LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — June 2-3, 1970, Page 5

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209. South Wisconsin Opinion: The secretary made available for information purposes to the members of
the Commission various items: A Milwaukee Sentinel article, a report of phone call conversations with
Fred Polzin and Attorney Tesch, Badger Lutheran article, and a request from Attorney Tesch for a copy
of the opinion on dissident groups and activities (Ag. 99A, 99B, 99C, 151).
210. Procedures Governing Charges of False Teaching: President Koehneke had requested the
Commission to review its set of procedures on the basis of his claim that Matthew 18 did not reply. After
considerable discussion it was resolved to inform Dr. Koehneke that the Commission had reviewed the
procedure and had concluded that under existing bylaws there was no reason to amend the document (Ag.
150).
211. Removal from Office: In Denver Resolution 6-37 the convention had instructed the Board for Higher
Education in consultation with the Commission and with Synod's legal counsel to develop better bylaws
governing procedures for removal of faculty members from office. It was decided that the secretary
should inquire of the BHE what progress had been made to date on this item of unfinished business on the
Commission's agenda, with a carbon copy to legal counsel.
212. Manitoba and Saskatchewan Procedures: The Secretary of the District had written to the Secretary of
the Synod asking for a reaction on the proposed procedures of the District: The latter in reply had called
attention to the recent South Wisconsin ruling in which such activities had been declared unconstitutional
and had enclosed a copy of that opinion. The Commission formally approved the Secretary's reply (Ag.
156).
213. Enforcing Woman Suffrage: It also approved a letter which he had sent to Mrs. John Walker
pointing out that the Synod is in an advisory relationship to the congregations in reply to her question of
whether the Synod could enforce woman suffrage (Ag. 152).
214. Eldred Dede Article on Woman Suffrage: The secretary distributed copies of this Badger Lutheran
article which was at variance with the guidelines adopted by the Commission (Ag. 153).
215. CRM Transfer: President Scherer of the'Missouri District had asked whether a District could deny
the request of a CRM for a transfer to another District, giving details of the case. The Commission ruled:
except perhaps temporarily and by mutual agreement, it is not permissible to list an individual as a CRM
and still declare him ineligible for a call. The status of this particular person should be clarified
immediately and if he is found eligible for a call, he is eligible for a transfer to another District; if he is
not eligible for a call his status as a CRM should be removed (Ag. 157).
216. Ontario District: The secretary reported that he had received a telephone call from President Phil
Fiess stating that the District would not follow its unconstitutional procedures for nominating a District
President but would resort to the traditional write-in procedure. At the request of Dr. Preus the secretary
had also alerted Dr. Nickel, representing the President, on other matters listed in the convention
Workbook involving constitutional issues, such as the election of delegates, deciding matters by a
two-thirds vote, etc. (Ag. 158).
217. English District: He also distributed xeroxed information from the English District Workbook on
election procedures and reported that President Frey in line with the Commission's resolution (Minutes
113) had been notified that these procedures are unconstitutional (Ag. 159).