LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 11, 1984, Page 2

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36. North Dakota District Bylaws (Ag. 1262, A-E): The Commission agreed that the District has the
authority to establish its own structure. Nevertheless, Bylaw 2.533, f, clearly points out that it is the
responsibility of the Commission on Constitutional Matters to "examine in advance the Articles of
Incorporation and Bylaws or regulations of every District and all proposed amendments of such
documents to ascertain whether they are in harmony with the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the
Synod. A District shall make such amendments to or changes in these documents as may be necessary to
conform." The Commission ruled that unless the District can provide sufficient reasons to the contrary,
before the Commission can grant approval, the District must provide a more balanced view and follow the
leadership and standard indicated by the composition of membership of the Synod and appoint a pastor,
teacher, and lay lawyer to the membership of its Commission on Constitution and Bylaws.
37. Eligibility, R. Preus, Board for Mission Services (Ag. 1668, B, Min. 204, 183): A question had been
raised regarding the eligibility of Robert Preus to serve as a member of the Board for Mission Services in
view of Bylaw 2.67, h, which states that, "Executives shall not be members of the board or commission
under which they serve or of any other board or commission of the Synod." The question was raised since
the president of a college or seminary is designated as the executive officer of the Board of Regents. After
completing its discussion, the Commission ruled as follows:
In acting upon a request relating to the position of Dr. Robert Preus serving both as President of
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, and a member of the Board for Mission Services,
the Commission caused a review to be made of the bylaw provisions of the 1983 Handbook, as
well as its decision made prior thereto. Such review results in a revision of prior opinions reached
in 1983, Minutes 136, 183, and 204. The Commission rules that the term "executive" is
interpreted to mean a staff person of a board or commission directly responsible to a board or
commission of the Synod as created according to 2.67, e, and such other officers or positions as
are created by the bylaws which would constitute an executive staff for a board or commission
such as designated in 6.03, a. Therefore, such executives, pursuant to 2.67, h, "shall not be
members of the board or commission under which they serve or of any other board or
commission of the Synod."
Also, in accordance therewith, the Commission reviewed 2.67, k, interpreting the word "staff" as limited
to only those staff positions as defined above.
38. Adjudication and Appeals Procedure -- Missouri District (Ag. 1694, A-C): The Commission had
received a request for the interpretation of certain constitutional provisions relating to matters of
reconciliation, adjudication, and appeal as they pertain to decisions arrived at by the Missouri District on
Adjudication and the Commission on Appeals in the case of Ralph Bringewatt. The Commission agreed
that there are indeed constitutional issues involved and that in order to avoid an impasse, the Commission
on Constitutional Matters respectfully requests the Commission on Appeal to reopen the matter and
reconsider the request for appeal by the President of the Missouri District in the pending case.
39. Model Constitution (Ag. 1446, A-G, 293, 298, 1658, 1688): The Commission agreed to the following
changes suggested for the Guidelines for the constitution of a congregation:
1. It agreed to delete the words "recommended by the District as being" from the last paragraph
of part II of the description of the Guidelines. It also agreed to add the sentence at this point,
"If the congregation is not acquainted with an attorney, names of attorneys can generally be
obtained from District officials."
2. It agreed that wherever appropriate, the word "called" should be placed before the word
"teacher" in paragraph 5.0 and elsewhere.