Official Handbook Source Text
Handbook page 46
Source: LCMS Handbook 2023, page 46.
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.
Reconsideration of a Dispute Resolution Panel Decision
1.10.8 Within 15 days after receiving the decision of the Dispute Resolution Panel,
any party to the dispute or the President of the Synod, if a question of doctrine or practice is involved (Constitution Art. XI B 1–3), may appeal the decision. The President may also request that an opinion of the Commission on Constitutional Matters or the Commission on Theology and Church Relations be obtained.
1.10.8.1 Such appeal shall be mailed to the Secretary of the Synod, each member of
the Dispute Resolution Panel, and the other parties to the dispute and shall be accompanied by a written memorandum stating the basis of the request.
1.10.8.2 Within 21 days after receipt, an Appeal Panel shall be selected in the
prescribed manner, and the Secretary of the Synod shall send the appeal to each panel member.
(a) Copies of the entire official record of the case, including the full report of the reconciler, the decision and all documentary evidence considered by the Dispute Resolution Panel, and the written appeal request shall be provided to the members of the pane l. The panel shall make its decision on the basis of the minutes and written decision of the Dispute Resolution Panel and the documentary evidence received and reviewed.
(b) The panel shall concern itself only with those issues originally addressed by the Dispute Resolution Panel, unless issues were identified by the Dispute Resolution Panel for which it did not make a decision.
(c) The panel shall decide only whether to approve reconsideration of the decision of the Dispute Resolution Panel. The panel shall not approve a request for a new hearing on the basis of newly discovered evidence unless such evidence was clearly not available to the Dispute Resolution Panel and was not the fault of the party requesting the reopening of the case, and unless it is clear that the absence of such evidence resulted in a gross miscarriage of justice.
(d) The standards of review, which define the parameters for the panel’s consideration of an appeal, limit the panel’s review to three basic areas.
(1) Factual findings: The Appeal Panel shall review factual findings of the Dispute Resolution Panel only to determine if they are supported by evidence. The Appeal Panel shall not ordinarily sit in judgment of the Dispute Resolution Panel’s conclusions regard ing evidence, since that panel was in the best position to judge factual issues. The Appeal Panel must be convinced that a mistake has been committed, that is, that the evidence is such that reasonable minds could not disagree.
(2) Conclusions on authority: The Appeal Panel may approve an appeal if the Dispute Resolution Panel was clearly outside its authority, e.g., a decision that the panel had no authority to make under the Constitution and Bylaws, or a decision on an issue not identified by the Dispute Resolution Panel, or a decision on a theological question that the panel had no authority to make.
