Ad Crucem NewsLCMS 2026 Convention2023 ↔ 2026
How one triennium flows into the next.
260 overtures filed for 2023. 84 resolutions adopted. 374 overtures filed for 2026 — an increase of 44%. The diagram and topic traces below show where the volume came from and which contested questions the 2023 floor merely deferred.
- 2023 overtures filed260across 11 floor committees
- 2023 resolutions adopted84108 overtures declined or referred
- 2026 overtures filed374across 10 committees (2 retired)
- Net change+11444% increase across triennia
Ad Crucem NewsLCMS 2026 ConventionThe flow
From overtures to resolutions to overtures again.
Each column shows one stage of the triennium. The flowlines between columns 1 and 2 are grounded in the explicit originating overtures citation that every adopted 2023 resolution publishes in its header. The flowlines between columns 2 and 3 use the published 2026 committee remap (the 2023 Church and Culture and Schools / Family / Young Adults / Youth committees were retired and their topics absorbed into other committees for 2026).
One pattern stands out: the committees that declined the most 2023 overtures are not the committees with the smallest 2026 inboxes. Pastoral Ministry and Seminaries grew from 46 overtures in 2023 to 88 in 2026; Life Together grew from 18 to 56 (absorbing the retired Schools/Family committee’s topics); Ecclesiastical Supervision grew from 10 to 39 (absorbing the digital-strife topics from the retired Church and Culture committee). A docket that one triennium declines to consider in detail tends to return in the next, very often in stronger form.
Ad Crucem NewsLCMS 2026 ConventionContested traces
Six questions that crossed the triennium boundary.
The aggregate diagram shows volume; these traces show specific questions. Each is a contested matter the 2023 floor disposed of in some way and the 2026 floor will be asked to re-decide in greater volume or in stronger language.
Specific Ministry Pastor program
The 2023 floor restricted SMP; the 2026 docket litigates the restriction from both directions.
- 2023 overturesMultiple SMP filingsOvertures asking variously for narrowing, broadening, supervision tightening, and pathway streamlining of the Specific Ministry Pastor program.
- 2023 dispositionRes. 6-03A adopted“That SMP be utilized only for its intended purposes … and be understood and positioned as the exception and not become the principal rule.”
- 2026 overtures19 overtures, 6-09 to 6-63
Woman suffrage
The 1969 Denver settlement is being reopened from three directions.
- 2023 overtures3 omnibus-declinedThree identical overtures titled “To Reconsider Woman Suffrage in the Church” placed in Omnibus B. A floor motion to extract one for substantive consideration failed.
- 2023 dispositionDeclined to considerOmnibus B passed; no resolution on the substance produced. The 1969 Denver Resolution 2–17 settlement remained in force.
Four-year convention cycle
The 2023 floor refused even to authorize a study; the 2026 docket skips the study entirely.
- 2023 overturesTask-force proposalRes. 9-09A would have appointed a task force to evaluate a four-year convention cycle. The proposal was modest in language: study only, no commitment.
- 2023 dispositionDeclined 309–486The floor declined to authorize even the study by a fifty-three-percent margin. The triennial rhythm was affirmed by inaction.
Concordia University Texas
The 2023 floor called for repentance; the 2026 floor wants the books opened.
- 2023 overturesCrisis-period filingsMultiple overtures responding to the November 2022 unilateral CTX governance change separating the university’s board from the Synod.
- 2023 dispositionRes. 7-03 adopted 716–283“To Call Concordia University Texas Leadership to Repentance” for breaking the Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Commandments. Synod President stood prepared to grant absolution.
Dispute Resolution Process
The 2023 floor amended the DRP at the margins; the 2026 floor wants to replace it.
- 2023 overturesProcedural-amendment filingsSeveral overtures requesting clarifications, deadlines, and practical adjustments to the existing Dispute Resolution Process bylaws.
- 2023 dispositionRes. 10-01 adopted“To Amend Dispute Resolution and Expulsion Bylaws to Address Practical Considerations and Clarity” — marginal procedural amendments. The DRP itself was retained.
Social media and the Eighth Commandment
The 2023 floor encouraged appropriate use; the 2026 floor wants enforcement.
- 2023 overturesHortatory framingOvertures requesting that Synod address the use of social media by rostered workers, framed at the level of encouragement rather than discipline.
- 2023 dispositionRes. 11-01 adopted“To Encourage Appropriate Use of Social Media,” under the now-retired Church and Culture committee. Hortatory verb; no enforcement mechanism.
Ad Crucem NewsLCMS 2026 ConventionRecommended reading
Read further
- Compare · 2023 reports → 2026 reportsHow the 97 reports filed for 2023 flowed into 2026A two-column Sankey of the report corpus, color-coded by how much of each 2023 body reappears verbatim in 2026: carried forward, lightly revised, re-authored, dropped, or new.
- Article IV · The triennium flowFrom 2023 to 2026: How One Triennium Flows Into the NextThe editorial commentary that accompanies these diagrams — three closing observations on compression, the sink-becomes-source pattern, and the committee remap.
- Article I · Curtain RaiserThe Mood Heading into the 2026 LCMS ConventionSix contested-question hot buttons and their 2023-vs-2026 comparison table.
- How it worksHow an LCMS Convention WorksThe mechanics of overtures, floor committees, resolutions, and the triennial cycle — for readers new to the process.