Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 82

2026 Convention Workbook
47
OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
•	 Made numerous appointments and filled vacancies as pro-
vided by the Bylaws.
•	 Updated and modified various policies that guide the work of 
both the BOD and agencies of the Synod.
•	 Received, considered, and sometimes acted relating to re-
ports from Synod agencies.
•	 Monitored, and when in the best interests of the Synod, re-
solved, defended, and pursued litigation involving corporate 
Synod.
•	 Monitored litigation involving agencies of the Synod and 
submitted amicus curiae briefs on issues of significance to 
First Amendment rights, including religious freedom and 
freedom of speech, considered by the courts.
•	 Released funds to resolve a corporate Synod guarantee of 
Concordia University System (CUS) debt.
•	 Continually monitored giving and other financial trends.
•	 Approved the purchase of property in Wittenberg, Germa-
ny, that will provide space to support Synod mission work 
across Europe.
•	 Directed a comprehensive review of the scope and efficiency 
of work within each of the corporate Synod officers’ respec-
tive departments.
•	 Established policies to ensure adequate reserves for corpo-
rate Synod to avoid future deficiencies of available cash to 
meet budget requirements.
•	 Retained new legal counsel for Synod to provide informed 
options, perspectives, and support for actions taken or con-
sidered by the BOD and Synod officers.
C. Proactive Initiatives of the Board
The BOD has also worked diligently to take a more proactive 
approach to address significant issues that have broad synodwide 
impact. In this process, the BOD has worked to create a cooperative 
working atmosphere with and among the agencies of the Synod. 
These efforts include:
•	 Formed an LCMS Entity Activity Development (LEAD) 
Committee that has worked extensively with the synodwide 
corporate and trust entities and other agencies to prepare and 
submit for consideration by the 2026 Synod convention pro-
posed changes to bylaws that impact corporate Synod and 
agencies of the Synod when creating corporations. If adopt-
ed, this will provide uniformity across the Synod and—by 
retiring confusing former regulations in large part not previ-
ously captured in the Bylaws—clarity for those forming and 
evaluating the formation of new corporations.
•	 Identified and sought opportunities to engage boards of Syn-
od agencies for collaboration, discussion, and training on 
matters including Synod governance and compliance, rela -
tionship of the BOD to the various agency boards, fiduciary 
responsibilities owed to the agency and to the Synod, the 
First Amendment, and hard decisions on challenging issues.
•	 Approved and submitted to the convention overtures that 
relate to the mission boards, appointed Synod officers, and 
CUS and in response to opinions of the Commission on Con-
stitutional Matters (CCM).
gations cannot do alone or can do more effectively when acting 
together. The Synod was created by, is maintained by, and con-
tinues to exist to serve the Synod’s congregations and individual 
members. 
Synod Const. Art. VII establishes the relationship of the Synod 
to the congregations: “Synod is not an ecclesiastical government 
exercising legislative or coercive powers.” It is only advisory with 
respect to the individual congregations. 
The congregations that formed and continue to maintain the 
Synod have a common confession stated in Art. II. This confession 
is that the “written Word of God is the only rule and norm of faith 
and practice” and that the Lutheran Confessions are “a true and 
unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God.” It is 
this confession that binds the congregations (and individual mem -
bers) together. Every member of the Synod accepts this confession 
“without reservation” and is not free to depart from it.
The Synod, under Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, has 
established, in Const. Art. III, the Synod’s objectives. To carry out 
these objectives, the member congregations, through their Synod, 
have created seminaries and universities, synodwide corporation 
and trust entities, and various other agencies (see Bylaw 1.2.1 [a]), 
as well as various offices and the BOD. 
The BOD, all Synod agencies, offices, and others were created 
to serve congregations and other members. They do so by carrying 
out the objectives established by the Synod. This is always to be 
done (1) consistent with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions; 
and (2) according to the directives given by the Synod congrega -
tions in the form of a Constitution, Bylaws, and convention reso-
lutions. 
The role of the BOD within the Synod is unique. The BOD is 
both the board of corporate Synod, the Missouri corporation (com-
pare Bylaws 1.2.1 [f] and [v]), and “an officer” of ecclesial Synod 
(Const. Art. XI A 4), overseeing especially the business, property, 
and legal aspects of the Synod’s work in the agencies of the Synod 
outside corporate Synod (Const. Art. XI E 2) and exercising the 
specific business, property, and legal authority and duties not del-
egated otherwise.
The important role of the BOD makes it directly “accountable 
to the Synod in convention for the discharge of its duties” (Bylaw 
3.3.4). The BOD takes this accountability very seriously. In all its 
work, it keeps at the forefront of its actions the decisions and inter-
ests of the Synod congregations and individual members. 
The BOD’s work involves left-hand kingdom matters, including 
property of the Synod (Bylaw 1.2.1 [r]) and a broad variety of busi-
ness and legal matters. The BOD has oversight (Bylaw 1.2.1[p]) 
and other responsibilities over the Synod’s seminaries, universities, 
synodwide corporation and trust entities, and other agencies. Over-
sight means “to monitor; to make inquiry and receive a response 
thereto; to make suggestions; to bring to a higher authority.” The 
“higher authority” for the BOD is the Synod in convention. The 
right-hand kingdom ecclesiastical responsibilities are given to the 
Synod President, district presidents, and other officers.
B. Stewardship Actions of the Board
More specifically, and as an example, over the past triennium, 
the BOD considered and took the following actions as part of its 
stewardship of Synod resources:
•	 Approved master plan changes and capital projects for both 
seminaries and most of the universities.