Official Notice: Nominating Ballots for President, First Vice-President, and Regional Vice-Presidents and LCMS Presidential Voter Registration

Two important convention processes, important to every congregation, are now underway.

First, official nominating ballots for the offices of President, First Vice-President, and regional vice-presidents were mailed on October 10, 2025, to every member congregation of the Synod according to the list of member congregations maintained by the Synod’s Department of Rosters, Statistics, and Research Services. Congregations are reminded that Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Central Time, will be the absolute deadline for the receipt of nominating ballots. Watch the congregation’s mail for an official mailing from Yes Elections, bearing the label: “LCMS OFFICIAL NOMINATION BALLOT.”

Second, each member congregation and parish should have also received an email on October 17, 2025, from the LCMS Office of the Secretary with LCMS Presidential Election Voter Registration Instructions. These are the instructions for electronic registration of a pastoral and a lay voter for each congregation or parish, who will vote for Synod President in June 2026. Details will follow shortly thereafter in an official mailing labeled “URGENT – PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION INFORMATION.” All voter registration must be completed no later than Sunday, March 8, 2026, by 11:59 p.m. Central Time.

Congregations and parishes are advised to schedule the necessary meetings to select both president and vice-president nominees and presidential voters. Please bring these mailings to the immediate attention of your congregation’s chairman for necessary action. If any eligible congregation, including a congregation recently received into membership, does not receive both mailings by October 25, 2025, or if either is lost or misplaced, a duplicate must be requested from the Office of the Secretary of the Synod (lcmssecretary@lcms.org or 314-996-1417).

John W. Sias, Secretary

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Posted Oct. 29, 2025