Delegate Newsletter -- No. 7

In the past two editions of the Jesus First delegate newsletter, we have explored both the Constitutional crisis created by the Board of Directors (BOD) and the actions President Kieschnick must take to end this crisis. The conflict is best defined by three facts - the first two of which are from the LCMS Constitution:

1)      “An opinion rendered by the [Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM)] is binding on the question decided until and unless it is overruled by a Synodical Convention.”

2)      “(The Board of Directors) shall  have the right to call up for review, criticism, modification, or revocation, any action or policy of a program board, commission, or council, except opinions of the Commission on Constitutional Matters.”

3)      In November 2003, the BOD declared that eight CCM rulings were “of no effect,” despite what the Constitution of the Synod declares about the authority of the CCM and the limitation of the authority of the BOD. In support of this action, the BOD appealed to the Synod’s Articles of Incorporation under Missouri’s Not-For-Profit Law and to a private opinion that the BOD obtained from the Bryan Cave Law Firm.

In February 2004, the CCM declined to withdraw the opinions that the BOD had challenged and declared to have “no effect.” In the meantime another attorney, Martin Nussbaum, was engaged by individual members of the Synod and had issued an opinion supporting the Synod Constitution and the CCM. Two attorneys from Missouri confirmed the Nussbaum opinion as correct. The Bryan Cave report, purchased by the BOD for the LCMS, is still hidden from the LCMS.

In April 2004, the BOD published part of a new Bryan Cave opinion. The Bryan Cave response accuses the Nussbaum opinion of being, not a “statement of law as it is” but a “work of advocacy.” To this non-lawyer, the Bryan Cave response seems to be an advocacy piece itself. The difference is that the BOD/Bryan Cave response keeps much of its thinking hidden! The BOD has not seen fit to release the full Bryan Cave reports, or even describe the questions and the instructions that the BOD executive committee gave to the law firm.

What happens now? It would clearly be in order for President Kieschnick to “call up the BOD for review,” referring their unconstitutional actions to the Synodical Convention. However, it may be commendable that President Kieschnick has not acted in this way. Despite the mean-spirited personal attacks and humorless cartoons depicting him as “Pope Gerald the First,” President Kieschnick has used his authority and position carefully, as a faithful under-shepherd for the LCMS.

(It may be helpful to remind the pastors whose contention with President Kieschnick has crossed the line unto ridicule and contentiousness, that men who are not sensible and dignified; who are quarrelsome, overbearing, or quick-tempered, are Biblically disqualified from the pastoral office. (cf. 1Tim. 3; Titus 1) In these coming months, this may be a warning we all need to heed.)

Whether President Kieschnick “calls up the BOD for review” or whether he merely “refers their actions” to the Convention, the final decisions in this area will be made by the delegates to this summer’s Convention, as stated in the LCMS Bylaws.

The delegate convention of the Synod is the legislative assembly which ultimately legislates policy, program, and financial direction to carry on the Synod’s work on behalf of and in service to the member congregations, reserving to itself the right to give direction to all officers and agencies of the Synod…Consequently, all officers and agencies, unless otherwise specified in the Bylaws, shall be accountable to the Synod, and any concerns regarding the decisions of such officers or agencies maybe brought to the attention of Synod for appropriate action.

In summary, it is now the responsibility of the Synod in Convention to sort out this issue and put an end to this Constitutional crisis.

The delegates to the 2004 LCMS Convention need to take into account conflicting statements between the CCM and the BOD; conflicting interpretations of the Synod Constitution and Articles of Incorporation; and the conflicting legal advice of the Bryan Cave firm and the Nussbaum report. It is imperative that the Convention Floor Committee with responsibility over BOD matters, insist on reading the entire Bryan Cave report and the BOD instructions to the Bryan Cave law firm. They must insist on full reports from the BOD minority as well as the majority, and must have access to any other reports they deem necessary. (If there is any refusal on the part of the BOD majority to submit to the Convention’s oversight, the “appropriate action” would be to remove them from office.) Only with all the facts and documents in hand, can the floor committee provide the Synod in Convention with the complete picture the delegates need, so they can decide these matters once and for all, instruct the BOD, and any future BOD how to proceed, and bring peace to the LCMS.

 

Rev. Bruce Cameron is pastor at St. John Lutheran Church – Sparta, Illinois