To Safeguard Evangelical Ecclesiastical Supervision and District Judgments

Official Workbook overture source text

10-06 
To Safeguard Evangelical Ecclesiastical 
Supervision and District Judgments 
WHEREAS, Our Lord has entrusted the care of His flock to 
undershepherds who are to exercise oversight not “domineering 
over those in [their] charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 
Peter 5:3); and 
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions teach that 
bishops/superintendents are to exercise churchly oversight 
according to the Gospel, not according to arbitrary or lordly power 
(AC XXVIII; Tr 8); and 
WHEREAS, The Synod Constitution recognizes the congregation 
as “the basic unit of the Synod” (Bylaw 1.3.1) and describes the 
Synod’s relation to its members as advisory rather than coercive 
(Const. Art. VII); and 
WHEREAS, District presidents are charged in the Constitution and 
Bylaws with ecclesiastical supervision of doctrine and practice 
within their districts, including careful investigation and pastoral 
handling of concerns involving pastors and congregations; and 
WHEREAS, For the sake of good order, mutual trust, and the 
consciences of pastors and congregations it is vital that the careful 
work of congregational leaders and district presidents not be lightly 
or opaquely overridden by Synod actions taken from afar; and 
WHEREAS, There is growing concern in the Synod that district -
level investigations and pastoral resolutions may in practice be 
reversed from the Synod level without clear, substantive 
explanation and without robust involvement of the Council of 
Presidents (COP) , thus undermining confidence in evangelical 
ecclesiastical supervision; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the Synod reaffirm the biblical and confessional 
principles of ecclesiastical supervision as exercised in a brotherly, 
evangelical manner, in keeping with Augsburg Confession XXVIII 
and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That the Synod affirm that district presidents, as local 
ecclesiastical supervisors, have a genuine and weighty 
responsibility in investigating, judging, and resolving cases 
involving pastors and congregations under their care; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That the Synod direct the Commission on Handbook, 
in consultation with the COP, to review all b ylaws relating to 
ecclesiastical supervision and expulsion with a view toward: 
• clarifying the respective responsibilities of congregations, 
district presidents, and the President of the Synod; 
• strengthening provisions that require serious, documented 
rationale when Synod actions overturn district -level 
judgments; and 
• providing for meaningful collegial involvement (e.g., 
defined COP concurrence or similar mechanism) when 
district conclusions are set aside in favor of Synod actions, 
such as removal from the roster;  
and be it further 
Resolved, That such proposed amendments be presented to the 
next regular Synod convention for consideration; and be it finally 
Resolved, That the Synod encourage all officers and church 
leaders to exercise ecclesiastical supervision in a manner that 
2026 Convention Workbook
503ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERVISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION