wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Board begins Q&A feature

["LCMS e-News" <LCMSENEWS@lcms.org>]

	 <http://www.lcms.org>
e-News
	LCMS News

	PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE! This message comes
from a "Send Only" Mailbox that does not recognize replies.

	LCMSNews -- No. 153
	December 31, 2003

	Board of Directors begins new Q&A feature
	to clear up confusion over recent actions

	The Synod's Board of Directors has introduced a new
question-and-answer feature to its Web site that it says is intended to
"clear up ... confusion and provide assurance to the members of our
Synod" about some of the Board's recent actions.

	The first installment of the new feature, called "Board Briefs,"
addresses the legal opinions on the Board's authority under Missouri law
that the Board obtained last year. To find it on the Web, go to
www.lcms.org/?3990.

	"The LCMS Board of Directors is concerned that a number of its
recent actions have prompted confusion and even consternation in the
Synod," says a description of "Board Briefs" on the Web site. "This
series of Q&A briefs published Synodwide on a more-or-less biweekly
basis is intended to clear up that confusion and provide assurance to
the members of our Synod."

	In response to why the Board obtained the special legal
opinions, "Board Briefs" says that the Synod's Bylaws "require that the
Board of Directors have the powers and duties accorded to it not only by
the Synod's official documents (our Constitution, Bylaws and
resolutions) but also by its Articles of Incorporation and the laws of
the State of Missouri. Questions regarding the scope of these powers and
duties under Missouri law have been a topic of discussion by the Board
on several occasions in recent years.

	"What prompted the latest discussion -- and the decision,
finally, to seek a special legal opinion to clarify matters -- was a
sudden rash of challenges to the Board's authority, the Synod's
deepening financial difficulties (an increasing concern, obviously, of
the Board), and the Board's interest in doing its part to advance the
mission of the church," says the Board. "When the special opinion was
received, its validity was questioned, prompting the Board to obtain a
second opinion, which affirmed the first."

	Other questions answered in the first "Board Briefs" are:

	* "Why did the Board obtain this opinion from outside legal
counsel when the Synod already has regular legal counsel?"

	* "But weren't these special opinions extraordinarily
expensive?"

	* "Why have these opinions not been made public?"

	* "Why have the opinions been provided to the Commission on
Structure?"

	* "What might some of those proposed changes be?" This question
refers to the changes in the Synod's Constitution and Bylaws that might
be recommended to this summer's Synod convention by the Commission on
Structure as a result of the legal opinions.

	Future topics to be addressed in "Board Briefs," says the first
installment, will include "the role of the Commission on Constitutional
Matters over against the Board of Directors," synodical funding issues,
and "the Board's proposal for meeting the serious fiscal challenges
facing our church."

	To make it possible for readers to propose a topic for "Board
Briefs" or to ask a question, the Web site provides e-mail addresses for
Board Chairman Robert Kuhn, Synod Secretary Raymond Hartwig and Vice
President Finance-Treasurer Thomas Kuchta.

	**************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

	**************************
	[

	  This Edition of "LCMS News" e-News is provided by:

	Board for Communication Services, Division of News and
Information
Contact Editor
<http://www.lcms.org/enews/contact_editor.asp?title=LCMS%20News&editorid
=6>

		To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this Newsletter and
many others, please visit LCMS e-News <http://www.lcms.org/enews> .
		Share this Newsletter
<http://www.lcms.org/enews/forward.asp?m=1469>	with a friend.

MessageId=1469
  _____

Design ) Copyright 2003 The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
<http://www.lcms.org>
No reproduction without consent. All rights reserved.