Official Handbook Source Text
Handbook page 53
Source: LCMS Handbook 2023, page 53.
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.
properly advise or inform the involved congregation(s) and/or the district or Synod as to the status of the process.
(e) Any party and/or parties to a dispute may seek, at its/their own personal expense, the assistance of individuals familiar with the issues involved in the dispute. They may actively participate in research and the preparation of necessary documents. At the hearing, however, each party may have an advisor present but must represent itself, with no public participation by the advisor. Any reconciler or hearing facilitator shall not serve as an advisor. If a party and/or parties to a dispute is a board or commission of the Synod or its districts, it shall be represented by its chairman or designated member.
(f) A Dispute Resolution Panel or Review Panel shall determine the number of witnesses necessary for a full and complete understanding of the facts involved in the dispute. It shall question parties to the dispute and witnesses directly and shall also permit t he parties to do so.
(g) All Dispute Resolution Panel, Appeal Panel, or Review Panel records of disputes in which a final decision has been rendered by the Dispute Resolution Panel, Appeal Panel, or Review Panel shall be placed in the custody of Concordia Historical Institute. All such records shall be sealed and shall be opened only for good cause shown and only after permission has been granted by a Dispute Resolution Panel, selected by blind draw for that purpose.
(h) If any part of the dispute involves a specific question of doctrine or doctrinal application, each party shall have the right to an opinion from the Commission on Theology and Church Relations. If it involves questions of constitution or bylaw interpretation, each party shall have the right to an interpretation from the Commission on Constitutional Matters. The request for an opinion must be made through the Dispute Resolution Panel or Review Panel, which shall determine the wording of the question(s).
(1) The request for an opinion must be made within four weeks of the final formation of the Dispute Resolution Panel or Review Panel.
If a party does not request such an opinion within the designated time, such a request may still be made to the Dispute Resolution Panel or Review Panel that shall, at its discretion, determine whether the request shall be forwarded. The Dispute Resolution Panel or Review Panel shall also have the right, at any time, to request an opinion from the Commission on Theology and C hurch Relations or the Commission on Constitutional Matters.
(2) Any opinion so requested shall be rendered within 30 days or such greater time as the Dispute Resolution Panel may allow. The Commission on Constitutional Matters and the Commission on Theology and Church Relations shall have in place a procedure for responding within this 30- day time frame to such requests for opinions. When an opinion has been requested, the time limitations governing the dispute resolution process will not apply until the opinion has been received by the parties to the dispute. Any opinion received must be followed by the Dispute Resolution Panel or Review Panel .
