LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — January 10-11, 1992, Page 3

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caucus, the district secretary shall provide each congregation in the circuit with the names of the two men
who have received the highest number of votes. The voting delegates of the circuit shall then meet in
caucus at the district convention to elect the new circuit counselor. The question which is raised is this: "If
at the c9nvention the two men receiving the highest number of votes are present, are still eligible and
willing to serve, may the voting members of the caucus place additional names in nomination for the
office?"
The Secretary had prepared a response which had been shared with the members of the Commission and
with the President of the North Wisconsin District who had asked for the opinion. In the response, the
Secretary had indicated that the situation to which reference was made was that of one congregation
nominating two candidates and no other congregation in the circuit forwarding the name of even one. As
a consequence, the one congregation had created a tie by its action. Normally it would be assumed that
the circuit caucus would ballot on the names of those nominated. The sentence which states, "Should the
candidate(s) no longer be available for this office, the circuit caucus shall have the right to act on behalf
of the congregation to nominate a replacement" would seem to imply that.
However, the fact that the convention has the right to alter the slate would indicate that circuit
nominations are not the final answer. It would seem that the spirit of the bylaw would be that the
convention should select the best person for circuit counselor. Common sense would seem to indicate that
if that is possible, the circuit caucus should not be bound by the technicality of having to make its choice
from two persons, both suggested by one or even two congregations. If the convention is informed that
neither of the two is the choice of the circuit but they have, because of the technicality, been forced to
choose one, I sincerely doubt whether the convention will accept that slate without alteration. In view of
the above, one could opt for allowing the circuit caucus to consider other names in addition to those
forwarded by the one congregation or even the single name of two different pastors by two congregations.
The Commission agreed with the response which had been proposed and ratified it.
71. Emeritus Pastor - Membership Ag. 1916): A pastor had forwarded the following question asking
for an opinion of the Commission on Constitutional Matters: "Is it necessary (required?) that a pastor be a
member of a district in order to retain membership in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod?" The pastor
stated that nominally he was listed as pastor emeritus while in reality he had initiated what was, in his
opinion, perhaps the most important and “productive" ministry of his career, namely, work among the
international students and intellectuals at the university of California in Berkley. Pleas for recognition and
minimal financial support from the California-Nevada-Hawaii District as well as the English District had
gone unheeded. The Secretary had prepared a response to the pastor which stated:
While I will be forwarding the official action of the Commission as soon as it is taken, I believe there
is little doubt regarding the opinion which it will render. Bylaw 2.41,e states that
An emeritus member not regularly serving a congregation or other entity shall continue to
hold membership through the district through which membership was held at the
inception of the emeritus status unless a transfer is approved by both the President of the
District and the President of the District to which membership would be transferred.
The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that emeriti pastors on the roster of the Synod hold their
membership through the district. If they do not, they are not on the roster. The phrase "shall continue
to hold ... " does not allow for any other possibility. Bylaw 4.77 regarding official rosters supports
this position.
Of course, an emeritus pastor could have his name removed and still hold membership in a member
congregation. In that case, however, he no longer holds individual membership as an advisory