LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 261

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CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS 261

through their offices of assignment as these already exist at
each institution: and be it finally

Resolved. That the rules and regulations of the Handbook be
changed in keeping with the petition herewith offered.

Immanuel Lutheran Church
Olivette. Mo.

T. R. Hanske. Chairman
Gary A. Spiele. Secretary
Walter J. Hoffmann, Pastor

5-149

To Instruct District Presidents
to Restore Harmony

WHEREAS. The Council of Presidents have taken upon them-
selves to recommend actions contrary to proper procedure
through existing boards and committees: and

WHEREAS. District Presidents of many Districts have much
work to do in their Districts to carry out the directives of the
Synod and the duties of their elected office: therefore be it

Resolved, That said Presidents be directed to take proper
action within their respective Districts to bring about complete
harmony within their Districts.

Christ Lutheran Church
Coos Bay. Oreg.

Wayne Buckles. President
Curt Aman, Secretary

5-150A
To Censure Council of Presidents

WHEREAS, The Council of Presidents has, to the best of our
knowledge, given little if any indication of faithfully fulfilling
its constitutionally conferred responsibility of assisting the
President of the Synod in his staunch defense of the traditional
doctrinal stand of the Synod, but has rather exceeded its au-
thority through its toleration, if not promotion, of opposition by
failing to rebuke and discipline various District presidents who
have ordained and/or installed students of the so-called Semi-
nex, students who even refused to yield to its own request con-
cerning proper certification in keeping with synodical require-
ments, and this despite rulings of the Commission on Constitu-
tional Matters, obviously demanded by the Constitution and
Bylaws of the Synod: and

HEREAS, The council has steadfastly refused to uphold the
theology set forth in A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional
Principles as adopted by the Synod in its New Orleans conven-
tion and allowed its author, the President, to be virtually charged
with heresy in some of its meetings (Workbook. New Orleans
convention, Overtures 3-159, 3-158, 2-37A: New Orleans Pro-
ceedings. Res. 3-09) without so much as officially challenging
such charges, thereby giving at least the appearance of agreeing
with them and depriving him of even the protection of the rights
which the Synod’s Constitution guarantees all its members: and

WHEREAS, Without any directive from the Constitution or
from a synodical convention the council has assumed the right
of doctrinal investigation and mediation, especially with refer-
ence to Seminex, this despite the Constitution, Article XI a 1:
“Officers of the Synod must assume only such rights as have
been expressly conferred upon them’’: and

WHEREAS, The council has devoted much time to the prob-
lems posed by Seminex without public protest against the doc-
trinal aberrations voiced by Seminex students as well as by its
professors: and

WHEREAS, ‘“‘The Synod is not merely an advisory body in
relation to a District” and ‘resolutions of the Synod are binding
on the Districts” (Bylaw 3.07 a), certainly also on the District
Presidents, whether as individuals or as a council, and certainly
also with respect to the synodically adopted A Statement of
Scriptural and Confessional Principles: therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod go on record again as repudiating
any usurpation of authority by the council and reprove it for
its failure to stand by the President in implementing the de-

cisions of the Synod, as each District President is expressly
directed to do: and be it further

Resolved. That the council be herewith reminded to remain
within the bounds of activity officially assigned to it as a body:
and be it further

Resolved. That each District President be earnestly ad-
monished to discharge faithfully his responsibilities in his own
District as a representative of the Synod and assistant to its
President: and be it finally

Resolved, That a District President unwilling so to conform
as a member of the council and/or as a District President be.
after due pastoral admonition, asked to resign from his high
office or be suspended from the same, lest the doctrinal position
of the Synod be further eroded and continued offense be given
the church and the world.

Calvary Ev. Lutheran Church

Seattle, Wash.

Carroll E. Cooper, President

Karl J. Jaech, Secretary

John F. Falk, Pastor
Identical or similar:

5-150B to 5-150D
Immanuel, Albany, Oreg.

Trinity, Scarsdale, N. Y.
Mt. Calvary, Galesburg, Ill.

Herbert Boehne
Merlin Meyer
Wm. Thompson

5-151A
To Give Specific Authority

to President to Suspend

WHEREAS. Article XI b 1 of the Constitution of The Lutheran
Church — Missouri Synod explicitly says that the President of the
Synod ‘“‘has the supervision regarding the doctrine and the
administration of all District Presidents”: and

WHEREAS. Some have questioned how this supervision is to
be exercised: and

WHEREAS, In the structure of the Synod the office of the
District President is an extension of the office of the synodical
President: therefore be it

Resolved. That the Synod specifically declare that the super-
vision of the President of the Synod over the District Presidents
is not limited to mere advice and reproof: and be it further

Resolved. That the Synod specifically declare that in ex-
treme cases of a District President's failure to uphold the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod the President of the Synod
may, after consultation with the Vice-Presidents of the Synod,
suspend the said District President from office: and be it further

Resolved. That the case of such suspended District President
shall be heard before the synodical Commission of Adjudication
and, if appealed, before the synodical Board of Appeals: and
be it further

Resolved. That if the decision of the synodical President is
upheld by the aforementioned synodical Commission of Adjudi-
cation and synodical Board of Appeals, the synodical President
shall then remove the said District President from office: and
be it finally

Resolved. That Bylaws shall be formulated by the Com-
mission on Constitutional Matters to reflect this resolution.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Hamel, IIl.

Hilbert Schumacher, Chairman
Duane Meyer, Secretary

W. F. Hischke, Pastor

Identical or similar:

5-151B to 5-151H

Emmaus, Ridgewood, N. Y. Elwood Mather

Emmanuel, Kingfisher, Okla. Vv. H. Mickow
St. James, University City, Mo. Tom Baker
St. John’s, Brule, Nebr. F. K. Kwirant
Our Redeemer, North Platte, Nebr. H. Harnapp
Hope, Chicago, Il. H. T. Wians

St. John's, Kildare, Okla. Theo. Knepper