Official Handbook Source Text
Handbook page 55
Source: LCMS Handbook 2023, page 55.
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.
matters as advice and counsel as well as suspension of membership and forfeiture of it for failure to continue to meet membership requirements. In protecting the rights of members, provision has also been made for challenging those decisions by ecclesiastical supervisors that result in suspension or loss of membership and for restoration of membership when necessary conditions are met.
2.2 Eligibility of Congregations
2.2.1 To apply for membership in the Synod a congregation shall have an
approved constitution and bylaws.
(a) The congregation shall submit its constitution and bylaws to the appropriate district president, who shall refer such to the standing constitution committee of the district.
(1) Every congregation is encouraged to include in its organizational structure an elected or appointed board or committee for stewardship.
(2) This board or committee shall be responsible for carrying on an adequate stewardship program in the manner prescribed by the congregation.
(b) The Constitution Committee shall examine the constitution and bylaws to ascertain that they are in harmony with Holy Scripture, the Confessions, and the teachings and practices of the Synod, in order that any necessary changes may be made by the congregati on before the application is acted upon.
(c) The application for membership shall not be acted upon by the district board of directors until the congregation has made such changes as may be deemed necessary.
2.3 Application by Congregations
2.3.1 Each application for membership in the Synod shall be submitted to the
appropriate district president and acted upon by the board of directors of that district.
(a) It shall be the policy of the Synod to decline membership to congregations whose constitutions deny membership or other congregational privileges to any Christian because of race or ethnic origin.
(b) If an application for membership is approved, the president and secretary of the newly admitted congregation shall, as representatives of the congregation, sign the Constitution of the Synod on behalf of the congregation.
(1) In recognition of the importance of the event, the appropriate district president shall normally attend a special worship service in which the signing takes place.
(2) Such service shall occur as promptly as possible following approval of the congregation’s application for membership.
(c) If an application for membership is denied by the board of directors and the congregation requests reconsideration, the district president
