RESOLUTION 11-07

Overtures 11-44–45 (CW, pp. 402– 403)

Preamble

When Jesus directs those attempting to admonish an erring brother, He states that the final attempt of such admonition is to take the matter before the church (Matt. 18:17). To that assembly Jesus predicates the authority to exercise the Office of the Keys saying, “And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:17b−18).

This God-given authority is not limited by the size of a congregation; for Jesus goes on to add a clear promise to be with even the smallest assembly or congregation: “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:19-20).

The Lutheran Church in general and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in particular have always held the autonomy of the congregation in high esteem. The Confessions of the Lutheran church testify to the authority given by Christ to the Church as recorded in the Scriptures. Particularly, the above mentioned verses of Matt.18 are cited in the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope defending the Church’s right of calling ministers (Tr. 24, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions). Later it is made clear that this authority comes down to each congregation: “Therefore when the regular bishops become unwilling to administer ordination, the churches retain their own right [to ordain ministers]. Where the Church is, there is the authority to administer the Gospel” (Tr. 66−67).

When the question of church and ministry was raised in the early days of our Synod’s history, Pastor C. F. W. Walther expressed the urgency of clarifying the scriptural position on the matter, in part because of its implications for church polity (cf. Walther’s preface to the first edition of Church and Ministry, especially pages xvii–xix in the 2012 edition edited by Matthew C. Harrison and published by CPH). Because of the divine institution of the Church and the Office of the Holy Ministry, the LCMS has consistently upheld the temporal right of a congregation to have a say in the business of the Synod, and this is not limited to pastoral representation, but has also included the laity. In recent times, the voice of the congregation has been heard through the voting of two delegates appointed by a congregation to represent her at district conventions as well as circuit forums where delegates to Synod conventions are elected.

However, even though we acknowledge the God-given authority of each congregation, our Synod has not allowed certain congregations to be represented equally in the affairs of our Synod. As we walk together we have muted the voices of many congregations by calling a “dual or multiple-congregation arrangement served by the same pastor” a “parish” and limiting each parish in such a context to one pastoral and one lay vote (CCM Opinion 03-2327, “Voting Rights of Congregations”). In one extreme case, four congregations served jointly by two pastors have been allowed a total of two votes at district meetings (CCM Opinion 09-2545, “Voting Rights of Congregations”).

By disenfranchising certain congregations who hold membership in the Synod, we have acted inconsistently on a number of levels.

• Though we confess no divinely appointed form of church polity, denying some congregations the right to the same representation that other congregations have in matters of the Synod is at best at a disconnect with our theological understanding of a congregation’s embodiment of the catholicity of the Church.
• In some matters of the Synod that are dealt with on a congregational level, every congregation is allowed to speak for herself. However, in other matters, multiple congregations served jointly by one or more pastors are required to come together and speak with one voice, thereby reducing the value of each congregation’s voice.
• In regard to voting at district conventions, the term parish has come to mean a “dual or multiple3 congregation arrangement served by the same pastor,” but the majority of the times parish is used in the Handbook it is used synonymously with the term congregation, for example, in the following titles: “director of parish music” and “parish assistant.” Such servants of the church are certainly not limited to settings where two or more congregations have come together to call a pastor.
• Furthermore, if the term parish is used consistently, we must also re-evaluate whom we elected to the CTCR, seeing as Bylaw 3.9.5.1 requires “two ordained ministers who are parish pastors” (emphasis added).

See resolution for supporting chart

The problems created by such a situation are only intensified when the congregations making up a multiple27 congregation setting are located in different circuits or even districts.

Some would claim that allowing each congregation in a multi-point parish a vote at district conventions would throw off the balance between laity and clergy. Historically, the Synod has allowed for an equal number of pastoral and lay voting delegates; however, no great effort has been made to ensure that an equal number of lay and pastoral delegates actually attend the convention of Synod. The constituting convention of Synod in 1847 consisted of 16 voting delegates. Of those only four were lay delegates. A year later there were six voting lay delegates and 25 voting pastoral delegates. That was a significant imbalance, but there is no evidence that anyone was bothered by it, since the opportunity was given for significant lay participation along with the clergy.

If there are 509 multipoint parishes including 1,051 congregations as of 2013, granting a voting representation could create an additional 542 lay votes at district conventions. Given that there are approximately 6,100 congregations in the Synod, such a change would permit 6,100 voting lay delegates to 5,558 pastoral delegates (see lcms.org/aboutus).

Granted, these numbers could change significantly according to changing demographics, but currently, if every congregation sent a lay delegate, on average across the various districts lay delegates would outnumber clergy by a ratio of less than 1.1 to 1. And it is likely that a sizable minority of congregations who are able to send lay delegates do not, so that even if congregations in multipoint parishes were each allowed a voting lay delegate, pastoral delegates may still outnumber the lay delegates in general. In any case, we are a significant way from the imbalance of the early days of our Synod.

Regarding the objection that granting a voting lay delegate to every congregation would change the historic precedent, it should be noted that other aspects of our structure have changed significantly since 1847. For example, we now have the possibility for (and numerous examples of) dual parishes consisting of congregations in different districts. In those cases, the congregations in a district other than the district in which their pastors are members receive no representation with a voice at their district conventions.

Proposed Action

WHEREAS, The Synod Constitution Art. V A deals with voting members of the Synod and states: “All organized Independent Voice Shared Voice Representation at District Conventions X Representation at Circuit Forums X Election of circuit delegates to Synod Convention X Vote on Amendments to Synod Constitution X Nominate Synod Officers including Synod President X Voting for Synod President X Establishing necessary number of congregations for electoral circuits X congregations that have joined the Synod hold voting membership. At the meetings of the 1 districts of the Synod every congregation or parish is entitled to two votes, one of which is to be cast by the pastor and the other by the lay delegate”; and

WHEREAS, The term parish is used for the first time in the Constitution and only in this place has it been interpreted to mean “multiple congregations served by the same pastor(s)”; and

WHEREAS, “Multiple congregations” are only allowed to send a single lay delegate to district conventions, which does not respect the equal dignity, gifts, and authority of all member congregations. Rather, it creates degrees of voting membership in the Synod because every congregation is allowed a vote in some places but not in others (see chart in Preamble); and

WHEREAS, The basic meaning of parish is more geographical than the basic meaning of congregation (congregation membership is not limited by geography, and a parish would, strictly speaking, include many people [even members of other denominations, as well as unbelievers] who are not members of an LCMS congregation); and

WHEREAS, The presence of a pastor is not what determines the presence of a congregation. According to C. F. W. Walther’s Church and Ministry (tr. J.T. Mueller) concerning the church, Article VII, “As visible congregations that still have the Word and the sacraments essentially according to God’s Word bear the name ‘church’ because of the true invisible church of sincere believers that is found in them, so also they possess the authority that Christ has given to his whole church, on account of the true visible church hidden in them, even if there were only two or three [believers]” (emphasis added); and

WHEREAS, The polity of the LCMS is based on congregations and not on parishes; and

Whereas, The emphasis of our polity on the representation of congregations is intrinsically connected to the scriptural and confessional understanding of a congregation’s bearing all the characteristics of the Church; and

WHEREAS, The restructuring of the LCMS passed by the delegates at the 2010 convention included the provision that congregations of the Synod would directly vote for the Synod President (Congregations Walking Together in Mission as They Elect President and First Vice-President, Res. 8-17 “To Elect the Synod President,” 2010 Proceedings, p. 167); and

WHEREAS, Requiring that a congregation’s two votes for Synod President be cast by those individuals who represented the congregation at the previous district convention disenfranchises the congregations in so-called multiple-congregation settings who are forced to share representation at district conventions; and

WHEREAS, The idea of congregations electing the Synod President enhances the representative nature of this election; and

WHEREAS, 2013 convention Res. 3-07A, “To Further Promote Mission Awareness, Support, Collaboration, and Coordination for Rural and Small Town, Urban and Inner City, and Suburban Ministry” was adopted by an overwhelming majority (981 to 15), the final resolve of which stated: “That the LCMS in convention continue to respect the equal dignity, gifts, and authority of all member congregations, regardless of demographics or size,” (Proceedings, p. 119); and

WHEREAS, The use of the term parish has led to confusion and the denial of voting rights to certain congregations; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod at its 2016 convention:

• give all organized congregations that hold membership in the Synod the opportunity to be represented by a lay delegate and a pastoral delegate at district conventions (Bylaw 3.1.2.1 [c] allows such representation at circuit forums and regional caucuses);
• retain a single vote for a pastor who represents more than one congregation;
• and amend Article V A of the Synod Constitution as follows:

PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING

See resolution for proposed wording