LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — March 23, 2000, Page 10

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The bylaw changes to be proposed to the convention of the Indiana District were discussed and approved
as presented.
98. Revisions to the Eastern District Bylaws/Regulations (99-2169)
The recommendations of the Commission having been incorporated, the proposed amendments to the
Bylaws and Regulations of the Eastern District were given final approval.
99. Questions re the Right of a Congregation to Call Its Own Pastor (99-2171)
A board of elders acting on behalf of a congregation asked a series of questions regarding the influence a
District may exert upon a partially subsidized congregation when calling a pastor or when arranging
interim pastoral service during a vacancy. The Commission responded to the questions as follows:
QUESTION: May a District refuse a congregation the right to call its own pastor on the grounds
that the congregation is partially subsidized by the District?
OPINION: Bylaw 2.01, 2.03, and 2.05 set forth the manner in which a congregation becomes a member
of the Synod. In rendering this opinion, the Commission assumes that the congregation in question has
complied with those requirements and is a member of the Synod.
Article VII of the Constitution of the Synod states: “In its relation to its members the Synod is not an
ecclesiastical government exercising legislative or coercive powers, and with respect to the individual
congregation’s right of self-government it is but an advisory body.”
Bylaw 4.07 states: “The Synod is not merely an advisory body in relation to a District. A District is the
Synod itself performing the functions of the Synod.” Thus the provisions of the above quoted section of
Article VII are applicable to the actions of a District.
Bylaw 2.45, b, provides that “congregations which are members of the Synod, in conformity with Article
VI, 3, of the Constitution of the Synod, shall (emphasis added) call and be served only by ordained or
commissioned ministers….” Paragraph a of that same Bylaw states that “congregations shall seek the
advice of the respective President when calling ordained or commissioned ministers.”
At its March 5, 1982 meeting the Commission on Constitutional Matters addressed a similar question
from a congregation in the Central Illinois District: “Does a congregation, duly organized, in membership
with The Lutheran Church−Missouri Synod, have the inherent and unalterable right to call her own
pastor, or may a provision be made in the constitution of said congregation stating and affirming that the
right and power of calling a pastor for such a congregation shall be delegated to and vested with the
District’s Board of Directors?” The Commission resolved that “the congregation must retain the right to
call a pastor. To be sure, consultation, especially in situations of subsidized congregations, has always
been customary. But the right itself belongs to the congregation (see for instance Article VII; Article VI,
3; Bylaw 5.01, a).”
In view of the above, the Commission concludes that the right to call a pastor rests solely with the
congregation that pastor is to serve. Should a District threaten to withhold its subsidy unless a subsidized
congregation adheres to the wishes of the District relative to the calling of a pastor, the congregation may
utilize the Synod’s dispute resolution process to determine if such a threat is coercion and a violation of
Article VII of the Constitution of the Synod.
QUESTION: Can a District call a pastor for a partially subsidized congregation without the
consent and approval of that congregation?
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