LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — February 1, 1985, Page 8

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Handbook, which goes into great detail as to the procedure to be followed, as well as your right of
appeal for any action taken.
Further, we do not find it unusual for attempts to be made to handle perceived disputes in an
alternate manner, with the consent of all parties, to avoid potential conflict. The choice, however,
is clearly yours and you may choose to exercise your rights to the fullest extent.
We hope this satisfies your concerns as to your position as it involves your constitutional rights.
A copy of the decision is to be forwarded to President Bohlmann.
112. Resolution of Gratitude for Dr. Carl Eberhard: The Secretary was asked to draft an appropriate
resolution which would recognize with gratitude the numerous contributions made by Dr. Carl Eberhard
in his long career of service to our Lord and the Synod.
113. Eligibility, Robert Preus, Board for Mission Services (Ag. 1668, C-G, Min. 204, 183, 37, 65): Robert
Preus had requested reconsideration of a previous ruling of the Commission which declared him ineligible
for membership on the Board for Mission Services on the basis of Bylaw 2.67, h. The Commission
reviewed the rationale provided by Dr. Preus for continuing eligibility on that Board and decided to
reaffirm its previous ruling by responding as follows:
The Commission on Constitutional Matters reaffirms the opinion previously expressed in its letter
to you of May 22, 1984, that the provision of Bylaw 2.67, h, applies to you as President of
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, and renders you ineligible to serve as a member of
another board, specifically, the Board for Mission Services to which you were elected at the 1983
synodical convention.
That your position is that of an executive staff person to the Board of Regents is expressly
provided in 6.03, a, (". . . from the president as its executive officer and through him from other
officers and staff members") and Bylaw 6.15 ("The president of the institution shall be the
executive officer of the Board of Regents . . ."). You are clearly "the principal staff person" for
the Board of Regents.
In rendering our decision we are also reaffirming another prior decision of the Commission which
appears in the minutes (280) of its meeting of December 11-12, 1981. The Commission there
applied Bylaw 2.67, h, to bar the appointment of a district executive to the Board of Regents of
Concordia, Milwaukee.
Furthermore, in 1981 and again in 1982, the Commission affirmed its opinion that 2.67, k, applies
to staff members of a Board of Regents thereby indicating that appropriate sections of Bylaw 2.67
do indeed apply to a Board of Regents and their executives.
We therefore believe the interpretation given with regard to your eligibility to serve as a member
of the Board for Mission Services is consistent with what we take to be the obvious purpose of
2.67, h, namely, to assure that those in significant salaried staff positions will be able to devote
their energies to the performance of those tasks to which they were appointed or were called to
perform and - to assure that such persons would not be placed in the position of being both master
and servant and thus present the appearance, if not the fact, of a conflict of interest