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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 178

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

178

its opinion in the instant matter, many other weighty reasons for
this undertaking.
Were the fruit of such an effort to be adopted by the 2026 or some
future convention, a review and revision of governing documents
under clear standards and with rational and justifiable exceptions
could then—finally—be undertaken, and a clear and useful standard could be established for decades to come. This would be helpful to the Synod and her agencies, and their continued, well-governed service for and on behalf of their member congregations.
The commission requests that the Secretary highlight this matter
for the attention of the Synod’s Board of Directors.

Lutheran Church Extension Fund Canada
Corporation (23-3005B)
Minutes of September 23, 2024
This opinion is potentially relevant to discussions of corporate form
requirements. However, due to its length and nature as a line-byline review, it is not incorporated here. See minutes.

Concordia Plan Services Property Casualty
Insurance Program (24-3043)
Minutes of February 3, 2025
By an email of December 3, the president and CEO of Concordia
Plan Services (CPS) forwarded a request for opinion on a proposal, shared with the Board of Directors in November, to develop
an alternative risk management solution, involving creation of a
single-parent captive1 insurance company to serve Synod agencies
(CPS has administered the insurance program for such for some
years, but without a captive) and, for the first time, member congregations and schools. The captive could offer property, liability, automobile, and worker’s compensation coverages; other coverages
would be offered through a fully-insured carrier. CPS would enter
into arrangements for program administration, a fronting carrier,
reinsurance, etc. The proposal is in response to urgent needs of congregations and schools facing dramatically increasing premiums or
even serious problems with placement of insurance (impacting also
the work of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund); it is projected
to offer lower, or at least stabilized, premiums and more accessible placement not only for these but also for participating Synod
agencies.

be a new activity for the Synod, although convention material2 and
board minutes3 show that this is not the Synod’s first look at assisting congregations with their property casualty insurance needs.
Nonetheless, its constitutionality must be assessed. Simply put, in
the absence of a specific convention directive (Bylaws 1.3.3; 1.4.1,
1.4.5), have the congregations asked the Synod to support them in
this fashion, for the conduct of their ministries (Bylaw 1.1.1)?
A. Necessity of Constitutional Review
In order for the contemplated activity to be constitutional, it must
flow from the objectives of the Synod stated in Constitution Article
III. A surface reading of this article in isolation reveals no obvious
reference to provision of property casualty insurance to member
congregations or other related organizations, or even to a related
class of services.4
The Synod’s constitutional framework authorizes officers “[to] assume only such rights as have been expressly conferred upon them
by the Synod” (Constitution Article XI A 1). With regard to this
limited grant, the Synod “at all times has the right to call its officers to account” (Const. Art. XI A 2). The right to pursue activities
beyond the Synod’s stated objectives is, obviously, not expressly
conferred. The Synod has accepted, as will be seen, that there is a
limited category of activities not explicitly present among but constructively identified as within the Synod’s explicitly stated objectives. The expansion of work into such areas is, however, fraught
with constitutional peril for the officers and agencies undertaking it
(not to mention the risk of investment of a presumably significant
portion of necessarily limited resources in an activity a convention could later summarily determine not to be within its charge to
the Synod and its agencies). If undertaken, expansion of such work
must be undertaken with due care.
B. Contextual and Historical Understanding of Const. Art. III in
General

Is provision of property casualty coverage, as described, within the constitutional purposes of the
Synod and, therefore, an activity for which an agency (Bylaw 1.2.1 [a]) may be formed in a manner
consistent with the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod? (It is understood that formation of such an incorporated agency requires, at least
under BOD Policy 6.12 and underlying resolutions,
the approval of the Synod Board of Directors.)

Under the broad reasons of the Preamble (one of which is “our
Lord’s will that the diversities of gifts should be for the common
profit,” 1 Cor. 12:4–31) and the confession of Art. II, Const. Art.
III states the objects of the Synod (or Synodical Union). These
are augmented or made more concrete (as touching on material,
financial, and civil aspects) by the explanatory language of Bylaw
1.1.1, which summarizes the Synod’s purpose as being “organized
to work in support of and on behalf of congregations to assist them
in carrying out their ministries. ...” Article II of Synod’s Articles
of Incorporation (AOI) reinforces the view that the Synod (or its
authorized agencies) may provide some business and property services not explicit in Const. Art. III. Objectives included there are
“(b) To assist in the establishment of Evangelical Lutheran congregations and preaching stations”; “(c) To assist, advise, and protect
member congregations …”; “(f) To provide assistance and resources to the congregations [and] schools … for the dissemination of
the Christian Gospel”; and “(g) To establish and conduct all such
enterprises and endeavors and to exercise such further power as
may be necessary or expedient to carry out the objectives stated in
the Constitution.” The Synod has incorporated not only to provide
aid and counsel narrowly focused along the particular, ecclesial
lines described in Const. Art. III but, in part, to assist its member
congregations in the areas of business and property, so as to support
generally their practical existence and work.

Opinion: Provision of (or facilitation of the placement of) property casualty insurance for member congregations, schools, and
perhaps recognized service organizations through a captive would

While Const. Art. III is certainly central to the fundamental definition of Synod’s purposes, a completely rigid, isolated, surface reading of the article is thus not contextually tenable.

CPS requested an appearance before the commission to answer any
questions and to provide further explanation. This was deferred until the commission could review the material and ultimately determined not to be necessary.
The commission has distilled two essential questions out of the
memorandum provided by CPS as follows:
Question 1:

2026 Convention Workbook