R11 Commission on Handbook

R11

Commission on Handbook The Commission on Handbook (Bylaw section 3.9.4) has eight members, five voting and three advisory (nonvoting). Of the present voting members, three are on the Synod’s clergy roster and two are lay attorneys. The current nonvoting members are the Synod’s Secretary, its Chief Administrative Officer, and the chairman of its Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM). These members’ names are found in the Workbook Directory.

The commission provides for ongoing maintenance and management of the Synod’s Handbook. It assists convention floor committees in their work relative to Handbook contents; it revises the Handbook in consultation with the CCM immediately following Synod conventions to bring it into line with convention actions (as it did after the 2023 convention); it maintains a file of Handbooks through the years for reference and comparison; it carries out Handbook-related assignments from conventions; and it responds to requests from agencies of the Synod to propose measures to address Handbook-related issues arising between national conventions.

Since the 2023 Synod convention, the commission has made minor, non-substantive changes to the Handbook. (These are identified in the Handbook—Update Edition, available on the Synod’s website.) It changed the address of the Synod’s registered agent in the Articles of Incorporation. In addition, it supplied a missing word in a bylaw; made minor spelling and grammatical corrections;

made changes to harmonize language across the Handbook or to correct errors in numbering or cross-referencing; made changes to prevent misunderstandings where proper understandings are attainable, sometimes with the help of the CCM; and rearranged bylaws for improved understanding (especially in Bylaw sections 2.2–8 and subsection 3.3.4).

The commission has also formulated changes to recommend to the Synod in the following areas of the Bylaws (see overtures elsewhere in the Workbook): doctrinal review bylaws; specific ministry pastor supervision terminology; conflict of interest bylaws; the call of a special district convention; bylaws regulating committees in Bylaw section 1.5; a mechanism for addressing incapacity on the part of the Synod’s Secretary; ordering of the provisions in Bylaw 3.10.6.1 (university board of regents’ duties); electronic district convention registration; Synod convention certification/registration nomenclature; and university faculty overture submission.