CHAPTER I---Name and Confession

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The name of this organization shall be: Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

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The only source and rule of the Synod’s faith and doctrine is the Word of God, revealed in the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments.

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The Evangelical Lutheran Synod subscribes to all the symbolical books, or confessions, of the Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord, because they are a correct statement of the teachings of Scripture, namely:

• The three ecumenical creeds: the Apostolic, the Nicene and the Athanasian;
• The Unaltered Augsburg Confession;
• The Apology of the Augsburg Confession;
• The Smalcald Articles;
• Luther’s Small Catechism;
• Luther’s Large Catechism;
• The Formula of Concord, Epitome;
• The Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration.

CHAPTER II---Membership (cf. Bylaws Chapter II)

The synod consists of those congregations and individuals who subscribe to this constitution and have been accepted into membership.

CHAPTER III---Purpose (cf. Bylaws Chapter III)

The synod exists to carry out the command of Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20), to contend for the faith (Jude 3), and to promote the development of Christian life (Galatians 5:22-25) within its membership.

CHAPTER IV---Conventions (cf. Bylaws Chapter IV)

In accordance with the apostolic example in Acts 15, the affairs of the synod are to be organized and directed by conventions called for that purpose.

CHAPTER V---Governance Between Conventions

The activities of the synod between conventions shall be conducted by its officers, boards and committees.

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The governance of the synod shall be vested in a board of nine (9) trustees, who shall have jurisdiction over all secular business and temporal affairs of the synod. They shall conduct these affairs in accordance with the constitution, bylaws, rules and resolutions of the synod.

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The board shall consist of nine (9) trustees, two (2) of whom shall be the president and the secretary of the synod. There shall not at any one time be more than five (5) or less than three (3) pastors on the board. The president and the secretary of the synod shall also be the president and the secretary of the Board of Trustees. The vice president of the synod shall be an advisory member of the Board of Trustees.

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Other areas of the synod’s work shall be assigned to its various boards and committees and shall be conducted in accordance with the regulations established by the synod.

CHAPTER VI---Officers (cf. Bylaws Chapters VI and VII)

The officers of the synod are its president, vice president and secretary.

CHAPTER VII---Amendments

With the exception of Chapter I paragraphs 2 and 3 (the contents of which must not be changed), amendments to this constitution may be made in the following manner: Resolutions for amendments are to be presented to a regular convention and if adopted by a two-thirds majority vote be published, so that the congregations may review such amendments and respond to the president of the synod prior to the next regular synodical convention, which convention shall consider the proposed amendment(s) again, and if ratified by a two-thirds majority vote, shall become amendments to the constitution.