Delegate Newsletter -- No. 12

Board of Directors Defies All Authority

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) Board of Directors has been and continues to be divided on many issues. The greatest split has occurred in the area of the Board taking power unto itself through the yet unpublished, and often challenged opinion from the Bryan Cave law firm. This legal opinion purports to say that the Board of Directors should: have control over the CCM; have the power to fire officers of Synod with or without cause; and have authority that is not given to the Board in the Bylaws of the LCMS. Let's take a look at what the Board of Directors has done with this newly acquired "power" from the secret Bryan Cave opinion.

1) The Board of Directors created a constitutional crisis by declaring that 8 opinions of the Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM) were "of no effect". One problem with this action is that  the bylaws of the LCMS specifically state the Board of Directors does not have this authority. So, in essence, the Board of Directors has used this hidden opinion to establish the power to rule over the CCM. The logical conclusion is that the Board of Directors feel they are more important than the CCM and the Bylaws of Synod.

In many ways the CCM is like the Supreme Court in The United States. The Synod has given the power to interpret the Bylaws, Constitution and Articles of Incorporation to the CCM. Very much like the United States Supreme Court, the members of the CCM are appointed by the President of the LCMS from a list of candidates suggested by the Council of Presidents. Just like the Supreme Court, the CCM interprets the rules of the church. By usurping the power of the CCM, the Board of Directors usurps the power of the church as well.

2) President Kieschnick has the authority to call the Board of Directors up for review if/when they create a constitutional crisis. President Kieschnick spent months trying to persuade the Board of Directors to retract their statement about the CCM opinions. Sadly, they did not listen to the President of the LCMS. The BOD used their new power to ignore the President of the LCMS. They must believe they are more important than the President.

3) Recently President Kieschnick called the Board up for review and turned the process over to the Synod in Convention. He did this by sending the review to Floor Committee #7. The floor committee decided to meet with the Board of Directors. In that meeting, the floor committee devised several simple solutions to the "apparent" problem(s) raised in the Bryan Cave opinion. However, even as the Board of Directors met with the floor committee, while under review, they continued to act “above the rules” by allowing a mailing of the Board Briefs and letters to all delegates. The Board did not wait to see how the Synod in Convention would respond. They continued to show the church that in their eyes, the Board of Directors should have all the power of the church. By sending the Board Briefs and the letters to the delegates, the Board of Directors showed they feel they are more important than the Floor Committee of the convention.

It should be noted that not all of the Board members were informed of this mailing. Those Board members who have not voted to reject the CCM binding opinions and who agreed with President Kieschnick were never informed that the Board was once again spending money!! What is next? Will the Board of Directors send a video to all delegates?  Where did they find the money when we are pulling missionaries from the field? The Schwan Foundation gave the Board of Directors an extra $250,000 for discretionary purposes!! What did the Board decide was important? The Board would rather spend money telling you why they should have more power and why they should be able to use this hidden legal brief than use the money for the mission of the church!! Why would the Schwan Foundation give this discretionary money when missions are suffering? The document that establishes the Schwan Foundation states that the Foundation is to “exert a substantial and independent influence” on the church. How better to influence the church than to give money to the Board trying to be the most important group in the church... the Board of Directors.

These questions remain: Will the delegates to the 2004 LCMS Convention stand together and show the Board of Directors that the Synod in convention has the final authority? Will that same convention make it clear to the Board that they were wrong to create this constitutional crisis?  Will the convention delegates make a clear statement that the Board should have listened to President Kieschnick and the bylaws of the LCMS rather than a controversial, hidden legal opinion? Will the synod in convention take the difficult step of removing a Board that is truly out of control as it seeks to control the church through legal maneuvering and hidden agendas?

I hope and pray that the delegates will see the importance of protecting the historic LCMS. The Board is trying to steal your church... will we let them? The Board wants the power of the CCM...will they get it? The Board wants to be able to fire the President of Synod with or without cause...will we allow for this?

In many ways I cannot help but notice that the Board of Directors is acting like a schoolyard bully. In school there was always a child who wanted your lunch money or your homework to copy. The bully would threaten that if he did not receive your money or homework that something horrible would happen to you. The threat alone often wins the day… until someone stands up to the bully and stops the bully. The Board of Directors has been telling the church that "something horrible will happen" if they are not given this power, which they have assumed unto themselves. It is time for the church to stand up to the bully.

If Floor Committee #7 sends overtures to the convention to limit the power of the BOD – vote to do so. If floor committee 7 sends an overture to the convention to remove the current BOD members from office – vote to do so. When it comes time to vote for the election of new members for the BOD, vote for people who are known to support Pres. Kieschnick, and the Mission of reaching lost souls for Christ. Vote for people on The One List. It is time for the Church, the Synod in Convention, to stand up to the bully.

 

Rev. Jon Coyne is pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Menlo Park, CA.