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LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 501

Participant(s) may hold in the entity in a capacity other than those 
excluded in Bylaw 1.2.1 (r). 
(d) Participant(s) are responsible for the oversight and, to the 
extent specifically defined in PIE governing documents, 
supervision of the PIE. 
(1) Participant(s) shall regularly and promptly review the 
minutes, if available, and financial statements—unaudited and 
audited, as presented to PIE boards—of their PIE(s).  
(2) Participant board(s) shall facilitate access, at the same 
level possible to them, upon request by the Board of Directors 
of the Synod, as provided for in Bylaw 3.3.4.10, to the records 
of any PIE participated in by the Participant(s) collectively at 
a majority level. 
1.5.4.1 Participant(s) shall report to the Board of Directors of the 
Synod (“Board”) the establishment of, acquisition of, or entry into 
any Passive Investment Entity, and shall report on a biannual basis 
to the Board, in a form it shall specify, on their continu ed 
participation in, and the activities and performance of, Passive 
Investment Entities. 
(a) Establishment, acquisition, or entry into a Passive Investment 
Entity in which Participant(s) have majority ownership shall be 
reported no less than fourteen (14) days prior to the Board of 
Directors. Excluded from this requirement and subject to (b) 
instead are PIEs as described in Bylaw 1.5.4 (b) and PIEs in 
which Participant funds invested are excluded from the definition 
of property of the Synod in Bylaw 1.2.1 (r). 
(b) Establishment, acquisition, or entry into any other  Passive 
Investment Entity shall be reported in the next biannual report. 
1.5.4.2 Specifically reserved to the Board of Directors of the 
Synod is the right to regulate by its policies, as it sees the need arise, 
the establishment of, acquisition of, or entry into Passive Investment 
Entities, excepting those in which Participant funds invested are 
excluded from the definition of property of the Synod in Bylaw 1.2.1 
(r). 
and be it further 
Resolved, That Bylaw section 3.3.4.7 be amended as follows: 
Board of Directors 
… 
3.3.4.7 The Board of Directors shall serve as the custodian of all 
the property of the Synod as defined in Bylaw 1.2.1 (r). Except as 
otherwise provided in these Bylaws, it shall have the authority and 
responsibility with respect to the property of the Synod as is  
generally vested in and imposed upon a board of directors of a 
corporation. 
(a) It shall, however, delegate to district boards of directors  the 
authority to buy, sell, and encumber real and personal property in 
the ordinary course of performing the functions which the district 
carries on for the Synod in accord with general policies (which 
shall be applicable to all districts) established from time to time 
by itself or the Synod in convention. 
(b) It may, however, delegate to any agency of the Synod powers 
and duties with respect to property of the Synod for which such 
agency of the Synod has direct supervisory responsibility. 
(c) Such delegation shall be in writing and shall be subject to 
change at any time by the Synod’s Board of Directors provided 
that reasonable deliberations, as determined by the Board of 
Directors, take place with such agency prior to the change. 
(d) Regarding the Synod’s colleges, universities, and seminaries, 
the board shall approve capital projects in relation to campus 
property management agreements and institutional master plans, 
and shall establish and monitor criteria for determining 
institutional viability, fiscal and otherwise. 
(e) An agency may submit any question related to the status of 
assets as property of the Synod to the Board of Directors of the 
Synod, which shall determine whether such assets are property of 
the Synod. 
and be it finally 
Resolved, That Bylaw section 3.6.1.1 be amended, to allow the 
Board of Directors not only to create new synodwide corporate 
entities but also to assign new responsibilities to those existing, as 
follows: 
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING 
3.6 Synodwide Corporate Entities 
General Principles 
… 
3.6.1.1 Formation of a synodwide corporate entity, or assignment 
of a new area of responsibility to an existing one,  shall require the 
approval of the Synod in convention or the Board of Directors of the 
Synod. 
(a) At least six months prior to such approval an announcement 
thereof shall be given in an official publication of the Synod 
together with a detailed explanation of the problems or factors 
which make the formation of the proposed synodwide corporate 
entity or assignment of new responsibility advisable or necessary. 
(b) The announcement shall include an invitation for members 
of the Synod to submit comments thereon to the Board of 
Directors of the Synod. 
(c) If the Board of Directors forms a new entity or assigns a new 
area of responsibility, it shall report its action to the Synod 
promptly and in a special report to the next Synod convention 
and, if it is in its judgment in the best interest of the Synod, it 
shall propose a Bylaw amendment reflecting the new entity or 
assignment to the subsequent convention of the Synod. 
Board of Directors, Pacific Southwest District; LCMS Board of 
Directors; Board of Directors, Lutheran Church Extension Fund; 
Board of Trustees/Directors, Concordia Plans / Concordia Plan 
Services; Board of Trustees, LCMS Foundation 
Ov. 9-07 
To Focus on Things of God 
Preamble 
“The Synod’s Constitution says our objective is to ‘ strengthen 
congregations and their members in giving bold witness by word 
and deed to the love and work of God, the Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, and extend that Gospel witness into all the world.’ This is as 
biblical and clear as the Word and work of Jesus, and the word and 
works of His apostles in Acts 4 and 5.” (President’s Report, Part 3 
[2023 TB, 352]). Constitution Article III contains the full list of 
objectives of the Synod. 
To support these objectives, “the Synod in convention is 
empowered to and has formed corporate entities which shall have 
legal powers … to purchase, hold, administer, and sell property of 
every description in the interest of the Synod” (Const. Art. IV). 
Such entities, and our temporal property, exist in service to the 
objectives of the Synod, in the interest of the Synod; they are not an 
end unto themselves. 
The Synod is blessed with entities such as the Lutheran Church 
Extension Fund (LCEF) and Concordia Plan Services (CPS), that 
help us use temporal goods in service to the Church. These entities 
are limited in number, have a specifically defined purpose—loans 
to churches and church workers and benefits for church workers —
2026 Convention Workbook
466 STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION