LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — March 28, 1996, Page 3

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district in which membership is held. Bylaw 4.71 speaks to the requirement for installation
authorization by the District President.
Bylaw 2.41 seems to be of particular significance as it recognizes implicitly that certain problems could
arise in relation to determining where district membership must be held. Several of the provisions
contain statements which call for the exercise of discretion by District Presidents involving mutual
agreement in determining what the proper approach should be toward exercising ecclesiastical
supervision and by which District President it should be exercised.
In view of the position outlined above, it would appear that some of the concerns expressed could
possibly be dealt with by mutual agreement of the District Presidents involved. That, however, leaves a
major question to be answered. That question is whether the call which has been issued is to be
regarded as a "status call."
The matter of "status calls" has been of concern to the Synod, particularly since the 1970's when a large
number of "status calls" were issued. These dealt especially with professors teaching at "Seminex" who
were called as assistant pastors in congregations in order to maintain their membership on the roster of
the Synod. Sometimes these congregations were far removed in distance from the location of
"Seminex" where these men were actually serving. Responding to an inquiry from the Council of
Presidents at that time about such status calls, the Commission on Constitutional Matters stated in a
ruling issued on February 12, 1974, that status calls were not proper under the bylaws of the Synod
which had been adopted at New Orleans in 1973 identifying those positions which were eligible for
active roster status.
As stated, the question which appears to require an answer is whether the call issued by Holy Cross
Lutheran Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to The Reverend Elder McCants of San Antonio,
Texas, to carry out a radio ministry and serve as missionary-at-large in the San Antonio area is a status
call. Does it fall into one of the categories identified in Bylaw 2.15?
The Commission believes that in order for it to reply objectively to at least the first of these questions,
there are some issues involved which only the CTCR can answer. It is, therefore, forwarding an inquiry
to that Commission, believing that only after it has received a response will it be in a position to provide
a more definitive answer.
It was agreed that Reverend Alan Barber would prepare a letter containing the questions to be addressed to
the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, that this letter would be forwarded to the Secretary,
who would disseminate it to the other members of the Commission for comment, and would then forward
the letter with any necessary modifications to the Commission on Theology and Church Relations.
40. Amendments to LCEF Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (Ag. 2032) : The Commission on
Constitutional Matters has the responsibility for reviewing Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, together
with any amendments to them, of the various entities of the Synod. At a fall meeting, the members of the
Lutheran Church Extension Fund had approved several amendments to the Articles of Incorporation and the
Bylaws. The amendments which were proposed were as follows:
Background:
LCEF, in addition to providing loan dollars to aid in the expansion of church facilities, also provides
services to assist borrowing entities in their expansion programs. Accordingly, it is appropriate to
amend the Articles of Incorporation to state that services to assist borrowing entities in facilities
expansion are an authorized part of the purposes of LCEF.