Collection › LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2024 › Page 6
LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — August 9–10, 2024, Page 6
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Source: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (files.lcms.org)
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Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected
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Bylaws 2.02–03: These bylaws contain a number of unclarities and should be revised to clearly
correspond to committees as described in Synod Bylaws 1.5.3.3 and 1.5.3.4, which are distinct
provisions. The board is also charged to create such committees, not individuals.
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Bylaw 2.03: The text reading “The board of directors is not responsible for …” should presumably
have its own bylaw number.
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Bylaw 3.01 (b): The president is elected from the clergy roster of the Synod but vice-presidents,
secretary, and circuit visitors “shall be elected from the clergy roster of the district.” It should also
be specified that the treasurer shall be a layperson (Synod Bylaw 4.3.2).
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Bylaw 3.01 (d): It may be well to distinguish more clearly between temporary incapacity and
resignation or removal from office. There probably also should be a stated procedure for
determining temporary incapacity (see Synod Bylaw 3.3.1.4).
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Bylaw 3.02 (a): It should be added that “Incumbents shall serve until their successors assume
office” (Bylaw 3.2.4 [f]).
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Bylaw 3.04 (a): The final bylaw cited should read “1.5.8.1” and it should be noted that this bylaw
does not apply to the district president. The district should also include somewhere in its bylaws
reference to Synod’s standards for conduct and handling of conflicts of interest (Bylaw 1.5.1.3–
1.5.2).
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Bylaw 3.05 (c): This bylaw appears to conflict or at least have potential to be conflated confusingly
with NW Bylaw 3.01 (d). Should all the district vice-presidents advance in rank due to a presidential
vacancy, is the final position intended to be filled by the new president, under NW Dist. Bylaw
3.01 (d), or by the board of directors, under this bylaw?
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Bylaw 3.06 (a): Consistency with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod should also be required.
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Bylaw 3.06 (b): “responsibilities of his office” may be clearer.
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Bylaw 3.07 (a): The duties of the president under Const. Art. XII and Bylaw section 4.4 should be
acknowledged explicitly as his primary duties. (The parenthetical under [f] could likely be
removed.)
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Bylaw 3.10: It should be noted that the treasurer should be a layperson (Bylaw 4.3.2).
Responsibilities under the Synod Bylaws should also be noted. “oversight of financial report”
should likely read “…reporting.”
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Bylaw 3.12 (a, c): See comments above regarding the level of general supervision to be expected
of the district president over staff, especially over those performing functions in the board’s area
of responsibility.
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Bylaw 4.03: In (a), the addresses of voting delegates should no longer be published (cf. Synod
Bylaw 3.1.8 and 2019 Res. 9-04A). The first two lines of (d) are redundant with (b); if these lines
are removed, the last sentence of (d) should become its own subparagraph. Also redundant with the
above is (e), which may simply be removed. It should be clarified that (f) applies to retired workers
who are members of the district.
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Bylaw 4.05 (d): It should be clear that the district president is charged to make these determinations.
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Bylaw 5.01: It should be made clear that this committee is not involved in nominations for president
and vice-president positions (Synod Bylaw 4.7.2). NW Bylaw 5.01 (d) seems to conflict
irreconcilably with Bylaw 5.02 (c), which itself conflicts with the Synod precedent of alphabetical
order (Bylaw 3.12.4.1).
CCM Minutes – August 9–10, 2024 – Page 29