Official notice: CUS governance model proposal and request for comment

Request for comment: 2019 Resolution 7-03 report on governance model proposal for the colleges and universities of the Concordia University System

At its Feb. 19 meeting, the LCMS Board of Directors (BOD) approved dissemination of the initial governance model proposal developed over the past 15 months by the 2019 Res. 7-03 committee to “strengthen all CUS institutions’ connection to the Synod” and “to strengthen [their] confessional Lutheran identity.” Comment is being solicited from the members, officers, boards, commissions and other agencies of the Synod, with a view towards the fruitful completion of the committee’s work and the BOD’s submission of a final proposed governance model as an overture to the 2023 Synod convention. In anticipation of the eventual need for this proposal to go to the convention for action, it is being disseminated in the form of an overture in eight parts, each with an explanatory preamble. The proposal and a copy of 2019 Res. 7–03 may be downloaded below.

The 2019 Res. 7–03 committee, which includes representatives from the college and university regent chairs and presidents, the Concordia University System (CUS) board and administration, and the board and officers of the national Synod, has solicited, received and revised its proposal in reaction to feedback from the colleges and universities, the CUS, the BOD and the LCMS Council of Presidents. Its work is now ready for broader digestion, discussion and reaction.

2019 Res. 7-03 specified that the report be disseminated “to the Synod for a six-month period of comment commencing not later than 15 months prior to the start of the 2022 [now 2023] convention of the Synod.” While the delay of the 2022 convention to 2023 has given the committee an extra year for its work, comment is requested within the stated six-month period so that the pace of the committee’s work may not be unduly delayed. Please note:

This six-month round of comment is intended to invite feedback early enough to allow the committee, if need be, to react and present the Synod with a refined proposal far enough in advance of the 2023 convention to allow thoughtful consideration and input by the whole Synod. The committee and board understand and hope that consideration of the material will continue through the district conventions and other organs of the broader Synod well beyond this six-month period, and the committee and board will continue to receive this feedback until the proposal finally goes before the Synod in convention. District conventions and others submitting related overtures to the Synod convention are asked to continue to copy them to the Office of the Secretary as soon after adoption as possible so that they can be shared with the committee.

Reviewers will note in the proposed bylaws the important role of the “Lutheran Identity and Mission Outcome Standards.” Initial proposed standards, ultimately to be adopted by the proposed Commission on University Education, are presently being drafted by a committee assembled by the CUS Board of Directors. It is the committee’s intention also to share that work with the Synod at an appropriate time, well in advance of the convention.

Members, officers, boards, commissions and other agencies of the Synod are requested to give careful attention to the proposal and to forward comments, to arrive no later than Sept. 30, 2021, via:

Email to the Office of the Secretary at lcmssecretary@lcms.org; or

U.S. mail to the Office of the Secretary, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, MO 63122-7595.

Rev. Dr. John W. Sias

Secretary, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Download proposal

Download 2019 Res. 7–03

Posted March 12, 2021