Res. 7-08 — To Study Synodwide Corporate Status of Concordia University System

WHEREAS, Overture 7 -01, “To Amend Bylaws to Convert Concordia University System, the Synodwide Corporate Entity, into Commission for University Education, ” was submitted by the LCMS Board of Directors (BOD) for consideration at the 2026 Synod convention; and

WHEREAS, Overtures 7-02 and 7-03, “To Affirm and Sustain Concordia University System as Synodwide Corporate Entity,” were put forward by the Concordia University System (CUS) Board of Directors and St. John Lutheran Church in Springfield, P a., respectively ; and Late Overture L7- 30, “To Affirm and Retain Concordia University System as Synodwide Corporate Entity,” was put forward by the Concordia University, Nebraska Board of Regents; and

WHEREAS, Overtures 7-01–03 and Late Overture 7-30 are irreconcilable with one another; and

WHEREAS, The BOD submitted Overture 7 -01 in the interests of its duty to attend to financial and liability issues of the Synod; and

WHEREAS, CUS no longer carries out business or line -of-credit management functions on behalf of the universities, resulting in there being no need for a separate corporation; and

WHEREAS, CUS is served by corporate Synod accounting and audit functions already, making its operations easily assimilable, and the transition of CUS to a commission from a synodwide corporate entity, potentially practicable; and

WHEREAS, The monumental shifts in the landscape of higher education, both within and outside the Synod, make it difficult to fully assess and evaluate the impact of such a transition of CUS at this time ; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention direct the BOD, in consultation with the CUS Board of Directors and the Institution Advisory Council, to analyze the relative strengths and weaknesses between retaining the CUS as a synodwide corporate entity and converting the CUS into a commission of the Synod and propose the best model to the 2029 convention.