February 2017
By Jackie Bussert
It takes a convention.
When a district’s circuit structure no longer complies with Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod requirements, the circuit lines need to be redrawn or continual exceptions applied for to retain the circuit’s voting status. And it takes a district convention to do it.
Synod’s required configuration for a circuit is a minimum of 7 and maximum of 20 congregations with a combined confirmed membership of between 1,500 and 10,000 people. The circuit is the electoral unit for Synod’s triennial conventions, with each circuit granted the right to send one lay delegate and one pastoral delegate to convention every three years. Any circuit outside these parameters must apply for and be granted an exception to have a seat at the national convention — or lose its vote.
Additionally, districts themselves can organize their circuits into regions. The LCMS Northern Illinois District has four regions, which are used in the triennial nomination process for district vice presidents (to elect one from each) and Board of Directors members (to elect one pastor, one commissioned minister and two lay members from each). This ensures elected leadership is representative of the entire district, from the center of Chicago to the rural churches and small towns of western Illinois. (Circuits and regions do not impact district convention voting since it’s the congregation itself that sends a pastor and lay delegate to district conventions.)
The last major circuit restructuring was accomplished in November 2005 and created a configuration of four regions with 28 circuits. Church closings and mergers since then (with more currently in various stages of planning) have created enough misalignment that a reorganization is warranted now, before nominations take place for the next district convention in March 2018. That nomination process begins this April 2017.
But it takes a convention to make changes in the district’s circuits and regions. That’s why the district’s Board of Directors has convened a special convention for Saturday morning, March 11, 2017, to be held at Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, Illinois.
New lines have been drawn and the board’s complete proposal for realignment has been posted on the district’s website, at nidlcms.org. (There you will find complete lists of circuit congregations and maps as well.)
The circuit and region changes adopted on March 11 will take effect on June 1, 2018, the date a new district president, vice presidents, board of directors members and circuit visitors elected in March 2018 will assume their offices.
An individual’s region membership that takes effect on June 1, 2018, (based on their congregation’s region assignment) is the one that should be used in any nominations made beginning in April 2017.
How Does It Look?
In summary, the new proposal calls for reducing the number of district circuits from 28 small circuits to 19 larger ones. They will remain organized into four regions, so the number of vice presidents and board of directors representation will remain the same.
North Region, at 28,414 confirmed members will be the largest. Its 51 congregations will be organized into five circuits. (Membership size is based on the congregation’s last reported confirmed membership.) North Region extends from northern DuPage County to the Wisconsin border, and from Lake Michigan north of Cook County on the east to Woodstock and Harvard on the west.
West Region is second in size with 25,527 confirmed members in 56 congregations; it will have five circuits. West Region encompasses the central strip of DuPage County, east to west, and everything west of Hwy. 47, except Harvard, which is assigned to North Region.
South Region is the third in size with 19,980 confirmed members in 45 congregations and five circuits. This region includes congregations outside the I-294 ring and south of I-88 as far west as Dwight and as far south as Chebanse.
East Region is primarily those congregations between I-294 and Lake Michigan (with a few exceptions) and extending as far north as Evanston. With four circuits and 11,281 confirmed members in 59 congregations, East Region has the largest number of churches but the smallest membership.
Every circuit but one (current South Region Circuit 26, the Joliet, Ottawa, Channahon area) will experience some level of reshuffling with neighboring churches. Maps and lists for both current and proposed circuits are at www.nidlcms.org/circuit-lists or click on the notice on the home page.