R9 Commission on Constitutional Matters

R9

Commission on Constitutional Matters The Rev. John W. Sias, ex officio member and Secretary of the Synod, convened the meeting of the Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM) to welcome returning members Mr. Thomas Deadrick, attorney, and the Rev. Larry A. Peters; and the new members, the Rev. Kevin A. Karner and the Rev. David D. Vandercook, appointed by the President and Council of Presidents (COP) on Sept.

19, 2023, to the seats formerly occupied by Dr. Gude and Rev.

Bode. (Mr. Scott A. Killian, attorney, was also returned to the commission in his first full term since being appointed to fill an attorney vacancy on the commission in 2023.) The commission designated Rev. Peters as its representative to its sister commission, the Commission on Handbook, for the new triennium but deferred the election of officers until the first in-person meeting. At the Dec. 1–2, 2023, meeting in St. Louis, Mo., the commission elected the Rev.

Peters as chairman, Mr. Deadrick as vice-chairman, and Mr. Killian as secretary pro tempore.

The commission took note of the appointments by the COP to the 2023 Resolution 9-06A, “To Appoint Task Force to Evaluate Current Electoral Circuit Parameters,” and the designation of three members by the Commission on Handbook. The commission designated Mr. Thomas Deadrick, the Rev. Larry Peters, and the Rev.

David Vandercook; Rev. Peters was subsequently elected chairman of the task force.

The commission met 7 times in person and 11 times via Zoom over the course of the past three years, in addition to the individual hours spent preparing for the meetings so that the work of the CCM might be accomplished.

The responsibilities of the commission are set forth in Bylaws 3.9.2.2–3.9.2.2.3, and they fall into two main areas:

Opinions: The first area is that the commission is to interpret the Synod’s Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions. A member of the Synod (congregation or ordained or commissioned minister)

and an official board, commission, or agency of the Synod may submit a written request for such an opinion. At the time of this report, the commission has issued 88 opinions (a listing of those opinions is included in this Workbook (Report R61) in the present triennium. The minutes of the commission and their opinions and reviews of bylaws and documents are published on the website of the Synod and are available at lcms.org/ccm.

2026 Convention Workbook 57 OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS are appointed. Synod has the institutions of the Concordia Univer - sity System and two seminaries that could help in producing such a module. This training module could include:

• a review of the bylaws concerning doctrinal review and the duties of a reviewer;

• examples of documents to be reviewed with items that need to be corrected either because they contain false doctrine or because of vague or misleading statements;

• an introduction to the appeal process when an author chal - lenges the decision of a reviewer; and • an introduction to the bylaws governing the process followed by the Commission on Doctrinal Review when an item is challenged after publication.

Andrew E. Steinmann, Chairman