|
To qualify as a Circuit that can send two delegates to the national
LCMS Convention, a Circuit must have at least seven congregations and a
total of 1500 confirmed members.
However, according to the LCMS Handbook By-law 3.03 "Voting
Delegates" the LCMS President has the right to accept delegates to the
Convention that do not have seven congregations or 1500 confirmed members in
the circuit.
The By-Law reads, "Exceptions to these requirements and limitations can
be made only by the President of the Synod upon request of a District Board
of Directors."
You ask: "Which Districts asked for exceptions because circuits in
their districts didn't have seven congregations and 1500 communicant members
and how many delegates did they send to the LCMS Convention from circuits
that did not meet the required number of churches and confirmed
members?"
The following list of delegates from circuits that do not meet the
constitutional criteria:
| Atlantic District |
12 delegates |
| California/Nevada/Hawaii |
10 delegates |
| Eastern District |
12 delegates |
| English District |
22 delegates |
| Florida/Georgia District |
16 delegates |
| Kansas District |
04 delegates |
| MidSouth District |
04 delegates |
| Northwest District |
10 delegates |
| Oklahoma District |
08 delegates |
| Pacific Southwest District |
10 delegates |
| Southeastern District |
02 delegates |
| Texas District |
28 delegates |
| Total |
+138 delegates |
There were 1237 votes cast for the office of President.
President Kieschnick was elected on the first ballot by 653 votes
with 584 votes going to other candidates. He won the election
by a margin of 69 votes. A simple
majority of 1237 is 619 votes. If 35 delegates
had changed their ballot, Kieschnick could not have been elected.
It is true that LCMS Presidents have always allowed exceptions for special
circumstances, geographic locations, etc. For example, one of the
circuits from the Eastern District with only six congregations has 3187
confirmed members. Maybe one of the seven congregations merged with
another. This would seem to be a reasonable exception.
But what about circuits in Texas with nine congregations and 782 confirmed
members, or seven congregations and 553 members, or the English District
Circuit with five congregations and 758 members?
The point is, that President Kieschnick never met an exception he didn't
like, and just by coincidence the districts sending delegates from circuits
that don't meet the requirements just happen to be his "Jesus
First"/PLI/Daystar buddies. The Atlantic District had delegates
from circuits with nine congregations and 667 confirmed members and another
with 6 congregations and 876 confirmed members.
The rule is, if you are going to steal an election, sin boldly, because
there isn't anything anyone can do about it. The LCMS Board of
Directors could fire Kieschnick, which I think they should, but then they
would have to suffer the embarrassment of being overturned by the Commission
on Constitutional Matters, staffed with Kieschnick's appointees.
As they say, "That's politics." Anyone who expected anything
better from the LCMS just isn't dealing with reality.
Congratulations President Kieschnick and COP, on a down and dirty election.
You cheated a lot of lay people, but how many will ever hear about it?
|
|