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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 249

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS 249

cedures by creating an alternate set of officials and procedures
to be used at the whim of members. To allow such a course is
to create chaos and anarchy, directly in opposition to the Scrip-
tural and constitutional directives by which the Synod seeks to
promote order and unity in the church.

3. In Section I B 3, 4 and 5 the Commission on Constitutional
Matters deals with provisions for the direct removal of a District
President from office without expulsion from membership in
the Synod. In this section of its opinion the commission makes
questionable and erroneous statements.

a. There is no direct statement in Article XI that classifies
the District President as an officer of the Synod. The article
simply lists the District President as one of those who function
under the supervision of the President of the Synod. By contrast
Article XII explicitly describes the District President as an
officer of the District. While the Synod may have the authority
to remove from office those who have been elected by the Synod,
it is questionable whether the Synod has authority to remove
from office persons such as District Presidents who have been
elected by legally independent corporate bodies.

b. In its opinion the Commission invokes Bylaw 2.29.as the
basis for the claim that the President of the Synod has the
authority to remove a District President from office by executive
action.

Bylaw 2.29 ¢ states: ‘In the event that the affairs of the Synod
require the exercise of executive power for a purpose for which
there is no specific directive of the Synod. . . .”” However, the
Synod has provided such a specific directive. Article XI B 1 and
2 state: “It is the President’s duty to see to it that all the afore-
mentioned [including all District Presidents] act in accordance
with the Synod’s Constitution, to admonish all who in any way
depart from it, and, if such admonition is not heeded, to report
such cases to the Synod.” Clearly the Synod has outlined the
course of action which the President is to follow, and this course
of action precludes the President of the Synod from removing
a District President from his office. Therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod herewith set aside the opinion of
the Commission on Constitutional Matters “Re: Removal of
District Presidents from Office,” thereby declaring this opinion
not be binding on the question to which the opinion is addressed.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Lakewood, Colo.

Paul S. Baldwin, President
Eugene W. Kelly, Secretary

5-112

To Respect Bylaws

WHEREAS, Some members of the Synod have operated in
violation of the synodical Constitution and Bylaws (i.e., ordain-
ing of Seminex students, forming ELIM): and

WHEREAS, These same members of the Synod justify their
action by asserting that the Bylaws of the synodical Constitution
do not apply in times of distress and dissension: and

WHEREAS, These actions and assertions are a violation of our
“walking together” in the Synod; and

WHEREAS, These actions and assertions are in violation of
the “law of love’ toward members of the Synod who abide by
the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod: and

WHEREAS, The very purpose of a Constitution and Bylaws
is to settle matters in controversy; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod declare that its Constitution and
Bylaws apply until they are properly amended or changed.

Trinity Lutheran Church
Sauk Rapids, Minn.

Elmer Gottschalk, President
Harley Dunham, Secretary
W. Franzmeier, Pastor

J. Meichsner, Pastor

5-113
To Censure Certain District Presidents

WHEREAS, The Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws require

candidates to be certified by authorized schools (Bylaw 4.15):
and

WHEREAS, Concordia, Springfield, and Concordia, St. Louis,
are the designated seminaries, thereby eliminating all others,
including Seminex (Art. 4.15 6 b): and

WHEREAS, Seminex professors have rejected synodical
supervision by separating themselves from an approved semi-
nary: and

WHEREAS, Authority to ordain and install certified candidates
belongs to District Presidents (Art. 4.17): and

WHEREAS, Certain District Presidents have violated their
oaths of office to uphold the synodical Constitution and Bylaws,
by authorizing and ordaining uncertified candidates: therefore
be it

Resolved, That the Synod reassert its subscription to the
Bylaws concerning ordination and installation: and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod call those District Presidents who
have violated their oaths of office to repentance: and be it
further

Resolved. That said District Presidents revoke and withdraw
the authorizations already made in opposition to the Constitu-
tion and Bylaws: and be it further

Resolved. That all District Presidents be directed to abide by
the letter and intent of the Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws in
accordance with their oaths of office: and be it finally

Resolved. That all District Presidents fully support the Synod
in which they hold membership.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Lusk, Wyo.

Martin Glandt, Chairman
Ernest Stoldt, Secretary

3-114A

To Discipline Certain District
Presidents

WHEREAS, The Synod’s Bylaw 3.07 a states: “The Synod is
not merely an advisory body in relation to a District. A District
is the Synod itself performing the functions of the Synod. Resolu-
tions of the Synod are binding on the Districts. b. The Constitu-
tion of the Synod is also the constitution of each District”; and

WHEREAS, The Synod’s Bylaw 3.41 states: ‘Each District
President by virtue of his office represents the Synod in his
respective territory”: and

WHEREAS, Certain District presidents have in 1974 and 1975
wilfully flouted the very Constitution and Bylaws (specifically
Bylaw 4.01 a, by authorizing the ordination of uncertified candi-
dates for the ministry) which they have pledged to uphold and
about which the President of the Synod beforehand had warned
them: and

WHEREAS, Our Savior declared (Matt. 12:25): “Every king-
dom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every
city or house divided against itself shall not stand’: and

WHEREAS, The Scriptures say (Heb. 13:17); ‘Obey them that
have the rule over you”: therefore be it

Resolved, That the 1975 Anaheim convention of the Synod
direct that immediate disciplinary action be taken against such
District Presidents.

Trinity Lutheran Church
Easthampton, Mass.

Charles F. Rockey Jr., President
Francis R. LaBelle, Secretary
Louis G. Elgert, Pastor

Identical or similar:
5-114B and 5-114C

Hope, Springfield, Oreg.
St. Andrew, Rockton, III.

H. Bauder
Lyle Baker