Convention votes to provide for diaconal service on boards, commissions, and committees

VANCOUVER – Delegates to Lutheran Church–Canada’s (LCC) National Convention in Vancouver voted Saturday to bring members of the diaconate onto synod’s boards, commissions, and committees.

LCC’s bylaws identify deacons as members of Synod, along with pastors and congregations. They further identify deacons not as laypeople but rather as rostered workers, along with pastors. Up to this point, however, the language of LCC’s bylaws have only made allowance for pastors and laypeople to serve on synodical boards, commissions, and committees, effectively leaving deacons ineligible to serve in these capacities.

To rectify that situation, LCC’s Convention resolved Saturday that deacons become eligible for service in these synodical agencies. The Commissions on Constitutional Matters and Structure (CCMS), Theology and Church Relations (CTCR), and Adjudication (CA) have all had membership requirements expanded to allow for the election/appointment of deacons. Where previous language regarding membership in the CCMS and CTCR called for “two pastors” (in addition to two laypersons), the bylaws now call for “two rostered workers… at least one of whom must be a pastor.” The CA’s membership requirements have similarly been updated to call for two rostered workers, at least one of whom must be a pastor (in addition to a lay person appointed by each district president).

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