LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — March 9-10, 1990, Page 7

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his intention to appeal and ground therefore in written form to the Commission on Adjudication,
whereupon:
a) The Commission on Adjudication, within 90 days of the receipt of such appeal, shall
rule whether or not the informal settlement efforts under Bylaw 8.05 have failed."
The above supports the view that informal efforts must take place. Furthermore, at the point of
notification, the "plaintiff" is merely filing his case. The commission decides whether or when it
should be taken up. The wording of the Rules of Procedure indicates that the commission will refrain
from hearing a case until informal reconciliation efforts have been exhausted.
4. The question depends on whether the conflict involves the Board of Regents as a board or whether it
is with specific individuals. If a new Board of Regents has not rescinded the actions of a previous
Board of Regents and thereby supports that action, and if the conflict is based on disagreement with
that action it would not appear that the former Board of Regents is involved. Informal settlement
efforts would seek to resolve the issue.
If the conflict is with individuals for their support of an action then a matter of reconciliation is
indeed involved, in which case both the members of the Board of Regents which took the initial
action and the succeeding Board of Regents which supported it are to be involved in the
reconciliation process.
The Commission would therefore suggest that the District Commission on Adjudication is without
jurisdiction and that the matter is clearly vested on the basis of 8.35 in the Synodical Commission
which will have the matter before it as soon as the informal reconciliation process has taken place.
29. Authority and Responsibility of Commissions : Because of a large number of questions which had
arisen in various areas relative to the limitations of the authority and responsibility of the Commission on
Theology and Church Relations, Commission on Constitutional Matters and Commissions on
Adjudication and the Commission on Appeal, the Commission decided that it would be of value to
present a basic position statement on this matter, interpreting the Bylaws in their present form. It was also
agreed that the document which was developed would be shared with the Synod by publication in one of
the official periodicals. The statement which was developed is as follows:

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
REGARDING CERTAIN ISSUES RELATING TO INTERPRETATION OF THE
CONSTITUTION AND
BYLAWS OF THE SYNOD IN MATTERS OF ADJUDICATION AND APPEALS

I
The Commission on Constitutional Matters has over a period of time received a plethora of requests
regarding interpretation of the Synod's Reconciliation, Adjudication, and Appellate process. In attempting
to respond to these requests, it has become obvious that the Commission on Constitutional Matters must
give a comprehensive opinion, interpreting the entire present structure and the manner in which it is
designed to function. This is necessary to bring good and proper order to the present situation. The
following opinion therefore is issued to establish general principles regarding the relationship and the
authority of the various interpretative, adjudicative, and appellate bodies of the Synod. The Commission