LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 205

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CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS 205

On retirement actions taken by the Board of Control of Con-
cordia Seminary, St. Louis

On eligibility for service on the Commission of Theology and
Church Relations

On the definition of the word “missionary”

On the ineligibility of retired pastors to serve as delegates

On dissent and “in statu confessionis”’

On the ineligibility of Seminex graduates for certification,
placement, and ordination

On who is eligible to vote in a Circuit meeting electing dele-
gates for a synodical convention

On the unconstitutionality of District resolutions setting aside
resolutions of the synodical convention

On the meaning of unanimity in the calling of a pastor

On the ineligibility of a candidate teacher to serve as a lay
delegate

On the eligibility of an LLTI graduate to serve as a lay delegate

On the method of electing alternate delegates

On the distinction between assistant and associate pastors with
respect to their eligibility as delegates

On the role of a District President in the election of faculty
members and in the election of an institutional president

On the relationship between a staff member and his board and
on the right of appeal in such instances

On the use of funds contributed to the District or Synod for
providing financial support for Seminex

That absentee ballots are not permissible at a Circuit meeting
electing delegates

That a Vice-President of the Synod who is the pastor of a con-
gregation may serve as a pastoral delegate to a synodical
convention

That a District officer must belong to a member congregation of
that District

That a faculty cannot restrict the privileges of those appointed
to the faculty by the Board of Control

That reappointment, the granting of tenure, and advancement
in rank constitute new contractual agreements into which
new provisions can be introduced

That convention delegates cannot volunteer but must be elected
in the regular way

On the permissibility of congregations remitting directly to the
Synod instead of the District

On the interpretation of Resolved 6 of New Orleans Res. 1-06
regarding functions of Mission Board and staff

On the question of whether a congregation must include an
antilodge clause in its Constitution

On whether a woman may serve as chairman of a Circuit cabinet

On the nature of a joint campus worship community

On the communicant membership status of a pastor who has
resigned his office

On the calling rights of a congregation

On the rights of the congregation in the process of electing
synodical convention delegates

On District jurisdiction in Tietjen case

On removal of District President from office

On procedures for expulsion from the Synod

On the applicability of Bylaws which are changed during a
contract period

On 10 questions dealing with the Tietjen case

On the support of suspended or deposed District officers

On service credit toward a sabbatical

On congregations sharing a pastor of a church body not in
fellowship

On the relationship between Article VII and the Synod’s minis-
terial health program

On the roster status of Seminex personnel (faculty and ad-
ministrative staff)

Since so much interest has been shown in constitutional
issues during the past biennium, some of the opinions of the
commission are being printed this year in an Appendix to the
Workbook.

IV. Recommendations
A. Bylaw 1.27 ¢ (Acceptance of Overtures)

The commission gave close study to the requirements of

Bylaw 1.27 c, regarding the acceptance of overtures. It adopted
a detailed opinion and came to the conclusion to propose a
revision to the convention. See Appendix A.

B. Reporting of Tally

The commission is submitting a separate overture recom-
mending that the reporting of tallies in elections decided upon
by the New Orleans convention be incorporated in the Bylaws.

C. Signing of Constitution

A task force composed of representatives of the Department
of Statistics, the Board of Parish Education, and the Concordia
Plans, which grappled with several questions regarding the
status of teachers generally and especially of women teachers,
also came to the conclusion that a better device should be
developed for the signing of the Synod’s Constitution. The task
force requested the Commission on Constitutional Matters to
take this under advisement. The commission is reacting favor-
ably and is submitting an overture with respect to this problem.

D. Doctrinal Statements

In one of its major opinions regarding New Orleans Reso-
lutions 2-12, 3-01, and 3-09 the commission recommended that
the Synod establish a special task force to study the possibility

-of drafting a Bylaw defining the status of doctrinal statements

and the procedures for their adoption and revision. See Ap-
pendix B, part IV, for the specific recommendation.

E. Election of Delegates

Since the present wording of Bylaw 1.53, especially section a,
has caused some confusion, the commission proposes a re-
wording to eliminate the ambiguities. Please see the special
overture which has been submitted.

F. Presidential Authority

Proposed New Orleans Resolution 5-05, which had come
under the omnibus resolution of the convention, was referred
by the Board of Directors to the commission for study and
report to the next convention. The commission decided to
endorse this floor committee resolution.

G. Official Conferences

The Board of Directors had also referred this proposed
resolution (Res. 5-29: see also 1973 Workbook. p. 235) to the
commission for the same purpose. Since this proposed reso-
lution gave approval to Bylaws which had been recommended
to the New Orleans convention by the commission itself, the
commission decided to recommend adoption of the proposed
Bylaws to the Anaheim convention.

H. Matters of Doctrine

The Board of Directors also referred to the commission
proposed New Orleans Resolution 5-03, ‘To Clarify ‘All Matters
of Doctrine and of Conscience Shall Be Decided Only by the
Word of God.’"’ The commission recommends adoption of this
resolution.

Elmer Luessenhop, Chairman
Herbert H. Freise

John W. Klotz

Donald E. Prevallet

Herbert Mueller, Secretary

App. 5-01 A
Opinion re Bylaw 1.27 ¢

Questions have been raised regarding the interpretation
of Bylaw 1.27°c. To what extent may certain overtures be re-
jected? When must they be declined for consideration? Is the
Bylaw sufficiently clear? Is it in harmony with the Constitution?
Or does it need to be rewritten?

Basic Considerations

1. All Bylaws must be in harmony with the basic principles
set forth or implied in the Constitution. Bylaws must be inter-
preted in the light of these basic principles. If the language of
a Bylaw does not permit an interpretation which is in harmony
with the basic principles, the Bylaw must be declared uncon-
stitutional.