Res. 9-13 — To Adopt Recommendations of 2023 Res. 9-06A Task Force on Electoral Circuit Parameters

Rationale 2023 Resolution 9-06A, “To Appoint Task Force to Evaluate Current Electoral Circuit Parameters,” (2023 Proceedings, 206–9) was adopted with the acknowledgement that “due to demographic changes over the past several convention cycles, it has become necessary for more and more visitation circuits either to request an exemption from the President of the Synod or to be combined in order to qualify to meet the parameters for an electoral circuit. The result has been a gradual decrease in the number of electoral circuits within the Synod and the number of delegates attending conventions.” The charge to the task force was described as to “consider the parameters for the electoral circuits which select delegates to conventions of the Synod to determine if they are adequate as they are or should be changed.” In preparation for the first meeting, the Secretary of the Synod drafted a whitepaper (later updated) with the history of selecting delegates ; trends in convention delegation size and exceptions requested and granted ; and a view toward the shape of the future based upon past and current demographics. The task force met nine times from October 2024 to December 2025 to review the charge by the 2023 Synod convention, offer a report, and recommend to the Synod changes to the Bylaws to address the concerns raised. The task force commissioned several surveys to determine the health and viability of the current visitation circuits and the opinions of pastors, circuit visitors, district presidents, and the Praesidium on the size and effectiveness of Synod conventions in view of their purpose “to afford an opportunity for worship, nurture, inspiration, fellowship, and the communication of vital information” (Bylaw 3.1.1). The general conclusions from these surveys both set the direction for the work of the task force and undergirded the recommendations made in their report. The surveys revealed a profound desire on the part of all to strengthen visitation circuits and the functioning of winkels (circuit pastors’ conferences). They also indicated that when the number of active participants dropped below five actively serving pastors (with the emeritus pastors who reside in the circuit), it directly impacted the health and effectiveness of the visitation circuit. With respect to the electoral circuits, the surveys found they need to be flexible enough to provide adequate and fair representation at the Synod convention and yet maintain a viable connection to the visitation circuit wherever possible. The discussions and proposed changes in the Bylaws recommended by the task force flowed from the concrete data of the whitepaper, the opinions of 1,682 parish pastors, 772 candidate or emeritus pastors, 393 circuit visitors, and 27 district presidents, and the combined experience of the members of the task force across the regions of the Synod and within the districts and circuits where they reside. Even early on, the task force felt the urgency of the task and the consequences of making no change to the status quo. Failure to make any changes would create an untenable situation due to the rise in the number of exceptions for electoral circuits from triennium to triennium and the increasing difficulties in forming circuits within the current parameters of the Bylaws. An increasing number of electoral circuits for the 2026 Synod convention and beyond are approaching the minimum numbers of communicant members required to constitute an electoral circuit (1,500) and others are very close to the maximum number of congregations allowed (20). Details of these trends are outlined in the whitepapers along with projections for the situation three to six years beyond the 2026 Synod convention. Having considered all the foregoing, the task force made the following proposal to the 2026 Synod convention:

1. Change the Bylaw 3.1.2 standard from congregations to parishes;

2. Remove from the bylaw entirely the possibility of exceptions (except that no district shall be left without any circuit); and

3. Remove from the bylaw the upper limits for the number of congregations, number of confirmed members, and how many visitation circuits may combine into an electoral circuit. The task force believed that this realignment would more closely connect the number of delegates to the actual size of the Synod and the number of its parishes. Therefore be it

Resolved, That Bylaw 3.1.2 be amended as follows:

PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING Voting Delegates

3.1.2 Electoral circuits shall meet as required by the Bylaws of the Synod to elect circuit voting delegates to the Synod’s national conventions.

(a) An electoral circuit shall consist either of one or two of one or more adjacent visitation circuits, as shall be determined by the district board of directors on the basis of the following requirements: each pair of delegates shall represent from 7 to 20 member congregations at least six (6) parishes (as defined in Bylaw 2.5.5; each congregation of a parish divided across circuit lines counts, for this purpose, as an equal fraction of the parish, i.e., ½ for each congregation in a parish of two congregations; ⅓ for each in a parish of three; etc.), involving an aggregate confirmed membership ranging from of at least 1,500 to 10,000.

(b) Exceptions to these requirements may be made only by the President of the Synod upon request of a district board of directors. No exceptions shall be granted, except that each district shall have at least one electoral circuit.

(c) Voting delegates shall consist of one pastor and one layperson from each electoral circuit. These pastoral and lay delegates and their alternates shall be elected according to the regulations of the Synod (Bylaw 3.1.2.1).

(d) The lay delegate shall serve throughout the triennium following the convention as an advisory member of the forum or fora of the visitation circuit(s) comprising the electoral circuit forum.