Official Handbook Source Text
Handbook page 97
Source: LCMS Handbook 2023, page 97.
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.
(a) Within 21 days after receipt of an appeal from the accused , the suspending ecclesiastical supervisor, or the President of the Synod, an Appeal Panel shall be selected by the Secretary of the Synod. The Appeal Panel shall be made up of three district presidents who shall be trained for such service.
(1) One district president shall be selected by the accused, one by the ecclesiastical supervisor of the accused, and the third by the two Appeal Panel members so selected.
(2) If the two Appeal Panel members cannot agree on a third panel member, the Secretary of the Synod shall select the third member by blind draw from the remaining eligible district presidents.
(b) The members of the Appeal Panel shall be provided with copies of the official record of the case, including the Hearing Panel minutes, the written decision and all documentary evidence considered by the Hearing Panel, and the written memorandum stating the basis for the appeal. The panel shall make its decision solely on the basis of the materials received.
(c) The only decision to be made by the Appeal Panel shall be whether to approve reconsideration of the Hearing Panel decision. The panel shall not approve a request for a new hearing on the basis of newly discovered evidence unless such evidence was clearly n ot available to the Hearing 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 that shall define the Appeal Panel’s considerations shall be limited to three basic areas:
(1) Factual findings: The Appeal Panel shall review factual findings of the Hearing Panel only to determine if they are supported by evidence. The Appeal Panel shall not ordinarily sit in judgment of the Hearing Panel’s conclusions regarding evidence, since th e Hearing 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 agree with the Hearing Panel’s decision.
(2) Conclusions on authority: The Appeal Panel may approve an appeal if the Hearing Panel was clearly outside its authority, e.g., a decision was made that the panel had no authority to make under the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod, or a decision was mad e on an issue not related to the sole issue to be decided, or a decision was made on a theological question that the panel had no authority to make.
(3) Discretionary acts: The Appeal Panel may approve an appeal if there was a clear abuse of discretion impacting the decision of the Hearing Panel, resulting in a gross miscarriage of justice, or that involves an obvious and inappropriate bias or prejudice.
(e) Within 30 days after its formation, the Appeal Panel shall issue its written decision in response to the request for reconsideration. If the Appeal Panel denies the request for reconsideration of the decision of
