Saturday, September 10, 2011

Changes in Electing the Synod President...

Received from the Secretary of Synod this week:

District Convention Delegate/Alternate Delegate Elections

     With district conventions beginning as early as January 2012, congregations are already in the process of electing delegates and alternate delegates—always an important responsibility.
     IMPORTANT CHANGE: District convention delegates also will cast their congregations’ votes in the national election of the President of the Synod, as required by Synod Bylaw 3.12.2.3:  
     Four weeks prior to the national convention, the Secretary of the Synod, using lists of delegates in attendance at the prior year’s district conventions as submitted by the secretaries of the districts, shall provide, via a secure and verifiable method, opportunity for two voting delegates from each congregation in attendance at the previous district conventions who remain members of the congregations they represented to vote for one of the candidates for President....
     AS CONGREGATIONS CHOOSE THEIR DELEGATES to their district conventions, they should note:

  • Congregations can only participate in the 2013 vote for Synod President if they elect delegates.
  • Delegates will only be permitted to participate in the vote if they attend their district conventions.
  • While the electronic voting system to be used in the election of President will be user-friendly, some familiarity with and access to a computer and the Internet on the part of delegates will be helpful.
Information regarding how voting will be done will be addressed in future mailings.
Raymond L. Hartwig, LCMS Secretary


Judging from the several districts and some 33 years of district conventions, finding delegates and alternates is not always an easy thing to do.  The last time I had to cajole someone into serving as delegate (it ended up being something I might have more of a chance of convincing than others -- my own adult son!)  Often these conventions end up being hardly more than rah rah sessions in which little of substance is handled.  Often the things that appear to be of little consequence end up being large issues later.

If you are a member or a Pastor of the LCMS, this is your wake up call.  District Conventions and their delegates have been given larger responsibilities in the last Synod Convention.  It is now even more critical that you have a lay delegate and alternate and that one of them attend the District Convention....

Just a heads up....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"If you are a member or a Pastor of the LCMS, this is your wake up call."


What does this mean?

My husband is on the board of directors at our church and he says he doesn't know anything about it. I asked him if they have ever discussed such stuff and he says he can't recall. He used to be on board of elders as well. It seems like one of the two boards would at sometime discuss this. Or am I so clueless I have no idea what I am talking about?

Jeremy Clifton said...

I represented our congregation at the last Mid-South district convention. When the need for a delegate came up at a voters' meeting, I volunteered. Somebody then said "quick, let's vote on it before he has a chance to change his mind" and much to my surprise, I found myself elected.

I intend to volunteer again for the next convention, and perhaps I'll once again have the honor of representing my congregation.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I know a few congregations in my circuit did not send delegates, and it would be a shame for a congregation to not be able to cast a vote because nobody was paying attention and they didn't send delegates.

The whole method seems like a mess to me.

Anonymous said...

There is much apathy in the Synod
about Presidential elections. The
laity on the extreme right and the
extreme left get juiced about it,
but the vast silent majority in the
middle could care less.

This is probably a good thing since
Synodical politics is not what the
local parish is about. If they have
a good pastor in their congregation,
then the laity are satisfied.