LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — April 28–29, 2023, Page 4

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

whom it calls is qualified to serve as its parish pastor (Charter, Art. II b; Constitution, Article III
3).
To this end The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod establishes procedures for determining whether
men meet the standards. One of the advantages which a congregation receives when it joins the
Synod is the protection against pastors who do not meet such standards.
…
In order that there may be no misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the condition that the
membership of congregations in the Synod requires of a congregation that all pastors, as also all
teachers, who are called to and who serve the congregations of the Synod must have been admitted
to the ministry of the Synod in accordance with the procedures provided by the Synod for
certification, recommendation, ordination, or commissioning of such pastors or called teachers, this
committee deems it advisable to reiterate the basic constitutional requirements in clear and
unmistakable words also in the Bylaws;
The convention adopted Bylaw 4.02, below (printed in the 1969 Handbook as 4.01; Proceedings, pp. 119–
20):
4.02 Eligible Pastors and Teachers
a. Congregations which are members of the Synod, in conformity with Article III, 3 of the
Constitution of the Synod, shall call and be served only by pastors and called teachers who
have been admitted to these respective ministries in accordance with the rules and
regulations set forth in the synodical Handbook and have thereby become members of the
Synod.
b. Congregations which violate this requirement and persist in such violation shall after due
admonition forfeit their membership in the Synod.
While the Bylaws were renumbered in the following year, and the term teachers was eventually changed
to commissioned ministers, this bylaw remained essentially unchanged until the 2001 convention of the
Synod. During this intervening period, the status of women who were graduates of colleges of the Synod
and were teaching in the schools of the congregations of the Synod changed, so that they were allowed to
become members of the Synod and be placed on the roster of the Synod. In addition, the use of teachers
who were not trained in the institutions of the Synod and therefore not eligible for membership in the Synod,
greatly increased in the day schools of the congregations of the Synod, which placed them in violation of
this bylaw. The result was that 2001 Res. 7-12, “To Separate Calling and Service of Clergy from Other
Church Workers” (Proceedings, p. 168), changed the bylaw to read:
2.45 Calling Ministers of Religion
a. Congregations shall seek the advice of the respective District President when calling ordained
or commissioned ministers.
b. Congregations that are members of the Synod shall call and be served only by ordained
ministers who have been admitted to their ministries in accordance with the rules and regulations
set forth in these Bylaws and have thereby become members of the Synod.
c. Congregations that are members of the Synod shall call only commissioned ministers who
have been admitted to their ministries in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in these
Bylaws and have thereby become members of the Synod.
d. Congregations that violate these requirements and persist in such violation shall, after due
admonition, forfeit their membership in the Synod.

CCM Minutes – April 28–29, 2023 – Page 143