[m-m-online] Special Notice - May 25, 2007

[Minister to Minister online]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

It is not my desire to place lengthy items for you to read in Minister 
to Minister, however I felt that it was important for everyone to 
receive the following information from LCMS President Gerald 
Kieschnick's office.

Your Partner in Mission,

Rev. Ken Hennings
President, Texas District


# # #


MEMO

TO: Voting Delegates to 2007 Convention of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

FROM: Gerald B. Kieschnick

SUBJECT: Report of the Convention Delegate Review Committee

DATE: May 16, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world and Lord of 
the universe, through whom alone we receive forgiveness of sin, life, 
and salvation!

Enclosed with this memo is the “Report of the Convention Delegate Review 
Committee.” The purpose of this committee was previously communicated to 
you in my memo of May 8, 2007 concerning the “Document re Circuit 
Exceptions for the 2007 LCMS Convention,” as follows:

“However, to assure the Synod that all is in order regarding this 
matter, to honor and protect the integrity of the convention itself, and 
to assure each of you that your election to serve as a delegate to the 
2007 LCMS convention is indeed valid and proper, I have asked seven 
national Synod leaders to confer together to review the procedure 
followed by district boards of directors and the president of the Synod 
regarding circuit electoral delegate exceptions to the 2007 convention. 
Their report is due to be completed by May 15 and will be sent to all 
voting delegates.”

The committee conducted its investigation and completed its report on 
May 14, 2007. The report was delivered to my office on May 15, 2007, 
with this message:

“While the committee noted your intention that this report be provided 
to the Synod in any way that the committee ‘[deems] most prudent,’ the 
committee herewith provides it to you for your use as you deem most 
prudent, believing this to be the best way to handle its dissemination.”

Therefore, as previously promised, you are receiving a copy of this 
report. It is my prayer that this report will serve in accord with its 
intention, namely “to assure the Synod that all is in order regarding 
this matter, to honor and protect the integrity of the convention 
itself, and to assure each of you that your election to serve as a 
delegate to the 2007 LCMS convention is indeed valid and proper.”

With this memo I express sincere thanks to the seven LCMS leaders who 
served on this committee for their timely response and diligent service 
to the church in this matter:

Dr. William Hoesman, President, Michigan District; Chairman, Council of 
Presidents

Dr. Larry Stoterau, President, Pacific Southwest District; Vice 
Chairman, Council of Presidents

Dr. Robert Kuhn, President Emeritus, LCMS; Chairman, LCMS Board of 
Directors,

Rev. James Fandrey, Lutheran Heritage Foundation; Vice Chairman, LCMS 
Board of Directors

Dr. Raymond Hartwig, Secretary, LCMS

Dr. Thomas Kuchta, Vice-President-Finance/Treasurer, LCMS

Dr. Albert Marcis, President Emeritus, SELC District; Chairman, 
Commission on Constitutional Matters


May the ONE Message of Christ fill you with hope and may our gracious 
God bless your preparations for service as a delegate to the 63rd 
Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

* * * * *

REPORT

CONVENTION DELEGATE REVIEW COMMITTEE
Appointed by the President of the Synod

May 14, 2007


The Convention Delegate Review Committee has been asked by the President 
of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod “to take whatever steps it deems 
appropriate in the process of assuring the Synod that [the 2007 
convention delegate selection process] has been done properly, decently, 
in good order, and in accordance with the covenants of love by which we 
in the LCMS have agreed to work together.”

The undersigned committee met via telephone conference call on May 3, 
2007, to determine the steps it would take to carry out its assignment. 
It was agreed that a three-member subcommittee would meet at the Synod’s 
International Center on May 7 and 8 to review the 2007 convention 
delegate records. The subcommittee’s findings were then discussed by the 
full committee during telephone conference calls on May 10 and May 14. 
The committee submits the following report to the Synod.

I. No evidence was found of collaboration between the Office of the 
President of the Synod and the presidents and boards of directors of the 
districts regarding the seating of delegates to the 2007 convention.

- Cases identified by Frederic Baue in his “Update on Circuit Exceptions 
for the 2007 LCMS Convention” as problematic and requiring additional 
exceptions were found to have reasonable explanations as a result of 
data provided during the delegate certification process.
- The official records provided by the President’s Office offered no 
indication of collaboration between the President’s Office and district 
officials. Because all other related communication was oral in nature, 
no additional records were available for review.


II. The 65 electoral circuit exceptions granted for the 2007 convention 
of the Synod were granted according to the provisions of Bylaw 3.1.2.

- Records in support of the exceptions granted were found to be in good 
order, in every case including all appropriate documentation of district 
board actions requesting exceptions and the granting of exceptions by 
the President.
- All electoral circuit exceptions were granted within the parameters 
established by Bylaw 3.1.2, which provides no limitations on the number 
of exceptions that may be granted.
- Limitations self-imposed by the President were announced repeatedly in 
his reports to the Council of Presidents and were generally followed. 
The President provided reasonable explanations for three exceptions to 
those limitations upon request of the subcommittee.


III. The pertinent paragraph in the Agreement that accompanied the 
settlement of the recent lawsuit was honored in the process used to 
grant electoral circuit exceptions for the 2007 convention.

- The requirements provided in Bylaw 3.1.2 for the granting of 
exceptions were followed, and evidence demonstrates that districts were 
repeatedly encouraged to realign circuits to avoid the need to request 
electoral circuit exceptions.
- A written reminder was offered to the Council of Presidents on at 
least one occasion (and the President reported numerous oral reminders 
on other occasions) calling attention to the provision in Bylaw 3.1.2 
that advocates the joining together of adjacent visitation circuits to 
form an electoral circuit when electoral circuit requirements cannot be 
met by one or both visitation circuits.


IV. The Convention Delegate Review Committee did not have time or 
opportunity to review the circumstances surrounding the extensive 
realigning of circuits that went on during the triennium to verify that 
all such alignments were done properly.

- Districts may only realign circuits by convention action unless such 
authority has been specifically delegated to their boards of directors 
(CCM Opinion 03-2368).
- These realignments have often only minimally met (and at times have 
even fallen short of) Bylaw 3.1.2 requirements, resulting in an increase 
in the number of delegates to the 2007 convention despite a reduction 
from 88 (2004) to 65 (2007) in the number of electoral circuit 
exceptions requested and granted.


V. The Convention Delegate Review Committee recognizes that a 
comprehensive study of concerns associated with the Synod’s delegate 
representation process is needed, such as is included in the overall 
study currently underway by the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synodical 
Structure and Governance. A number of general observations surfaced 
during the committee’s research that beg further attention by the task 
force in the interest of fair representation at national conventions.

- Delegate exceptions are at times being used to alleviate other 
concerns, including “adequate representation” for ethnic and other 
interests at national conventions. Exceptions requested for such 
purposes appear to elevate other concerns above the clear interest of 
Bylaw 3.1.2 in equitable representation based solely upon numbers of 
congregations and confirmed members.
- The provision of Bylaw 3.1.2 advocating the combining of adjacent 
visitation circuits to form electoral circuits is not being given first 
attention as the to-be-preferred remedy when one or both of the 
visitation circuits do not meet requirements for an electoral circuit. 
This is evidenced by the fact that 65 electoral circuit exceptions were 
requested and granted for the 2007 Synod convention compared to only 16 
times that adjacent visitation circuits were combined to form an 
appropriate electoral circuit. The granting of exceptions over the years 
has in reality become the rule, while the rule provided by the bylaw (to 
join adjacent visitation circuits) has in reality become the exception.
- Statistics demonstrate that, in general, districts with already 
greater-than-average per-communicant representation at Synod conventions 
are also the districts that have been requesting and receiving the 
greatest number of exceptions, thereby further increasing their delegate 
representation advantage.

It is this committee’s hope and prayer that its efforts and this report 
will help to assure the Synod in general and the delegates to the 2007 
convention in particular that the delegate body that will meet in 
Houston this summer has been selected “in accordance with the covenants 
of love by which we in the LCMS have agreed to work together.”

Dr. William Hoesman, President, Michigan District; Chairman, Council of 
Presidents
Dr. Larry Stoterau, President, PSW District; Vice Chairman, Council of 
Presidents
Dr. Robert Kuhn, LCMS President Emeritus; Chairman, LCMS Board of Directors
Rev. James Fandrey, Luth. Heritage Foundation; Vice Chairman, LCMS Board 
of Directors
Dr. Raymond Hartwig, LCMS Secretary
Dr. Thomas Kuchta, LCMS Vice-President – Finance—Treasurer
Dr. Albert Marcis, SELC District President Emeritus; Chairman, LCMS 
Commission on Constitutional Matters