The Special Convention Proceedings are now available:
NATIONAL – The first Special Convention of Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) was held on Saturday, October 17 via Zoom with 77 voting delegates and 26 advisory delegates in attendance. LCC President Timothy Teuscher called the meeting to order and Vice-president Thomas Kruesel led the assembly in an opening prayer.
Following a few housekeeping matters, Arnold Drung, chairman of the Board of Directors of LCC, offered a few preliminary remarks concerning the Board’s recommendation to change a Statutory Bylaw of our Handbook that would allow the scheduled 2021 Regular Convention to be moved to 2022 as a result of uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Rev. William Ney, chairman of the Commission on Constitution Matters and Structure (CCMS) proceeded to review a number of rulings and opinions by the commission concerning this matter.
Rev. David Bode, chairman of the Resolutions Committee, was called upon to present two resolutions to the group. The first was a change in Statutory Bylaw that would allow the Board of Directors to move the convention to a future date as a result of unforeseen concerns. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 73 in favour and 2 not in favour. The second resolution dealt with the election of Board members for an additional year and a one-year extension of those serving on various commissions and positions. This was adopted by a vote of 75 in favour and 0 opposed. The Board will thus be making a final decision on the date of the next Regular Convention at their upcoming meeting in November of this year.
After the convention was adjourned, Vice-president Kruesel again led the assembly in a closing prayer, and President Teuscher offered these closing words to those in attendance:
“I thank all of you for your participation in this Special Convention, and to members of the Commission on Constitution Matters and Structure and the Communications Committee. A special thanks to Alex Steinke, our Communications Director; to Ian Adnams who served as our convention consultant; and to Iris Barta, our office manager, who did much of the heavy lifting of putting this convention together.
I would also like to take this time to commend the people and pastors of our Synod in their efforts over the past number of months in seeking to provide worship services in our congregations during this COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the work of the Regional Pastors and our Communications Committee during these unusual and uncertain times. This, after all, is of the highest priority and must always be our chief concern; as the Large Catechism reminds us: ‘Everything in the Christian church is so ordered that we might receive forgiveness of sins through the Word and the Sacraments.’
And to that end I would encourage all of you in the words of the Collect of the Day for tomorrow, October 18th, the festival of St. Luke, Evangelist: “may the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments put to flight the diseases of our souls that with willing hearts we may ever love and serve our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
For those who were unable to tune in to the Special Convention livestream, the YouTube recording of the meeting remains accessible online Here.
Important Information
NOTE: On the day of convention, call Synod Office for technical assistance at 1-800-588-4226.
LCC SPECIAL CONVENTION
DATE & TIME: October 17, 2020 at 12 p.m. Central Time.
Registration information has been sent out to delegates, and for those interested in tuning in live, a link to the livestream will be posted here on the day.
RESOLUTION COMMITTEE MEETING
DATE & TIME: October 15, 2020 at 7 p.m. Central Time.
Information has been sent out to participate in this regular Zoom meeting. No registration is required.
Updates
October 16, 2020 – The convention resolutions are available below in LCC’s Special Convention Action Plan F.
———————
October 9, 2020 – Information has been sent out to voting and non-voting (advisory) delegates for LCC’s Special Convention and the Resolution Committee meeting. Delegates must register for the Special Convention by October 15th. The Resolution Committee meeting is optional and does not require registration. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The email will come from jonathan@edwardstechnical.net (Technical Advisor for LCC).
This meeting requires you to have a free zoom account with zoom.us; if you have an account simply use the email address you are using for zoom currently, if you are new to zoom click the signup now on the registration page. You will be required to login to zoom before joining this special meeting. If you have any questions or issues registering before the 15th, please reach out to LCC Communications Director for assistance. After the 15th, including the day of convention, call Synod Office for technical assistance at 1-800-588-4226.
———————
October 6, 2020 – Presenters: Just like quality public speaking skills are a prerequisite for giving an effective speech, using technology well is vitally important for presentations in online webinars and events. This type of digital gathering is new territory for many, so LCC Communications has prepared a directives checklist to support our presenters as they prepare to speak at October’s Special Convention. This document and additional details were sent out to all presenters today by email. Those with specific questions or who would benefit from additional guidance are strongly encouraged to reach out to LCC Communications Director to book a presenter training session this week or next week.
———————
September 29, 2020 – Special Convention 2020 Action Plan E was sent to delegates and member congregations on September 29, 2020. The Proposed Resolutions to the Convention are included in Action Plan E. Comments regarding the resolutions can be sent to convention@lutheranchurch.ca, to be forwarded to the Resolutions Committee.
———————
September 17, 2020 – The Special Convention Workbook is now available.
———————
September 3, 2020 – A Resolution Committee has been appointed to review the convention overture and comments received. They plan to meet electronically on September 10, 2020. The members of the committee are:
Rev. David Bode (chair), Calgary Circuit, West Region; Rev. Barry Wood, Assiniboine Circuit, Central Region; Merv Rocheleau, Northland Circuit, Central Region; Rev. Don Schieman, London Circuit, East Region; Reg Tiegs, Toronto Circuit, East Region.
———————
August 13, 2020 –
- Based on confirmations received from delegates, using an online survey, we have a quorum for convention.
- Follow up with delegates who have not responded is ongoing. Our goal is to have as many delegates attending as possible.
- In cases where the original voting delegates are not able to attend, Synod Office and Circuit Counsellors will be contacting alternate delegates.
- The wording of the CCMS rulings pertaining to the Special Convention has been updated and is accessible below.
- Reminder: responses to Overture 1.01 can be submitted until August 31, 2020. Please submit your responses to convention@lutheranchurch.ca The Overture 1.01 can also be accessed and downloaded below.
As per the Special Convention Notice sent out to congregations on July 9, 2020, additional information with regards to delegates; the overture from the Board of Directors; as well as Bulletin #1 for October’s Special Convention have been released. The documents can be accessed and downloaded below:
Special Convention Notice
The Commission on Constitution Matters and Structure (CCMS), in consultation with legal counsel of Lutheran Church–Canada, has determined that:
- LCC must hold a convention at least every four years according to provisions of Statutory Bylaw 9.01 of the 2017 Handbook of Lutheran Church–Canada.
- There is nothing in the 2017 Handbook to prohibit an online or virtual convention.
- To delay holding the scheduled June 2021 in-person convention until 2022 due to uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic would require a change to Statutory Bylaw 9.01 that would need to be brought before a Special Convention of LCC.
- According to Statutory Bylaw 9.12 congregations are to have a 90-day notice of a Special Convention.
In light of the above, the Board of Directors, at its June 27, 2020 meeting, has called for an online or virtual Special Convention of Lutheran Church—Canada to be held on Saturday, October 17, 2020 (12:00 noon CDT) for the purpose of amending Statutory Bylaw 9.01 to allow for postponement of a convention if precluded by some extraordinary event and to be held as soon as feasibly possible.
If such an amendment to Statutory Bylaw 9.01 is approved at this Special Convention, the Board of Directors intends to move the regular in-person convention, scheduled for June 11-14, 2021, to June of 2022. If such an amendment to the Statutory Bylaws is not approved by this Special Convention, the scheduled June convention will be moved to the fall of 2021 and be an online or virtual convention.
Information regarding delegates to this Special Convention in October, along with matters pertaining to a virtual convention, as well as the actual overture from the Board of Directors on this issue, will be forthcoming within the next few weeks.
Below is a print-friendly, PDF version of this notice:
Frequently Asked Questions
Click on the image below:
Introduction & Invitation to LCC’s Servant Leader Network
What is SLN?
The Servant Leader Network (SLN) is essentially an “intranet” (an internal website) for the people of LCC. Both formal and informal groups can be created by users to enable discussion, document sharing, event planning, and more within these groups. Almost all of the content on the site is available only to those who have an account and who are signed in. A very small amount of public-facing content may be created by administrators, but all user-created content will be visible only to those who are signed in to the site. User accounts will be moderated; those who sign up for an account must have their account manually approved. Through the convention organizing committee, the Board of Directors has established SLN as the platform by which all delegates can discuss convention issues with each other. This type of forum was suggested as part of the evaluation of the 2017 convention submitted by delegates.
What is the purpose of SLN?
The Servant Leader Network is intended to build a “digital bridge” over the vast geography of our Synod and enable people to grow closer together as we serve alongside one another within LCC. For the purposes of LCC’s 2020 Special Convention, a group has been designated within the Servant Leader Network to provide a centralized place to discuss Special Convention matters.
Where do I sign up?
Sign up at https://servantleader.network. Your account will be reviewed within a day or so and, once approved, you’ll be able to sign in and join the LCC Special Convention Group at https://servantleader.network/sc2020 (Please note that, if you try to visit the Special Convention Group page when you are not signed in, you will be redirected to the sign-in page. Once registered and signed in, you can go directly to the SC2020 Group link.
Below is a print-friendly, PDF version of this notice:
LCC Facebook
LCC Twitter
LCC Instagram