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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 56

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

dialogue with the district presidents and should make the use and
development of the mission and ministry emphasis more adaptable
and responsive to the needs of the Synod. The sunsetting of the
mission priorities will eliminate confusion and enable greater attention and focus to be given to the use of the mission and ministry
emphasis. The new mission and ministry emphasis being proposed
also aligns the mission emphasis of the Synod with other efforts
currently ongoing in the Synod to raise awareness of and recruit
more church workers and in looking to the future and the next generation of Lutherans the Lord will raise up. To this end it is the hope
of the mission boards that this mission and ministry emphasis will
be enthusiastically adopted and used by all the districts of the Synod and promoted in all her circuits and congregations.

Review of Governing Documents: A second area of the commission’s charge is to ensure that the articles of incorporation, bylaws, and policy manuals of all the agencies of the Synod are in
harmony with the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod. To this end, Synod Bylaws require that every agency submitting any desired changes to its articles of incorporation or bylaws
receives prior approval from the commission. (Note: Because districts can only change bylaws at their triennial conventions, Bylaw
3.9.2.2.3 [b] provides a process by which district conventions may
amend a district bylaw proposal previously submitted and approved
by the commission and have the result take effect upon the commission’s subsequent approval of the amended, adopted proposal.)

Alfonso O. Espinosa, BNM Chairman
John W. Edson, BIM Chairman

If any agency of Synod fails to receive prior approval of the
commission on any proposed change to their bylaws or articles of
incorporation (as required by Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3 [a]), these changes
are of no effect and have no power or authority unless and until they
are approved by the commission.

Commission on Constitutional Matters
The Rev. John W. Sias, ex officio member and Secretary of the
Synod, convened the meeting of the Commission on Constitutional
Matters (CCM) to welcome returning members Mr. Thomas Deadrick, attorney, and the Rev. Larry A. Peters; and the new members,
the Rev. Kevin A. Karner and the Rev. David D. Vandercook, appointed by the President and Council of Presidents (COP) on Sept.
19, 2023, to the seats formerly occupied by Dr. Gude and Rev.
Bode. (Mr. Scott A. Killian, attorney, was also returned to the commission in his first full term since being appointed to fill an attorney
vacancy on the commission in 2023.) The commission designated
Rev. Peters as its representative to its sister commission, the Commission on Handbook, for the new triennium but deferred the election of officers until the first in-person meeting. At the Dec. 1–2,
2023, meeting in St. Louis, Mo., the commission elected the Rev.
Peters as chairman, Mr. Deadrick as vice-chairman, and Mr. Killian
as secretary pro tempore.
The commission took note of the appointments by the COP to
the 2023 Resolution 9-06A, “To Appoint Task Force to Evaluate
Current Electoral Circuit Parameters,” and the designation of three
members by the Commission on Handbook. The commission designated Mr. Thomas Deadrick, the Rev. Larry Peters, and the Rev.
David Vandercook; Rev. Peters was subsequently elected chairman
of the task force.
The commission met 7 times in person and 11 times via Zoom
over the course of the past three years, in addition to the individual
hours spent preparing for the meetings so that the work of the CCM
might be accomplished.
The responsibilities of the commission are set forth in Bylaws
3.9.2.2–3.9.2.2.3, and they fall into two main areas:
Opinions: The first area is that the commission is to interpret
the Synod’s Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions. A member of
the Synod (congregation or ordained or commissioned minister)
and an official board, commission, or agency of the Synod may
submit a written request for such an opinion. At the time of this
report, the commission has issued 88 opinions (a listing of those
opinions is included in this Workbook (Report R61) in the present
triennium. The minutes of the commission and their opinions and
reviews of bylaws and documents are published on the website of
the Synod and are available at lcms.org/ccm.

The definition of an agency of the Synod is found in Bylaw
1.2.1 (a)(1): “Agencies include each board, commission, council,
seminary, university, college, district, Concordia Plan Services, and
each synodwide corporate entity.”
In addition, Bylaw 1.5.3.6 (and associated 2016 Res. 9-02A)
requires all agencies to include certain specific language in their
most fundamental governing documents or to seek and receive an
exception from the Board of Directors of the Synod. This remains
one of the ongoing tasks of the commission to complete the review
and approval of such documents.
Dispute Resolution and Expulsion Processes: Finally, the
commission together with the COP maintains the Standard Operating Procedures Manuals for the dispute resolution and expulsion
processes of the Synod. As a result, following each convention, the
commission, with the concurrence of the COP, reviews these manuals and makes any changes necessitated by changes to the Bylaws
approved by the convention.
Although the commission has not been able to meet with the
COP annually, it has enjoyed the opportunity to meet and share with
the district presidents of the Synod in their various responsibilities
toward the common good. Whenever an opinion affects agencies of
the Synod, the commission invites comment and counsel from the
various agencies and their leadership before rendering an opinion.
The Synod has stated since the inception of the CCM that “an
opinion rendered by the commission shall be binding on the question decided unless and until it is overruled by a convention of the
Synod” (Bylaw 3.9.2.2 [c]). Taking seriously the charge given by
the Synod, the commission has worked diligently so that the will
and desire of the Synod as expressed in our Constitution and Bylaws is honored in such a way that protects the rights and authority
of the Synod and ensures that all its agencies act within their purview and the authority granted to them by the Synod in fulfilling
the objectives of the Synod. This remains the single agenda of the
commission. The commission wishes to thank the Secretary of the
Synod, the Rev. Dr. John W. Sias, for his exemplary service, for
keeping and publishing the minutes, and for maintaining the records of the commission and the agencies of Synod so that this
commission might fulfill its purpose.
Larry A. Peters, Chairman

2026 Convention Workbook