LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — February 6–7, 2026, Page 15

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decision, even within parameters, is not what a board member would do in that situation, the board
member cannot be forced to nonetheless approve it.
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Policy 3.3.2: The district may wish to clarify with regard to SW Bylaw 2.01 (d).

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Policy 3.7: The district is required to implement the Synod’s conflict of interest policy (Bylaw
1.5.2).

The district and its president are thanked for the submission of this document for review. The commission
requests inclusion of its Op. 20-2934, “Missouri District Policy Manual,” with this opinion for reference to
its general comments on the use of a Policy Governance approach in the districts of the Synod.
175. Reconsideration of Op. 24-3031, Adjunct Seminary Faculty (24-3031A)
By an email and memorandum of May 6, 2025, the presidents of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort
Wayne, and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, requested that the commission reconsider its Op. 24-3031,
Adjunct Seminary Faculty, which can be found in the minutes of March 21–22, 2025. The commission
accepted the request and solicited input, under Bylaw 3.9.2.2 (b), from the boards of regents and presidents
of the seminaries and universities of the Synod, as well as from Concordia University System and the
President of the Synod, some of which (and some members of which) responded with written materials.
Two concerns are expressed in the request to reconsider Opinion 24-3031:
1. That Bylaw 3.10.5.5 (g) should be considered as applicable to full-time faculty only, not, as the
opinion states, to all faculty (part-time and/or temporary included).
2. That the term “staff” used in Bylaw 3.11 should not be considered, as the opinion states, as
applicable to “faculty” (including part-time or temporary).
Opinion: As to the first concern, the request for reconsideration cites several bylaws in which the
unqualified word faculty must be meant to refer only to full-time faculty, in some cases because only the
full-time faculty vote and some action of the faculty is being referred to. The fact that they do not vote (or
do not tend to receive sabbaticals), however, does not place the part-time faculty outside the faculty, as
Bylaw 3.10.5.7 makes clear. In fact, Bylaw 3.10.5.7 must limit which faculty can vote precisely because
the part-time and temporary faculty are faculty. The commission finds no reason in the bylaws cited to
conclude that Bylaw 3.10.5.5 (g)’s use of the term faculty can, on the basis of the bylaw language, be
determined to refer only to full-time faculty.
While the commission recognizes that understanding the reference to “the appointment of faculty members”
in Bylaw 3.10.5.5 (g) to apply beyond the full-time faculty runs counter to now-common practice, the
commission stands by its interpretation of the bylaw as stated in the original opinion. The commission
further re-states that because the primary purpose of each seminary is to teach and train those going into
the ministry, the involvement of the boards of regents in the appointment of all those carrying out that
education would seem to be their “fulfilling of the mission of the seminary” (Bylaw 3.10.5.1).
As to the second concern, the commission finds that the term “staff” is used in a wider sense in Bylaw
section 3.11, as opposed to the narrower sense used in contradistinction to faculty in, for example, Bylaw
1.5.1.1. In that bylaw, when staff is defined as excluding faculty, it is under the proviso that the distinction
is “[f]or the purposes of this bylaw only.” As used in Bylaw 3.11.1, the term encompasses employees of
any and all Synod entities, including both faculty and staff of the Synod’s seminaries and universities.
In the input received regarding the reconsideration, concern was expressed that the opinion could curtail
the seminaries’ flexibility and agility to address emergent needs. Additionally, historical context was
provided to support the current practice of appointing part-time and/or temporary faculty without Board of
Regents approval specific to particular appointments. The commission, however, notes that the Bylaws still
provide flexibility with regard to the appointment of part-time faculty—as noted in the original opinion’s
interpretation of Bylaw 3.10.5.5 (g) (emphasis added):
CCM Minutes – February 6–7, 2026 – Page 149