LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — June 13-14, 1968, Page 3

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synodical convention or only each parish. The Commission resolved to inform Secretary Kleinhans of its
interpretation that each congregation in a multiple parish is entitled to a separate vote.
143. Possible Revision of 1.27: Secretary Mueller reported that the special committee appointed to study
the question of who has the right to submit overtures to a synodical convention intends to make some
changes in 1.27 a. The special committee had also arrived at a tentative rewrite of other paragraphs in
1.27 but had then decided that this was properly not its responsibility and had suggested that these matters
could perhaps be taken up by the Commission on Constitutional Matters. The Secretary distributed the
tputative rewrite arrived at by the special committee at the time that it decided not to pursue the matter
further. The Commission formally expressed its approval of the tentative intention of the special
committee to limit further rather than to expand the number of people who may submit overtures, and also
decided to undertake the task of making other revisions in paragraph 1.27.
144. Designation of Official Conferences: The question was raised whether it might be necessary to
designate the official pastoral and teachers conferences and to insert "official" in such paragraphs as
4.101, 4.103, 4.107. No decision was reached.
145. SELC: The Secretary also submitted orally the extremely tentative plan for "merger" f the SELC
with the Missouri Synod, with the request that any grave constitutional difficulty be pointed out. The
Commission found nothing against which it needed to caution.
146. Woman Suffrage, _Mid-South District: President Griesse of the Mid-South District had written to
the Secretary asking for his reaction to a positive statement which a District committee was
recommending for inclusion in the constitutions of the congregations of the District with reference to
woman suffrage. The Commission decided to approve the first two paragraphs of the Secretary's letter of
May 14 to President Griesse and to defer any further action until the long awaited report is
received from the CTCR.
147. District Right to Memorialize Synod: The Commission formally resolved to endorse the
memorandum presented by Dr. Harms to the Council of Presidents in regard to the right of Districts to
pass resolutions regarding fellowship with the ALC correctly interpreting Bylaw 1.27 a and New York
Resolution 3-23.
148. Marcus Lang Overture: Chairman Kuenne reported on his negotiations with Pastor Marcus Lang
regarding the right of Districts to memorialize the Synod with reference to the fellowship question and
regard-tote memorial which pastor hang had submitted to the Indiana District.
149. Waldo Werning: Notice was also taken of the fact that Pastor Waldo Werning had published in The
Badger Lutheran a detailed brief on the right of Districts to memorialize the Synod even though Dr.
Harms's statement had already been presented to the Council of Presidents.
150. Next Meeting: It was decided to move the next meeting to September 12-13 and to meet in
Baltimore.
151. Congregations with a Non-Synodical Pastor: Much of the session on the second day was devoted to
a detailed discussion of the decision of the Board of Appeals in the-oase of the New Haven, Missouri
congregation. This led to a wider discussion of the constitutional question itself, which Dr. Harms had
submitted to the Commission. The Commission finally adopted the following opinion: