LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — March 9-10, 1990, Page 2

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nor had it been reintroduced at the 1989 Convention. Also included in the notification to Commission
members was a resolution from the 1975 Convention in Anaheim which ratified an opinion of the
Commission on Constitutional Matters in which it was noted that the Synod had entrusted campus work
to its districts. Further, attention was called to the fact that the Bylaws are clear as to how congregations
are received into the Synod and if a campus group meets the requirements, including a constitution
accepted by the District Board of Directors and is received into membership, the Commission on
Constitutional Matters cannot prevent that from happening. The Commission cannot take action which
the Synod itself has taken no matter what its views on the issue might be. Its mandate is to rule on the
question of constitutionality.
The members of the Commission agreed with the substance of the response and asked that the pastor
making inquiry be provided with noting that the Commission considers the matter closed and, since the
opportunity for bringing it to the 1989 convention was missed, the Commission knows of no way it may
be resurrected short of bringing it to the attention of a future convention of the Synod.
24. A District Executive-Definition (Ag. 1887) : The Pacific Southwest District had indicated its desire
to call a pastor from New York to serve as Director of Ethnic Lay Training and Urban Ministry in that
district but noted that he was an elected pastoral member of the Board of Regents at Concordia
Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. The Bylaws do not allow Executives on the Synodical or District
level to serve on Boards of the Synod. The Pacific Southwest District asked whether Pastor Benke would
be disqualified as a Board member if he were to accept the position in the Southwest District and further
asked if it were to restructure its call and extend him a call to serve either as a missionary-at-large in the
district or to serve as a missionary-at-large assigned to a specific congregation with part of his
responsibility being the assignment to develop the district's cross cultural and ethnic lay training center
whether the technicality which threatened to disqualify him would be removed. It was noted that there is a
small congregation in the inner city which would be willing to call Pastor Benke as its pastor and because
of minimal time demands he would be free to serve additionally in the capacity to which the district was
calling him.
The Secretary had outlined three possibilities in response to the request from the district:
1. If Benke is called as and considered to be an executive of the district he would be ineligible
to serve on the Board of Regents of Fort Wayne in view of Bylaw 3.69,i.
2.

If he is called as a missionary-at-large with a specific assignment and is not considered,
designated, or functions as a district executive, he would continue to be eligible to serve on
the Board on Regents. As a district executive he would seem to have a direct line of
responsibility to a specific board.

2.

If he is called by a congregation and the congregation grants a request by him to be allowed
to assist the district in the development of a cross cultural and ethnic lay ministry training
center and he is not considered, designated, or functions as a district executive, it would seem
that he would be eligible to continue to serve on the Board of Regents of Fort Wayne.

The Commission agreed that of all three possibilities, the third would be preferable since the primary
responsibility in that case would be to the congregation. Assistance would be provided to the district but
not in an executive capacity.
25. Placement of Candidates (Ag. 1889) : Three questions had been forwarded to the Commission on
Constitutional Matters relating to the placement of candidates. They were as follows: