Official Handbook Source Text
Handbook page 143
Source: LCMS Handbook 2023, page 143.
This page reproduces text from the 2023 LCMS Handbook for study and navigation. Readers should verify procedural, legal, parliamentary, or governance questions against the official LCMS Handbook and appropriate LCMS authorities.
• youth ministry Upon recommendation of the Office of National Mission, the Board for National Mission shall serve as a calling agency for institutional and agency chaplains and other non- foreign specialized ministers (e.g., Veterans Administration chaplains, Bureau of Prison chaplains, hospital chaplains, pastoral counselors, and teachers of chaplaincy and pastoral counseling) after consultation with the appropriate district presidents(s) (cf. Byl aw
2.12.1.4).
3.8.2.1 The Board for National Mission shall have oversight of the implementation
of policies adopted by the board and implemented by the Office of National Mission for the coordination of and in support of district ministries which support congregations and schoo ls. The board shall annually review and endorse the Office of National Mission strategic plan and review and provide input on the Office of National Mission annual budget proposal prior to its submission for approval by the Board of Directors. The board shall be under the ecclesiastical supervision of the President of the Synod regarding doctrine and administration consistent with the President’s responsibility under Constitution Art. XI B 1 – 4 (also Constitution Art. XI B 7; Bylaws 3.3.1.1– 3.3.1.3) between conventions of the Synod and ultimately shall be responsible to the Synod in convention ( Constitution Art. XI A 1 – 2).
3.8.2.2 The Board for National Mission shall, during the course of each triennium
between national conventions of the Synod, work with the Board for International Mission to gather pertinent and sufficient information from the Synod’s members that will facilitate the boards’ assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of the Synod’s triennial mission and ministry emphases, and shall develop accordingly a joint overture to the national convention for beneficial amendments thereto. The boards shall also provide a joint report in advance of the Synod’s district conventions, offering ideas and guidance for proposing triennial mission and ministry emphases to the national convention.
3.8.2.3 The Board for National Mission shall comprise eleven members:
1. Five laypersons and five individual members of the Synod (one of each from each region of the Synod) elected in the same manner as are regional members of the Board of Directors of the Synod (Bylaws 3.12.1 and 3.12.2.8)
2. The President of the Synod or his representative Office of National Mission
3.8.2.4 The Office of National Mission implements the policies of the Board for
National Mission under the supervision of the Chief Mission Officer and shall be responsible for domestic ministries that especially serve congregations and schools through the districts of the Synod. Such district ministries may include but not be limited to:
• Lutheran school ministries and accreditation • human care and domestic mercy efforts • stewardship • evangelism
