Constitution Review Committee -- What Does It Do?

What does it take for a congregation to be a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), besides sharing in the Lutheran Confessions? The “Guidelines for Constitutions and Bylaws of Lutheran Congregations” (Revised November 2012) state: “Among the responsibilities of membership, the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod require member congregations to submit their constitutions and bylaws for review by their district’s constitution committee when applying for membership in the Synod. Congregations which revise their constitutions and bylaws must also submit these proposed changes for review by their district’s constitution committee.”

Self-Governing

The Preface to the Guidelines recognizes that, while congregations of the Synod are self-governing, they commit themselves to the membership requirements of the Synod. Self-governing means that congregations are free to structure themselves in such manner as they believe will be most effective for carrying out the Great Commission in their context. This means that no constitution is the same as the last.

The Committee

The Michigan District Board of Directors appoints members to the Constitution Review Committee to fulfill the mandated review above, making sure that the people of God do things “decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40), as virtually every constitution’s preamble states. The current members of the CRC are Rev. Joel Hoyer (Chair), Mr. Aaron Baylis, Mr. Keith Altenburg, and Hon. Chris Nuechterlein. Rev. Steve Grafe is the CRC’s liaison with the District Board.

The Process

The District staff assigns the reviews of new or revised constitutions and bylaws to one of the CRC members. These members’ various life experiences, particular knowledge, and insightful eyes to the work help ensure congregations’ documents will be reviewed thoroughly and with the best construction put on what they are seeking to accomplish. The CRC does not draft your documents or provide legal advice, but attempts to review the documents in a comprehensive manner and provide constructive feedback. The committee also looks forward to reviewing the Synod constitution guidelines with a view to creating uniform District guidelines and templates that can be helpful for our congregations in this process.

After the review is complete, the reviewer either approves or withholds approval. If he withholds approval, the relevant issues of concern are outlined for further discussions among the reviewer, the CRC chair, and the submitting congregation. If the documents are approved, an approval memo is submitted to the contact person at the congregation and copied to the CRC chair and the District and then submitted to the District Board for approval.

Each congregation is urged to review and update its Constitution and Bylaws every few years, utilize the Guidelines in its review and revisions, and submit the revised documents to the District for review by the CRC.

PROCEDURES FOR CONGREGATIONS THAT WISH TO MAKE CHANGES TO THEIR CONSTITUTION AND/OR BYLAWS:

1. Vote on changes or amendments to the constitution and/or bylaws.
2. Email or mail a copy to the president’s office with the changes clearly marked along with the name and contact information of the person the committee member should reach out to if they have questions (usually that is the same person who sends the changes to the president’s office).
3. The president’s office will then assign the review to one of the committee members.
4. The committee member assigned will be in contact directly with the congregation’s designated person.
5. When the committee member recommends approval, it is added to a list (report) of constitutions/bylaws recommended for approval that is kept by the chairman.
6. The chairman sends this report to the president’s office before each scheduled Board of Directors’ meeting so the Board can vote on approval.
7. The Board Secretary will mail a letter to the congregation to let them know if their constitution and bylaws have been approved.
8. Once approved, the congregation needs to email or mail a final copy to the president’s office to keep on file.

To contact the president’s office, email Martha Wohlfeil.