LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 8, 2000, Page 3

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Question 2:

Also, since Vice-Presidents are elected regionally and intentional interim ministers
are not “regional,” may they serve as Vice-Presidents?

If the above answer applies, this question is moot. In cases, however, where an intentional interim
minister is not a member of the staff of the District and, therefore, Bylaw 3.69, g, does not apply,
residency requirements or absence thereof in District Bylaws will determine the answer to this question. If
a vice-president position includes the requirement of residency of the vice-president in a given
geographical region, the election of an intentional interim minister to such a position will be at best illadvised, given the mobility that is necessarily an integral component of an intentional interim ministry
program.
138. Council of Presidents Questions Re Bylaw 2.15 (00-2192)
The Clergy Call and Roster Committee of the Council of Presidents, acting on behalf of the entire
Council, has requested the following opinions.
Question 1:

Please clarify Bylaw 2.15, paragraph a, as follows: Do the words, “serving a
congregation of the Synod” pertain exclusively to called positions, or may these
words be understood more generally to include non-called workers?

The Commission responds that the phrase “serving a congregation of the Synod” pertains exclusively to
called positions. The words “regular basis” in Bylaw 2.19, a, presume the existence of a regular call
(Constitution, Article VI, 3) for a worker to be categorized under Bylaw 2.15, in the absence of which an
eligible worker may request candidate status.
Question 2:

Specifically, may a minister of religion—ordained who has been called by a District
as an intentional interim pastor be continued on the active roster of the Synod under
Bylaw 2.15, a, because he is “serving a congregation of the Synod,” even though he
has not been called by the congregation?

A minister of religion—ordained who has been called by a District as an intentional interim pastor is
continued on the active roster of the Synod but not under Bylaw 2.15, a (see answer to Question 1 above).
He is continued on the active roster under Bylaw 2.15, e, as a “professional staff member serving the
Synod, including a District or other agency of the Synod.”
Question 3:

Please clarify Bylaw 2.15, paragraph c, as follows: May the words “serving a
congregation which is not a member of the Synod” be understood to refer to both
called and non-called service?

Bylaw 2.15, c, originates from the 1986 convention of the Synod, at which time the Commission on
Structure proposed the current Chapter 2 of the Bylaws of the Synod, combining “all the membership
provisions now found in Chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8” (1986 Convention Workbook, p. 210). Bylaws 5.05,
5.07, and especially 5.09 of the 1983 Handbook addressed the matter of LCMS workers serving nonLutheran congregations, now covered by current Bylaw 2.15, c. Bylaw 5.09 stipulated the conditions “if
such a congregation desires to extend a regular call to one of our pastors” (1983 Handbook, p. 132).
Given the origin of Bylaw 2.15, c, it is therefore clear that “a minister of religion, ordained or
commissioned, serving a congregation which is not a member of the Synod” may serve with or without a
call, “provided that such is approved (on the basis of the policies adopted by the Council of Presidents) by
the President of the District in which the congregation is located.”

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