LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — April 2, 1994, Page 6

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required to respect this decision, and the district involved shall take action with respect to
the congregation as it may deem appropriate.
The congregation, therefore, is completely autonomous. However ' its autonomy, if it wishes to be
and remain a member of the Synod is limited as indicated above, especially in Bylaw 2.39. In
addition, the autonomy of the congregation may be understood or be limited in terms of its own
constitution.
2)
The relation between the congregation in the utilization of autonomy and the pastor in the exercise
of his office is established by the call document and accompanying information which identifies the
expectation of each in relation to the other. It may also be further defined by the constitution and bylaws
of the congregation.
3)
Two bylaws contained in the Handbook of the Synod appear to provide a basic understanding of the
inability of a pastor to perform his duties. The first of these is Bylaw 2.23 which refers to conditions
under which a pastor may be placed on restricted status. It stated,
2.23 Restricted Status
a. An individual member of the Synod may be placed on restricted status by the District
President of the District who has ecclesiastical supervision of the member. The District
President may take this action if information with respect to such member provides a
substantial basis to conclude that such member
1. has engaged in conduct which could lead to expulsion from the Synod under Article XIII
of the Constitution; or
2. is incapable of performing the duties of the office or position because of a physical,
mental, or emotional disability; or
3. neglects or refuses to perform the duties of the office or position.
Especially instructive is 2.23 b which refers to physical, mental, or emotional disability. It would be
the responsibility of a congregation (assuming it includes these in its understanding of inability to
perform the functions of the pastoral office) to determine whether these conditions are present. If it
concludes that they are and this judgment is challenged by the pastor, a Dispute Resolution Panel
would be responsible for making a final decision on the matter.
While not speaking specifically to the matter of pastoral inability to perform the functions of the
office, the bylaw which refers to causes for dismissal of faculty members may shed some light on
what is considered to constitute inability to perform the functions of an office. Bylaw 6.43 c states
c. The only causes for which members of a faculty may be removed from office (within the
definitions of a and b above), other than honorable retirement, are
1. professional incompetency;
2. incapacity for the performance of duty because of physical, mental, or emotional
disabilities;
3.
refusal to cooperate;
4.
neglect of or refusal to perform duties of office;
5.
conduct unbecoming a Christian;
6. advocacy of false doctrine (Constitution, Art. II) or failure to honor and uphold the
doctrinal position of the Synod as defined further in Bylaw 1.09 c.
In many respects these are identical or parallel to those referred to previously.
D.

Congregational autonomy does include the authority of a congregation to dismiss its pastor for any