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LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 487

• Perhaps the most natural option for a district to remove its 
president from office, without his being removed first from 
the roster of the Synod under Bylaw section 2.15, would be 
by the calling of a special convention to deal with the matter, 
as (Const. Art. XI A 2) “[t]he Synod at all times has the right 
to call its officers to account and, if circumstances require it, 
to remove them from office in  accordance with Christian 
procedure” (cited in “CCM Opinion re Removal of District 
Presidents from Office, A g. 729, minutes of Feb. 21 –22, 
1975). At the Synod level, a special session of the convention 
may be called “by three-fourths of the district presidents 
without the consent of the President” (Article VIII B 2), but 
there is no obvious alternative to the district president as  
“convener” of a special session of a district in Const. Art. 
XII 15. 
This presents something of a conundrum on the district level, should 
a district find that it needs to call its president to account and directly 
remove him from office for cause in a circumstance where removal 
from the roster of the Synod (which would trigger his removal from 
office) is not called for. 
The CCM referred this matter to the Commission on Handbook 
(COH) and the two, through the Secretary, initiated discussion of 
the matter by the Council of Presidents, a discussion that resulted in 
no proposal. The COH finds it incongruous with the provisions of 
Const. Art. XI A 1 –4 that a district president might be able to 
prevent the body from convening that might call him urgently to 
give account of his stewardship. There being no other explicit 
means (other than the President of the Synod invoking the 
procedure of Bylaw section 2.15 to remove the district president 
from the roster of the Synod and, thereby, from office) for this to 
occur, the COH presents the following constitutional amendment, 
which would allow the congregations of a district, acting through 
their circuits, to call a special convention of their district in a manner 
similar to the ability of three -fourths of the district presidents, in a 
case of urgent necessity, to call a special Synod convention without 
the consent of the President (Const. Art. VIII B 2), which reads: 
Article VIII Synodical Meetings 
… 
B. Special Sessions of the Synod 
… 
2. In cases of urgent necessity a special session may be called by the 
President with the consent of two-thirds of the district presidents 
or by three-fourths of the district presidents without the consent 
of the President; however, all congregations and other members  
of the Synod must be notified 30 days in advance and told for 
what purpose this extra meeting is being convened. 
 
As this would be a constitutional amendment, subsequent 
ratification by the congregations is required under Const. Art. XV 
4. 
Therefore be it 
Resolved, That Constitution Article XII 15 be amended as 
follows: 
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING 
Article XII Districts of the Synod and Their Regulation 
… 
15. In cases of urgent necessity a special session of the district may 
be called by the district president is empowered to convene 
special sessions of his district; he must, however, previously have 
obtained with the consent of at least a majority of the voting 
members of the district  or by circuit forums in three-fourths of 
the circuit s of the district without the consent of the district 
president after having informed them; however, all congregations 
and other members of the district and the President of the Synod 
must be notified 30 days in advance and told for what  of the 
purpose of the this intended special session extra meeting is being 
convened. 
and be it further 
Resolved, That the above amendment be submitted, according to 
Const. Art. XV 4, to the congregations of the Synod for ratification. 
Commission on Handbook 
Ov. 9-04 
To Amend Bylaws regarding Doctrinal Review 
Rationale 
The Synod has a sweeping basic principle of inclusivity for 
doctrinal review. It is stated in Bylaw 1.9.1.1  (a) : “All official 
periodicals and journals of the Synod as well as any material with 
doctrinal content issued publicly by boards, commissions, or other 
subordinate groups of the Synod except as stipulated in these 
Bylaws shall be subject to doctrinal review.” 
An exception, recognized in the Synod’s Bylaws since 1971, is 
“study documents and expl oratory material plainly designated as 
such,” as subparagraph (b) continues. In 2023, the Commission on 
Constitutional Matters (CCM) opined that “boards, commissions, 
or other subordinate groups of the Synod” (as Bylaw 1.9.1.1 [b] puts 
it) are constrained to release study materials related to their 
assignment from the Synod. For example, the CCM itself should 
not “produce study materials on exegetical [biblical interpretation] 
or doctrinal topics,” for these fields lie outside the CCM’s purview 
(CCM Opinion 23- 3010). If Concordia Publishing House  (CPH) 
itself were to release study materials, these would necessarily 
concern the responsibilities with which CPH is charged by the 
Synod, namely, publishing, marketing, and distribution.  The CCM 
further noted that the vintage of some materials that might be 
published— dating, for instance, to the sixteenth century or earlier—
does not exempt  them from the requirement for doctrinal r eview, 
although the results of the review must be reported differently than 
when discussions can be held with living authors. 
In 2007 the Synod modified its previous Bylaw from 1971 to 
provide for public issue of non- reviewed study materials and 
specified a disclaimer to be carried on or immediately after the 
publication’s title page, as still found in as Bylaw 1.9.1.1  (b). In 
principle, the status of the materials as “study documents and 
exploratory material” remained unaltered. Yet in fact, when 
tentative materials are disseminated widely, especially in an age of 
instant communication and internet archiving, this very widespread 
distribution lends them a “staying power,” wrapping them in a 
mantle of permanency. Thus is undermined in practice the spirit of 
the basic principle that doctrinal review is done on all materials with 
doctrinal content issued publicly by the Synod. 
2026 Convention Workbook
452 STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION