LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — April 23-24, 1970, Page 4

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135. Unchangeable Articles: It also ratified his advice to Good Shepherd, Marshall, Minnesota,
concerning the problem of unchangeable articles (Ag. 126). This action prompted the chairman to suggest
that it might be time for the Commission to revise the booklet Guidelines.
136. Woman Suffrage: The Secretary reported that he is still continuing to receive requests for the
Commission's recent "Guidelines on Woman Suffrage" (Ag. 127).
137. Amending Counselor Slate: President Bensene of the Northwest District had inquired whether the
slate of nominees for circuit counselors could be amended by substitution through a simple motion from
the floor. The Commission approved the Secretary's reply in the affirmative (Ag. 130).
138. Texas Bylaws: Since President Heckmann does not know how these separate sheets of bylaws for
the Texas District happened to be forwarded to the synodical Secretary's office, it was decided to hold this
item on the agenda (Ag. 131).
139. Membership in LLL: Both the Lutheran Laymen's League through Dr. Eugene R. Bertermann and
Dr. J. A. 0. Preus had asked the Commission to review the articles on membership in the LLL Articles of
Incorporation (Article V) and Bylaws (Article I). After considerable discussion it was resolved to reply in
the following three-fold way:
1.

The Commission feels no direct responsibility to review the Constitution and Bylaws of
the LLL.

2.

The Commission does, however, conclude that it sees no conflict between the articles in
question and the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod.

3.

However, even though membership in the LLL is in these articles declared to be open
also to members of sister synods, the Commission would encourage the LLL to exercise
good churchmanship in the implementation of this privilege, especially in view of the
fact that the ALC has its own men's organization (Ag. 52 and 64).

140. Eligibility for District Presidency: Since a definition of "in statu confessionis" was not yet available
from the CTCR, President Fiess of the Ontario District had reformulated his question to read "If a pastor
of the Synod states that he is in statu confessionis and states that by this he means that he cannot and will
not carry out a specific resolution of the Synod, would this make him ineligible for the office of District
president?" The Commission adopted the following ruling: "A District president must carry out within his
District the resolutions of the Synod. It must be stated, however, that the requirements of the resolutions
must be clearly understood and that the right of the president to express his personal dissent must also be
maintained. Nevertheless, through outright refusal to carry out the clear requirements of a resolution of
the Synod within the District a man would declare himself ineligible and disqualify himself from
consideration for the presidency (Article XI B, 4; Bylaws 3.41 and 3.07). A distinction needs to be made
between what a man may do as pastor of a congregation and what he is required to do as a District
president. The Commission also cautions that there is the practical problem of trying to determine in
advance whether a man who has not yet been elected president would indeed refuse to carry out his
responsibilities if elected." (Ag. 87A).
141. Suth Wisconsin: Polzin will follow through on the South Wisconsin Articles of Incorporation and
Bylaws (Ag. 21 and 25).
142. ederal Aid: Mr. Melvin Kieschnick, Superintendent of Education of the Michigan District, appeared
before the Commission inquiring whether a District would have the right to negate the Denver resolution