LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — July 13-22, 1977, Page 2

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resolve. The Commission had already ruled on the first question but now also ruled that it would not be
proper to eliminate the reference to Bylaw 6.05, r, from the last resolved of Resolution 6-06 since that
bylaw could not be evaded in the process outlined in the resolution.
Monday, July 18, 1977
319. Task Force: The Commission decided to inform the Task Force that it wished to meet with the entire
Task Force instead of merely a representative or two, as has been rumored.
320. Board of Control Membership: Vance Hinrichs, acting president of Concordia, Seward, had called
attention to Bylaw 6.25, which states that no more than two elected members of the Board of Control
shall be members of the same congregation. Two Seward Board of Control nominees and the District
president are members of the same congregation. The Commission ruled that President Niedner is not
elected to the board but is elected as District president and therefore merely serves as ex-officio. All
names on the ballot could be approved.
Wednesday and Thursday, July 20-21, 1977
321. Omission of Name from Ballot: When it became known that one pastor's name had been mistakenly
omitted from the ballot for Committee for Convention Nominations, the Commission ruled that the
category of pastors would need to be voted on once again by the convention with the name added to the
ballot.
322. New Hymnal: Wednesday noon the Commission had before it a question from Committee #3,
whether a proposed substitute resolution could be considered. This substitute resolution called for the
convention to delegate to the Board of Directors which in turn would delegate to a special committee the
authority to publish the new Book of Worship as the official hymnal of the Synod. The Commission ruled
that the word "only" in the new bylaw just adopted requires the convention itself to take action and
prevents the convention from delegating that responsibility to any other group. Continued discussion
ensued during the course of the afternoon, in the evening, and on the following morning. Finally the
Commission adopted the following statement for the guidance of the floor committee:
If a hymnal or service book is published by authorization of the convention, either directly or
indirectly, it is to be regarded as having been accepted as an official service book or hymnal
(Bylaw 11.115, Res. 3-05A, p. 197, Today's Business). Before "accepting" a hymnal as an official
hymnal, the convention itself must therefore also determine that the hymnal meets the requirement
of Article VI, paragraph 4, of the Constitution (Conditions of Membership).
However, when a delegate from the floor introduced another substitute motion, the floor committee stated
that the CCM had ruled such a motion unconstitutional. The Commission's statement was read by
Chairman Freise. The Commission gave attention to the new substitute and discovered that it differed in
significant detail from that which had been generated within the floor committee. It was finally decided
that the Secretary at the beginning of the next period of discussion on this resolution should make a
presentation along the following lines:
The CCM has a responsibility toward the floor committees and the convention itself to see to it
that resolutions which are proposed are constitutional not only in language but also in content. For
that reason the CCM was present at the floor committee meetings in St. Louis and also here in
Dallas. On the previous day a substitute motion which had been developed within the floor
committee itself had been presented to the Commission for a reaction. There were grave
difficulties involved here, for example, the question whether a convention could really delegate the