Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Prayers for the Unfolding Changes in Synod

It must be awkward -- Pres. Harrison did not want or welcome the Synodical restructuring that the Convention adopted (by the slimmest of majorities) yet he is the one who is charged with fleshing out those changes for our Synod.  It is a task fraught with the potential to inflame and disappoint.  Already a Mission Planters Conference that was to take place while the pow wow was going on in Nashville in mid-November (CoP, LCEF, etc.) has been canceled (due in large measure to staffing changes put into effect as the Synod restructuring required).

It leads me to imagine what structure works best... I do not know if there is a real answer to this.  It seems that if you have good people, they can make up for the limitations of a bad structure but if you have anything less, the weaknesses in that structure are only magnified.  In addition, we have people on both sides throwing stones because either they were not the ones who get to implement the changes they voted for or because they are not the ones who get to implement the changes they did not vote for... Ah, the irony of it all...

I was not in favor of most of the changes -- the only one I felt was worth while was the switch to a four year cycle instead of a three year one and this change did NOT pass.  I confess to being bored by the endless by-law changes that each convention has to vote upon.  I am not a structure person.  I am not sure I am a process person either.  I am not sure what kind of person I am.  But I am not excited about the changes in the Synod constitution, by-laws, and organizational chart.  I guess it is a good thing, then, that I have confidence in Pres. Harrison, his staff, and many of the good folks who were elected. I just hope they are more interested and excited about this stuff than I am.  And that they can make more sense of it all that I can...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

LSMS Convention voting is usually
slim majorities....In 1992 Alvin
Barry was elected President by 12
votes. In 2001 Jerry Kieschnick was
elected President by 18 votes. And
back in 1969 Jacob Preus was elected
by 8 votes. Obviously there is some
history of the Synodical Conventions
having a divided electorate.

Pastor Peters said...

Yes but this was a massive restructuring and not an election... with potentially more impact than even an election has upon our church body...

Anonymous said...

The history of LCMS will demonstrate
that the election of Jacob Preus
in 1969 had a massive impact on the
direction of our synod. The jury is
still out if this 2010 restructuring
vote will compare to the election
of Preus. Leadership of a parish
pastor will always trump the parish
constitution and bylaws. Leadership
of a synod will always trump the
changing of bylaws and restructuring.