LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — June 23, 1998, Page 4

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A judicial process of whatever form has as its last step the finality of the matter. If a final
decision in the Synod's dispute resolution process is not binding on the parties thereto and
allows a party to decide whether or not they will abide by the decision, then there is no true
judicial process but rather chaos. Therefore, the Commission holds that the final decision in
a matter that has exhausted the established procedures for dispute resolution under Chapter
VIII of the Bylaws of the Synod is binding on the parties to the dispute and that failure to
abide by such final decision by any party thereto is an offensive conduct as that term is
used in Article XIII of the Constitution of the Synod.
176. Amendment to Lutheran Church Extension Fund Articles of Incorporation (Ag. 2111): At the
request of the Board of Directors of the Synod, the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, at its November 23,
1997, meeting, had adopted an amendment to its Articles of Incorporation, deleting the prohibition that
members of the Board of Directors of the Synod could not serve as members of the Lutheran Church
Extension Fund. The amendment adopted by the LCEF members now stated that no more than one-third of
the members-at-large of the LCEF could also be members of the Board of Directors of the Synod. Bylaws
of the Synod require that both the Board of Directors and the Commission on Constitutional Matters review
any amendments to the Articles of Incorporation of synod wide corporate entities for conformity to the
Synod's Bylaws.
After reviewing the proposed amendment, the Commission provided the following response to the Acting
President of LCEF:
At its recent meeting, the Commission on Constitutional Matters reviewed the amendment to the
Articles of Incorporation adopted at the meeting of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund members on
November 23, 1997, which removed a restriction which prohibited members of the Board of Directors
of the Synod from serving as members of LCEF and placed a limit of one-third of LCEF members-atlarge being members of that board.
The Commission on Constitutional Matters approved the amendment as not being in conflict with the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod.
177. Dispute Resolution Questions (Ag. 2120): In a letter to the Commission on Constitutional Matters,
the President of a district had forwarded the following questions for response by the Commission:
•

In an appeal by a member from a suspension under 2.27, does that make the District President, as
an individual, a disputant? What is the District President's role in an appeal from a member's
suspension under Article XII B. 7, 8, Bylaws 2.27, 2.41, 4.73, and 4.75?

•

When a Dispute Resolution Panel fails to convene, holds no hearing, takes no evidence, can the
Panel make a report of any kind defining the rights and obligations of the parties under a
suspension?

•

What right does a Dispute Resolution Panel have to disregard the subject matter of a suspension?
Does 2.27 c, d, f and 8.09 of the Bylaws authorize the Panel to selectively determine what issues it
will hear in a suspension proceeding?

•

Can a Dispute Resolution Panel in arriving at its decision consider extraneous matters to that of
the suspension on appeal?

•

When a Dispute Resolution Panel is to review a member's suspension who is under the
supervision of a District President, can the Panel direct the resignation of that District President?