To Amend Bylaw 3.3.1.1.2 (c) to Designate President’s Director of Church Relations as His Primary Representative for Ecclesiastical Relations with Other Church Bodies

WHEREAS, The Synod in 1962 established the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) (1962 Resolution 6-03, “Commission on Theology and Church Relations”); and

WHEREAS, In 2007, President Gerald B. Ki esch nick created a Church Relations unit within the Office of the President to address increased ecumenical opportunities to strengthen confessional Lutheran church bodies worldwide and to meet the increased requirements of managing those ecumenical relations in a manner that would allow for more direct communication, supervision, and coordination within the Office of the President itself; and

WHEREAS, In 2008, Dr. Samuel H. Nafzger retired after lengthy service (1974–2008) as the executive director of the CTCR to begin service as the Synod’s first director of Church Relations, assistant to the President; and

WHEREAS, Since 2008, the President of the Synod, being the chief ecumenical officer of the Synod, has called a director of Church Relations, assistant to the President, as his primary representative in his daily bishop-to-bishop ecclesiastical engagements and support; and

WHEREAS, LCMS Church Relations, on behalf of the President and based on his guidance, has continued to provide daily strategic, operational, and field-level leadership, planning, and support for ecclesiastical relations worldwide, now with 104 church bodies, including the annual International Church Relations Conference, regional gatherings, theological education to advance unity of confession with sister churches and others, theological dialogues with churches seeking recognition of church fellowship with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), and church body visitation (2026 Report R1.1); and

WHEREAS, LCMS Church Relations, on behalf of the President and based on his guidance, regularly collaborates with other church relations stakeholders, to include: (1) the CTCR as it assists the President of the Synod at his request in church relations matters that bear on doctrinal integrity (Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2), and in its bylaw responsibilities to recommend to the Synod recognition of altar and pulpit fellowship with another church body (Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2 [b]); (2) the Office of International Mission in its support and encouragement of sister churches (Bylaw 3.8.3.4); (3) the LCMS seminaries in their theological education support to sister church seminaries and at other venues; (4) LCMS districts and congregations in their support to sister church bodies and others; and (5) the International Lutheran Council in its programs that encourage confessional Lutheranism; therefore be it

Resolved, That Bylaw 3.3.1.1.2 (c) be amended as follows: PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING 3.3.1.1.2 The President shall be the chief ecumenical officer of the Synod. … (c) He or his representative shall represent the Synod in official contacts with other church bodies. The director of Church Relations shall ordinarily serve as the President’s representative for ecclesiastical relations with other church bodies. LCMS Church Relations may be staffed in accordance with the Bylaws of the Synod and the human resources policies of corporate Synod.