LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — June 10-11, 1994, Page 3

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The Commission recommends that the Council on Mission and Ministry, which has been assigned those
functions previously assigned to the former Commission on Structure, offer an overture for adoption at
the 1995 convention of the Synod which will clarify the procedures for transfer of congregations
between districts of the Synod as well as between a district of the Synod and Lutheran Church-Canada.
85. Bylaw 3.75, Holding More Than One Office, as it Relates to District President (Ag. 1983) :
President Barry had indicated that while attending a district convention a question was raised in regard to
Bylaw 3.75. Specifically, he was asked whether it was permitted for one district president to hold one
elected office (president of the district) and two appointed positions (chairman of the CTCR and the COP
representative to the St. Louis seminary Board of Regents). He indicated that he believed he should ask this
question of the CCM prior to September when the Council of Presidents would once again be meeting.
In replying to this question, the Commission decided to respond as follows:
You had asked the Commission on Constitutional Matters to provide an opinion on whether a district
president could hold one elected office, that of district president, and two appointed positions.
In response, the Commission in a meeting on June 11, 1994 concluded that on the basis of Bylaw 3.75,
a district president may hold only one appointed position since the holding of two appointed positions
would violate the clear bylaw statement that,
a. No one, either in the Synod or in a District, or between the Synod and a District, shall hold
more than one elective office; or more than two offices, although one or both be appointive; or
ever hold two offices of which one is directly responsible for the work done by the other.
b. An office shall be regarded as elective only if it is an office filled through election by a
national or a District convention, even though a vacancy in such an office may be filled by
appointment.
The Commission does not believe that this would be considered as one of the "doubtful cases [which]
shall be decided by the President of the Synod."
86. Eligibility for Office (Ag. 1984) : A question had been asked regarding the eligibility of a member to
serve an additional term on a board. The member had served since December, 1986 filling an unexpired
term and had been reelected in 1989 to the same position. The question to be answered is whether less than
a one-half term is to be considered at all in relation to a twelve-year limit. Related to that is the question of
whether the unexpired term of a member who has died begins at the time when the position becomes vacant
or whether the term first begins when the vacant position is fined. The bylaw simply says, "One-half or
more of a term shall be regarded as a full-term under limited tenure rules." Under one interpretation the
unexpired term would begin with the death of the incumbent, while under the other interpretation it would
begin with the appointment to fin the unexpired term. If the former interpretation were correct, the person
requesting an opinion would not be eligible to serve an additional term since he would have already served
nine years. If the second interpretation were to prevail, he would be eligible.
After some discussion, the Commission on Constitutional Matters concluded that in the phrase in question,
the word "term" is to be applied to the individual who fills the office, not to the time remaining in a term
from the point at which the vacancy begins. The length of term is to be determined from the date of
appointment when one has the right to exercise the right of office conveyed by appointment. As a result, the
second interpretation is to prevail.