LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 234

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234 CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS

Whereas, By such intervention they have exceeded the
authority given to them by the Constitution of the Synod,
“The officers of the Synod must assume only such rights as
have been expressly conferred upon them by the Synod, and
in everything pertaining to their rights and the performance
of their duties they are responsible to the Synod.” (Const.
Art. XI A 1); and

Wuereas, Such action on the part of the Council of Presi-
dents is a violation of the ordered process and structure of
the Synod, which makes the District President an extension
of the office of the President of the Synod (“The President
has the supervision regarding the doctrine and administra-
tion of —d. All District Presidents,” Art. XI B 1 d) and thus
promotes confusion and seriously erodes the proper judicial
process in the Synod: and

Wuereas, The Lutheran Confessions state, “... When the
proper judicial process has been taken away, the churches
are not able to remove impious teachings and impious forms
of worship, and countless souls are lost generation after gen-
eration” (Tractate, Tappert, p. 329:51); therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention instruct the
Council of Presidents, as a coroprate body, and individually,
in their capacity as District Presidents, both publicly and
privately to refrain from any further action which would
impede the President of the Synod from carrying out his
constitutional responsibilities; and be it further

Resolved, That the Council of Presidents be reprimanded
for their violation of the Constitution of the Synod, Article
XI A 1; and be it further

Resolved, That the Council of Presidents be instructed to
refrain from passing resolutions which deal with matters as-
signed by the Constitution to the office of the President of
the Synod; and be it further

Resolved, That in the event the Council of Presidents is
persuaded that the President of the Synod is exceeding his
authority, or acting in a manner contrary to the Constitution
of the Synod or the Bylaws of the Synod, they move to call
a special convention of the Synod in accordance with the
provisions of the Constitution; and be it finally

Resolved, That the President of the Synod report to the
Synod such District Presidents and members of the Council
of Presidents who do not act in keeping with this resolution.

Mount Oxtve LutHeran Cuurcu
Billings, Mont.

Harold F. Mehling, President
Leslie I. Kerchen, Secretary

Similar:

5-77B

First Lutheran Church, Missoula, Mont., James C. Taylor,
Secretary; Paul H. Blunck, Pastor.

5-78

To Provide for Synodical Convention
to Elect All District Presidents

Wuereas, The Synod establishes Districts in order to
achieve its objects and to carry out its activities more effec-
tively (Bylaw 3); and

Wuenreas, Districts are Synod itself performing its func-
tions within their respective boundaries (Bylaw 3.03a and
3.07); and

Wuereas, The District jurisdiction for administration is
always limited according to the specifications of Bylaw
3.07 e; and

Whereas, Every District President, according to Bylaw
3.41, is to be a responsible subordinate to the President of
Synod; and

Wuereas, District Presidents have indicated their desire
for a wider range of responsibilities in the Synod than now
open to them; and

Wuerzas, Such responsibilities must always be considered
in the context of good structural order; and

Wuereas, It is desirable that the Districts have as wide
a choice as possible of candidates for the office of District
President from a slate of proven men in the Synod who have
effectively served in other assignments or calls of the Synod;
therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention assembled at
New Orleans declare the office of District President a syn-
odical office, provide for the election of District Presidents
by Synod in convention, on the basis of Synodwide nomina-
tions by congregations, and regulate the office of District
President to conform with the intentions of the Constitution
of the Synod.

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
Enid, Okla.

Derald Brainard, Chairman
Craig Holsten, Secretary

5-79

To Elect District Presidents by Synod
in Convention

Wuereas, Bylaw 3.07 (Handbook, p. 82) describes the re-
lation between Districts and the Synod as: “A District is the
Synod itself performing the functions of the Synod. Resolu-
tions of the Synod are binding on the Districts”; and

Wuerzas, District Presidents are described in Bylaw 3.41
(Handbook, p. 86) as the subordinates of the President of
the Synod who shall periodically report to him; and

Whereas, Officers of the Synod who have the duty of rep-
resenting the Synod in their given responsibility should also
be directly accountable to a convention of the Synod; and

Wuereas, Such direct responsibility and accountability to
the Synod by the District Presidents properly begins with
their election by the Synod; therefore be it

Resolved, That all District Presidents shall be elected by
alternate conventions of the Synod, beginning with the next
convention, to be held in 1975, from a slate of nominees of-
fered for each District by any voting congregation of the
Synod.

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
Easthampton, Mass.

Francis Lee Belle, President
Louis Elger, Pastor

5-80

To Amend Bylaws Re Pastor
and Teacher Conferences

The Denver convention adopted revised Bylaw 1.27 list-
ing precisely the groups permitted to send overtures to a
synodical convention, among them “an official District pas-
toral or teachers conference.” The intention was to eliminate
smaller circuit conferences from the list of groups eligible
to submit overtures in order to provide for broader screen-
ing, testing, and refinement before an overture reaches a
convention.

However, this created a difficulty. Many felt that also
sectional sessions of an official District conference which
meet once or twice a year in addition to the plenary should
be permitted in their sectional meetings to memorialize the
Synod. Was this permissible under the new Bylaw?

The Commission on Constitutional Matters concluded that
official conferences should be more precisely defined in the
Bylaws and requested the assistance of the District Presj-
dents. The following proposals for Bylaw revision incor-
porate almost verbatim their recommendations. The com-
mission itself would have favored restricting the right to
plenary sessions of District conferences but is willing to ac-
cede to a limited sectional approach as long as not more than
three or four sections are permitted for an official District
conference. Otherwise the original objective which was
recommended by the special committee created by the New
York convention and which was adopted by the Denver con-
vention would be nullified.