Official notice: LCMS Office of the Secretary (March 2021)

In a letter from December 7, 2020, under the provision of Article XI B 8 of the Synod Constitution, LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison submitted the following question to a vote of the Synod’s member congregations:
Shall the Synod add a year to the current 2019–2022 triennium, allowing districts to hold their conventions in either 2021 or 2022, and moving the upcoming national Synod convention from 2022 to 2023? [Thereafter, the triennium cycle will continue forward from 2023 in three-year increments, as before (i.e., with district conventions held in 2025, 2028, etc., and Synod conventions held in 2026, 2029, etc.).] Vote: Yes or No.
The Office of the Secretary, assisted by the LCMS Department of Rosters, Statistics and Research Services and the LCMS Technology Application Group, facilitated an electronic vote on this question, opening January 1, 2021, and closing at the end of the day on February 15 (11:59 p.m. Central Time).
More than the required one-fourth (63.32%) of the Synod’s member congregations registered a vote, and the majority (90.67%) of votes cast favored adoption. The stated extension of the 2019–2022 triennium by a year, allowing district conventions to take place in either 2021 or 2022 and deferring the national Synod convention from 2022 to 2023, is therefore adopted.
The President’s letter (lcms.org/delay-vote-letter) and FAQ (lcms.org/delay-vote-faqs) explain the consequences of this deferral. The national Synod office is working urgently to make arrangements for the next regular convention of the Synod to convene in the summer of 2023 and will keep the Synod apprised as plans are finalized.
Congregations are advised to watch closely for communications from their districts regarding their plans to meet, either in 2021 or 2022, and to pay attention to pre-convention schedules that may be in flux.
The member congregations of the Synod and all who facilitated their voting are to be thanked for their urgent and diligent attention to this question, on account of which it was able to be decided not only by a majority of the votes cast but by a majority of the member congregations. We pray that the additional year it allows will bear rich fruit in the churchly deliberative assemblies of the districts and the Synod.
John W. Sias
Secretary, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Read more at lcms.org/convention.
The table below shows the details of the vote.

District

Yes

No

Voted % / Mbr. Congs.

Atlantic

57   (96.61%)

2   (3.39%)

60.20% /   98

California/Nevada/Hawaii

101   (100.%)

0   (0.00%)

55.80% /  181

Central Illinois

99   (93.40%)

7   (6.60%)

70.20% /  151

Eastern

61   (92.42%)

5   (7.58%)

53.23% /  124

English

86   (93.48%)

6   (6.52%)

56.79% /  162

Florida-Georgia

127  (96.21%)

5   (3.79%)

71.35% /  185

Indiana

137  (91.95%)

12  (8.05%)

65.64% /  227

Iowa East

78   (96.30%)

3   (3.70%)

69.23% /  117

Iowa West

103  (90.35%)

11  (9.65%)

68.26% /  167

Kansas

103  (96.26%)

4   (3.74%)

66.88% /  160

Michigan

260  (98.48%)

4   (1.52%)

74.58% /  354

Mid-South

56   (75.68%)

18 (24.32%)

60.66% /  122

Minnesota North

134  (97.81%)

3   (2.19%)

69.90% /  196

Minnesota South

133  (81.10%)

31 (18.90%)

68.33% /  240

Missouri

156  (91.76%)

14  (8.24%)

58.62% /  290

Montana

44   (97.78%)

1   (2.22%)

66.18% /   68

Nebraska

149  (93.71%)

10  (6.29%)

66.81% /  238

New England

42   (97.67%)

1   (2.33%)

63.24% /   68

New Jersey

22   (91.67%)

2   (8.33%)

47.06% /   51

North Dakota

52   (86.67%)

8  (13.33%)

74.07% /   81

North Wisconsin

110  (79.14%)

29 (20.86%)

64.35% /  216

Northern Illinois

127  (94.78%)

7   (5.22%)

63.21% /  212

Northwest

178  (96.22%)

7   (3.78%)

72.27% /  256

Ohio

97   (95.10%)

5   (4.90%)

63.75% /  160

Oklahoma

57   (93.44%)

4   (6.56%)

77.22% /   79

Pacific Southwest

131  (97.04%)

4   (2.96%)

50.19% /  269

Rocky Mountain

84   (88.42%)

11 (11.58%)

54.91% /  173

SELC

34   (91.89%)

3   (8.11%)

71.15% /   52

South Dakota

42   (67.74%)

20 (32.26%)

58.49% /  106

South Wisconsin

71   (55.91%)

56 (44.09%)

62.25% /  204

Southeastern

139  (95.86%)

6   (4.14%)

67.76% /  214

Southern

80   (97.56%)

2   (2.44%)

54.30% /  151

Southern Illinois

59   (93.65%)

4   (6.35%)

67.74% /   93

Texas

128  (77.11%)

38 (22.89%)

47.84% /  347

Wyoming

34   (89.47%)

4  (10.53%)

63.33% /   60

SYNOD TOTAL

3,371 (90.67%)

347 (9.33%)

63.32%  /  5,872

Posted March 2, 2021