LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 6, 1988, Page 2

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In response to these questions, the Secretary had responded quoting a previous opinion of the
Commission which stated:
It is the congregation which has the vote and delegates it to its called pastor and its chosen lay
delegate. The district does not have a vote. Therefore if it calls a man and assigns him to serve
somewhere, he is not representing a member of the congregation, but rather the district which is
ineligible to send a voting delegate to a convention since the district is not a member.
In reality, an organized congregation which is a member has the right to and should call a pastor.
If it does not and agrees to be served by a district called person, it is similar to a congregation
which is served by a vacancy pastor. Such a pastor is also ineligible to represent the congregation
in a voting capacity.
In a similar way, emeritus pastors have also been considered ineligible to vote since, as retired
persons, they are not considered to be pastors in charge of congregations.
The Commission ratified this response to the two questions.
The Commission had also been asked to provide an opinion on the. question, "If a pastor and
congregation joins a local "religious" group of mixed faith such as Christian and Jew and then offers to
host a worship service in behalf of this organization with the pastor conducting the service alone, is this a
violation of Article VI? The service is conducted for the benefit of the organization of mixed faith in
which the opportunity is given to express thanks to 'God.' It is not conducted to give a clear Lutheran
witness of the Gospel. The argument which has been advanced to condone this conduction of the service
is that since no other pastor/rabbi participates in leading the service, therefore there is no violation of this
article pertaining to membership in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod."
To this issue, the Commission decided to respond as follows:
The Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod prohibit certain acts as conditions of membership. If
they are occurring, they are to be reported to the district president who has the responsibility for
inquiry and appropriate action.
The Commission on Constitutional Matters does not, of course, make determination of fact. We
find that the information provided by your letter is wanting in a specificity that would be
required, in any event, to make an interpretation in a matter of such potential gravity. Beyond
that, even with fully developed facts, the nature of the inquiry is such that it might be necessary to
solicit the views of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations on this matter.
105. Retired Pastors - Voting Eligibility (Ag. 1836) : The question had been asked whether a retired
pastor serving a congregation was eligible for status as a voting pastor. Article V,B, 3 of the Constitution
describes "Pastors not in charge of congregations" as advisory members. The Commission had previously
ruled on this issue when it stated, "Emeritus pastors have been considered ineligible to vote since, as
retired persons, they are not considered to be pastors in charge of congregations."
The Commission sustained this opinion since it would be impossible to consider persons as being retired
and not retired at the same time. If one were retired, he would not be in charge of a congregation.
106. District Resolution - Constitutionality (Ag. 1837) : At its district convention, the CaliforniaNevada-Hawaii District had defeated the following proposed resolution: