-president and lay board of directors members appear to be handled in a strictly numerical
process, with no explicit allowance for floor nominations. The commission questions again whether
the change of “voting pastor” to “individual member” is intended, and whether its implications—
namely the admission to a strictly numerical nominating process of all individual members of the
district, along with the district’s congregations—have been considered. On the Synod level and,
the commission believes, in every other district, it is each member congregation as such that is able
to vote in numerical nomination processes for president and vice-presidents.
•

MNN Bylaw 2.70: The commission presumes that the language, “The convention expenses of the
delegates shall be paid by the circuit,” is meant to indicate how the district allocates these costs
(Bylaw 3.1.9 [f]) in an assessment of congregations. In any case, the congregations cannot be
required, as a condition either of membership or of representation, to pay. This might be more
clearly stated, if consistent with the intention of the district, “The district shall assess the convention
expenses of the delegates to the congregations of the district shall be paid by the circuit on a percircuit basis.” These expenses, to be clear, also include the costs of the district’s advisory
representation.

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MNN Bylaw 3.10 (b)(3): The addition of lay suggested here belongs in the following sentence, not
the first one: “The lay delegate to the Convention of the Synod…”

The commission finds the bylaw proposal as here presented to be in harmony with the Constitution, Bylaws,
and resolutions of the Synod and approves it for presentation to the district convention. The district and its
secretary are thanked for this submission and reminded to file with the Office of the Secretary, for the
commission’s records, a clean copy of the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws as finally adopted by the
convention and (in the case of the Articles) as filed with the State of Minnesota.
128. California-Nevada-Hawaii District Articles and Bylaws, Proposed (22-2989)
By an email of March 21, the Secretary of the California-Nevada-Hawaii (CNH) District forwarded
proposed amendments to the bylaws of his district. The proposal consists of four parts: (A) changes
responsive to but not entirely dispositive of the issues identified in the commission’s prior review (Op. 212968); (B) a proposed change to CNH Bylaw VI F 3 b, regarding the election process for the district’s
regional vice presidents; (C) an amendment to the amendments section of the bylaws to allow the board of
directors to adopt amendments necessitated by a Synod convention; and (D) a proposal to add the
relationship language required by Bylaw 1.5.3.6 and 2016 Res. 9-02A to the district’s articles of
incorporation.
A. Changes in response to Op. 21-2968
For future reference, issues raised in the opinion, which the district secretary acknowledges as requiring
further consideration in the district before proper amendments can be proposed, remain outstanding in CNH
Bylaws III A 3 and subparagraphs a, d, g, and o, in particular, III B 2 c–j, III G d, and IV A 2 a, these all
relating to the district’s general model of governance, as described in Op. 21-2968; Bylaws III C 2 e and
VI I 2, where some form of ranking and succession of district officers seems to be needful; Bylaw IV C 6
b i, regarding clarity of bylaws regarding nominating committees; V C 1, regarding the president’s
discretion to publish pre-convention materials; VI F 3 d and V F 4 c, where it should be explicit that the
convention retains the right to amend the slate; VI I 3, regarding procedure for removal of officers; and
Article VIII A–C, regarding prior review of bylaw amendments by the Synod Commission on
Constitutional Matters.
The commission notes the following:
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III C 2 a and 3 D b: It would be helpful to include “and have membership in a congregation of their
represented region throughout their service.”

CCM Minutes – April 8–9, 2022 – Page 96