Version History
Current published version
Today's Business, Issue 1. pp. 71-74. Original floor committee resolution.
No later published versions have been added.
Official Resolution Source Text
Resolution: 2-04
Canonical number: 2-04
Committee: International Witness
Source: Today's Business, Issue 1
Printed pages: pp. 71-74
PDF pages: 71-74
Version: original, current-published-proposal
Source reference: Issue 1, pp. 71-74
Line numbers follow Today's Business, Issue 1, with numbering reset on each printed page, so delegates can compare this page with the official PDF.
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- To Amend Bylaws 1.7.3, 2.11.1, 3.8.3, 3.8.3.8, and 4.4.4–5 to Establish a Framework for
- Ecclesiastical Supervision and Pastoral Care for Independent International Congregations
- RESOLUTION 2-04
- Overture 2-03 (CW 295–96)
- WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has had a long history of working with independent
- Lutheran congregations located in international areas and served by member clergy of the LCMS; and
- WHEREAS, The provision of ecclesiastical supervision is an essential part of carrying out the task of sending and
- providing proper care for our members serving in international context; and
- WHEREAS, The 2023 Synod convention adopted Resolutions 2-03 and 2-06A (Proceedings, 124–26), which addressed
- matters related to ecclesiastical supervision and pastoral care of missionaries and Synod membership for international
- congregations; and
- WHEREAS, The Board for International Mission (BIM) was tasked to work in consultation with the Council of
- Presidents to study the Synod’s relationship with independent Lutheran congregations in international areas; and
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- WHEREAS, The BIM has already invested significant time studying the possibility and advisability of such
- arrangements and has determined that reasonable pathways exist; and
- WHEREAS, Bylaw 1.7.3 allows for district presidents to permit ministers of religion, ordained and commissioned, to
- serve congregations that do not hold membership in the Synod provided that they honor its confession, rules, and
- regulations; and
- WHEREAS, This provision is currently the best option to allow these independent Lutheran congregations located in
- international areas and served by Synod ministers of religion, ordained and commissioned, to strengthen ecclesiastical
- supervision and pastoral care under our confession, Constitution, and Bylaws; therefore be it
- Resolved, That Bylaw 1.7.3 be amended as follows:
- PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
- 1.7 Agreements
- …
- 1.7.3 The Synod expects congregations that have not been received into membership, but are served by Synod,
- and whose ministers of religion, ordained and commissioned, hold membership in the Synod, to honor its
- rules, and regulations confession, Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of Synod in convention. Individual
- members of the Synod serving such congregations may remain on the roster of the Synod as active members,
- provided that:
- (a) the “served non-member congregation” is not a member of any other church body; agrees to honor
- the Synod’s confession, Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of Synod in convention; and has as its
- head or sole pastor (or is calling to be its head or sole pastor) a member of the Synod.
- (b) if a domestic congregation, the service is as approved (on the basis of policies adopted by the Council
- of Presidents) by the president of the district in which the congregation is located.
- (c) if a foreign congregation, the service is approved (on the basis of policies adopted by the Board for
- International Mission, with the concurrence of the President of the Synod), upon the recommendation
- of the Office of International Mission, by the Board for International Mission, with the concurrence of
- the President of Synod and the district president having ecclesiastical supervision of the pastor.
- (d) the congregation understands and agrees that:
- (1) it, not the Synod nor the district, would be the calling body for any serving worker;
- (2) its called workers remain under the ecclesiastical supervision of the district president of the
- Synod as determined by Bylaw 2.12; and
- (3) an approving officer and/or board may at any time withdraw approval for such service to be
- considered active service in the Synod.
- and be it further
- Resolved, That Bylaw 2.11.1 be amended as follows:
- PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
- Active Members
- 2.11.1 To remain on the roster of the Synod as an active member, an ordained or commissioned minister of religion
- must be a communicant member of a congregation which is a member of the Synod (except as provided in
- paragraph [c] below) and be regularly performing the duties of one of the following:
- …
- (c) An ordained or commissioned minister serving a congregation that is not a member of the Synod, as
- approved (on the basis of policies adopted by the Council of Presidents) by the president of the district
- in which the congregation is located as further described in Bylaw 1.7.3.
- …
- and be it further
- Resolved, That Bylaws 3.8.3 and 3.8.3.8 be amended as follows:
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- PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
- Board for International Mission
- 3.8.3 The Board for International Mission is charged with developing and determining policies in support of
- mission and ministry in foreign countries for the office of International Mission (Bylaw 1.2.1[n]). These
- policies shall embrace and apply the mission and ministry emphases adopted by the national convention.
- Under the leadership of the President of Synod pursuant to Bylaw 3.3.1.1.1, the board shall assist in
- identifying the specific goals for the Office of International Mission. Policies determined by the board
- (implemented by the staff) may include but not be limited to:
- • strong mission leadership
- • training of missionaries
- • ministry for all of the Synod’s military personnel
- • safeguarding the rights of partner churches
- • ministry for all civilians and their dependents overseas
- • international human care
- • liaison with the colleges, universities, and seminaries of the Synod
- • liaison with the chief ecumenical officer of the Synod
- • international schools
- • providing district presidents liaison with foreign congregations and individual members serving
- in the foreign mission areas of the Synod, as further described in Bylaw 3.8.3.8
- Upon the recommendation of the Office of International Mission, the board shall serve as the only sending
- agency through which workers and funds are sent to the foreign mission areas of the Synod, including the
- calling, appointing, assigning, withdrawing, and releasing of missionaries (ministers of religion—ordained
- and ministers of religion—commissioned) and other workers for the ministries in foreign areas.
- …
- Office of International Mission
- …
- 3.8.3.8 The Office of International Mission may, subject to policies jointly developed by the Board for International
- Mission and Council of Presidents, provide district presidents liaison with:
- • foreign congregations served by members of the Synod under Bylaw 1.7.3 (c), and
- • individual members of the Synod serving non-member congregations in the foreign mission area of
- the Synod, supporting the district president’s ecclesiastical supervision, as described in Bylaw 4.4.5
- (b).
- and be it further
- Resolved, That Bylaws 4.4.4–5 be amended as follows:
- PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
- 4.4.4 The district president shall, in accordance with the Constitution of the Synod, in his ministry of ecclesiastical
- supervision visit the congregations of the district.
- …
- (f) The jurisdiction of the district president shall include non-member congregations whose pastors are
- members of the Synod within his district. However, for the purpose of official visits in such a
- congregation the consent of the congregation shall first be secured. The For domestic congregations, the
- district president may appoint the circuit visitor in whose circuit such a congregation is located to be his
- official representative. For foreign congregations, the district president may appoint staff of the Office
- of International Mission, as agreed to by that office, under policies jointly developed by the Board for
- International Mission and Council of Presidents.
- 4.4.5 Each district president, in accordance with the Constitution of the Synod, shall supervise the doctrine, the
- life, and the official administration on the part of the ordained or commissioned ministers who are members
- through his district or are subject to his ecclesiastical supervision, and shall inquire into the prevailing
- spiritual conditions of the congregations of his district.
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- (a) As often as possible he shall attend the conferences of ordained and commissioned ministers held in
- his district, advise the congregations of his district as to the calling of ordained and commissioned
- ministers, give counsel, and respond to requests and inquiries.
- (b) He may call upon circuit visitors to assist him, or, in the case of individuals members serving in the
- foreign mission areas of the Synod (including service to foreign congregations), staff of the Office of
- International Mission, as agreed to by that office, under policies jointly developed by the Board of
- International Mission and Council of Presidents.
- and be it finally
- Resolved, That Board for International Mission and Council of Presidents jointly develop and implement the necessary
- policies and procedures in coordination with the Office of International Mission and report them to the 2029 Synod
- Convention.
