LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 257

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CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS 257

5-135A

To Remove District President
from Office

WHEREAS, Colorado District President Waldemar E. Meyer
did, under date July 14, 1974, authorize the ordination of Norman
W. Lentz, a graduate of Concordia Seminary-in-Exile, and also
authorized the installation of Mr. Lentz, which took place on
Aug. 4, 1974, notwithstanding that said Norman W. Lentz had
failed and refused to complete his ministerial training program
at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo.: and

WHEREAS, Said authorization was issued by the said Walde-
mar E. Meyer after he had been advised by the synodical
President that such an ordination was contrary to and in viola-
tion of Article VI of the Constitution of the Synod, which pro-
vides in subparagraph 3 thereof as follows: ‘Regular call of
pastors and teachers and regular election of lay delegates by
the congregations . . ." as condition of membership, and con-
trary to provisions of Article XII, which provides in subpara-
graph 7 thereof as follows: ‘‘The District President shall, more-
over, especially exercise supervision over the doctrine, life, and
administration of office of the pastors and teachers of their
District...” and in subparagraph 9 c thereof: ‘‘Perform, either
in person or by proxy, the ecclesiastical ordination of the can-
didates for the ministry assigned to their Districts and the
installation of such .. .”’ and contrary to Bylaw 4.15 a, which
sets forth the “prerequisites” for such ordination as follows:
“1. He shall have completed the prescribed courses of study
and have received a diploma from one of the Synod’s seminaries,
or have fulfilled the requisites for a colloquy according to the
synodical Handbook. 4.55 to 4.71. 2. He shall have received en-
dorsement by the proper faculty or the Committee on Colloquies
and in every respect have been declared qualified by them for
the office of the ministry of Word and sacrament in the church”:
and

WHEREAS, These requirements were not adhered to by the
said District President in the ordination and installation of the
said Norman W. Lentz after having been admonished and
having been reproved and advised by the synodical President
in the performance of his duties under Article XI, subpara-
graphs | to 3: and

WHEREAS, The Commission on Constitutional Matters of
The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod in a June 16, 1974, ruling
and again in an Aug. 11, 1974, ruling clearly indicated that such
ordination and installation violated the Constitution of our
Synod: and

WHEREAS, Mt. Hope Lutheran Congregation of Boulder,
Colo., had expressed its concern to President Waldemar Meyer
long prior to the ordination and installation when it was evident
that President Meyer was supporting such action and support-
ing Seminex, also through its Circuit Counselor, then through
their own pastor, and then through repeated personal con-
ferences that indeed exhausted all informal efforts to settle
the matter to the satisfaction of the congregation, the District
Board of Adjudication, and President Meyer himself: and

WHEREAS, District President Waldemar Meyer readily agrees
that he did authorize the ordination and installation of said
Seminex graduate and that said Seminex graduate, Norman
Lentz, was not properly endorsed for ordination and installa-
tion and that the action was indeed in conflict with the Bylaws
of our Synod: and

WHEREAS, The Commission on Constitutional Matters of The
Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod has issued an “Opinion re
Removal of District Presidents from Office”’ dated Feb. 21, 1975,
stating as follows:

B. Direct Removal from Office Without Expulsion from Member-
ship in the Synod

1. The Constitution states in Article XI, 2: ‘The Synod at all times
has the right to call its officers to account and, if circumstances require
it, to remove them from office in accordance with Christian pro-
cedure.”

2. The commission rules that a District President is not simply
an officer of a District but also an officer of the Synod and therefore
comes under the provisions of this article.

3... . The commission holds that the following, while not neces-
sarily requiring expulsion from membership, could qualify as proper
grounds for censure or removal from office: maladministration,

refusal to cooperate in carrying out the decisions and objectives of
the Synod...:

Therefore. We, the Congregation of Mt. Hope Lutheran
Church, in a meeting of the Voters Assembly called for that
purpose, do hereby charge the said Waldemar E. Meyer to be
guilty of ‘‘maladministration, refusal to cooperate in carrying
out the decisions and objectives of the Synod,” “offensive con-
duct after previous futile admonition,” and acting contrary to
the requirements of Article VI of the Constitution.

The said Mt. Hope Lutheran Church does hereby call for the
“direct removal from office without expulsion from membership
in the Synod" of the said Waldemar E. Meyer in accordance
with the provision of Article XI 2 of the Constitution of the
Synod: and

In order to present this complaint to the 1975 synodical con-
vention to be held at Anaheim, Calif., the congregation does
hereby direct and authorize the secretary of the congregation
to transmit this complaint to the Rev. Dr. J. A. O. Preus, Presi-
dent of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, with the request
that this complaint be reviewed by the appropriate review com-
mittee and be presented to the 1975 convention at Anaheim for
appropriate action consistent with the Constitution and Bylaws
of the Synod.

Mt. Hope Lutheran Church
Boulder, Colo.
Joseph C. Nicol, Secretary

Identical or similar:

5-135B

Mt. Zion, Castle Rock, Colo. Elmer Moeller

5-136

To Ask District Presidents to Resign

WHEREAS, Several District Presidents, including the one of
the California and Nevada District, of which we are members,
have given orders to ordain and install Seminex graduates: and

WHEREAS, These candidates do not meet the requirements
as outlined in the Synod's Handbook. 4.15: and

WHEREAS, These Seminex students did not avail themselves
of the procedure outlined by the Board for Higher Education
to beoome available: and

WHEREAS, These ordinations and installations have been
a flagrant violation of the Synod’s Constitution: therefore be it

Resolved. That these ordinations and installations be de-
clared null and void by the Synod in convention assembled at
Anaheim: and be it further

Resolved. That if District Presidents feel they cannot con-
scientiously abide by the duties of District Presidents as out-
lined in the Synod’s Handbook. 3.41, they be requested by the
Synod to do the honorable thing to resign and permit the District
to elect men who will conform to the Synod’s regulations.

Grace Lutheran Church
Bakersfield, Calif.

Mel! Miller, Secretary

L. W. Faulstick, Pastor

First Ev. Lutheran Church
Dinuba, Calif.

Jack Mathis, President
Herbert M. Sorensen, Pastor

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church
Selma, Calif.

Albert Arnst, President
Herbert M. Sorensen, Pastor

Trinity Lutheran Church
Paso Robles, Calif.
La Vern L. Brack, Pastor

Zion Lutheran Church
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Cecil B. Curtis, Secretary
Donald Poganski, Pastor