Road to convention: Topics to watch

Phoenix Convention Center, site of the 2026 LCMS convention. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By John W. Sias

The end of February marked another significant turn in the convention processes, with nominations for Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) president and vice-president — and president voter registration — now complete, and all on-time reports and overtures in.

Official announcements have gone out regarding the first of these. With 1,518 congregations out of 5,681 (27%) casting a ballot, participation was lower than last year and only two-thirds what it was in 2019, but greater than in 2013 and 2016. Each congregation may nominate two men for president, two for first vice-president and two for regional vice-president. With 2,122 votes cast for president, 1,759 for first vice-president, and 1,584 for the regionals combined, even of those who did participate, many did not make full use of the ballot. This is not atypical but underscores a frustration we hear from congregations every triennium: They don’t all have ready names to put down in addition (or alternative) to incumbents. But that is the nature of an open nominating ballot, if not to be run by lists and advertisements — it presumes continual engagement.

The Synod has used this pre-convention nominating ballot process since 1973, first for president and first vice-president, then extending in 2004 to the now regional vice-presidents, replacing in-convention nominating ballots. The most votes cast for president (4,890) were in 1981, when a retiring incumbent combined with congregations first being allowed to give two names for each position (interestingly, it was not the most-nominated man who was elected).

A more fulsome report on this cycle, including those who declined and the votes they received, will be included in the Biographical Synopses and Statements of Nominees.

President voter registration, for the election to open June 6, concluded on March 8 (with parishes able to make changes to already registered voters until May 29). In January, I noted that registration tends to be lackluster, and this cycle has been no different. In 2019 and 2023, 63% of parishes registered at least one voter; for 2026, 59% did so. (This is not uniformly so, however — district registration rates varied from 29% to 85% of theoretical electors.) As we are now accustomed, vacant congregations, those with fewer email addresses registered to receive reminders, and those that are relatively smaller are less likely to register. Some, but not all, of the district variation may be explained by these factors. Details on how the June vote goes will be included in Today’s Business 2B.

Stronger together

My office and the Today’s Business and Concordia Publishing House staffs are presently burning all available candles at both ends to get the reports and overtures into shape for publication in the Convention Workbook. The overtures are an area where participation has not been numerically lackluster this cycle: We have received 464 submissions, amounting to 379 unique overtures (some are submitted by more than one submitter), compared to 322 submissions and 279 unique overtures for the 2023 convention. Some of our 10 floor committees — it appears especially Pastoral Ministry and Seminaries, Structure and Administration, Life Together, Theology and Church Relations, Ecclesiastical Supervision and Dispute Resolution, and National Witness, ranging from 92 down to 34 overtures each — will have a great deal and great variety of grain to mill into a manageable number of wholesome loaves for convention digestion.

Big topics (each gathering a number of overtures) to watch, discuss with your circuit delegates and other representatives, and contribute comments on include:

A great number of possibilities to assign work to the LCMS Office of National Mission, which may have to be prioritized and evaluated relative to capacity.

Potential statements and studies on race and racism, Christian nationalism, parental authority (relative to the state), artificial intelligence and social media.

Proposals for triennial mission and ministry emphases and priorities and potential revisions of the related processes and even the structure and authority of the mission boards of the Synod.

Proposals to study the role of women in the church, relative to aspects of work of the Office of the Holy Ministry and the order of creation.

Emphasis on formation of pastors with “deep and broad” study of the Holy Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions in the Synod’s seminaries.

Evaluation of the work of the Pastoral Formation Committee and various proposals for its adjustment.

Evaluation of residential versus non-residential pastoral formation models and a host of proposals to emphasize residential, maintain the status quo or broaden non-residential options — a discussion that may be impacted by different estimates of “pastoral supply and demand.”

Reaction to development and promotion of pastoral formation routes not authorized by the Synod.

Various proposals for adjustment to the Specific Ministry Pastor program and other non-residential routes to pastoral ministry.

Review of the Lutheran Identity and Mission Outcome Standards and the definition of “Lutheran identity,” as well as the process of prior approval for seminary and university theological faculty.

Proposals to adjust the convention cycle to four years; to expand the role of commissioned ministers; to adjust the requirements for electoral circuits or, otherwise, the means of selecting delegates to convention; to adjust how elections are performed (including the possibility again of restoring the presidential election to the convention) and how terms may be limited; and to review various aspects, or the totality of, the performance of the Synod after the 2010 restructuring.

Proposals to review the Synod’s dispute resolution and expulsion processes, to understand how the “online news cycle” has impacted ecclesiastical supervision, to guide responses to allegations of abuse, and to provide more insight into the removal or resignation of called workers from the roster.

A single overture was submitted by the LCMS Board of Directors and several entities and agencies to revise Bylaws and make obsolete a 1981 resolution dealing with requirements for incorporated Synod agencies, allowing new types of corporations for purposes like property development and redevelopment supportive of “ministry footprint.”

Keep in mind, those are just the “popular” items, and every individual overture has the potential to be interesting — I know I’ve found a few, in categorizing and editing them, that I want to spend a great deal of time on when I can — and to change the life of the Synod together, we hope for the better. When the book comes out, I’d encourage you, for the life of our Synod, to have a look, to study where study is called for, to ask questions and to give input. We are wiser and stronger together when we all engage in the conversation while the “cement is yet wet.”

Publication and review

Please keep an eye out for the Convention Workbook and Biographical Synopses and Statements of Nominees, to be available online and shipped to delegates by April 25, but often available online (we hope!) weeks before. Talk to your congregation, ordained and commissioned ministers, and circuit delegates about what’s “in the convention business” and encourage them to “have their say” with the appropriate floor committee(s) by submitting written communication through my office by May 16 (Bylaw 3.1.8 [c]).

The Rev. Dr. John W. Sias ( lcmssecretary@lcms.org ) serves as secretary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Posted April 6, 2026