- Collection Number: A-0009
- Collection Size: 2.5 linear feet, 7 volumes
HISTORICAL NOTE
A resolution to create the Council of Administrators was proposed and adopted at the 1959 San Francisco convention. The council was intended as a means for integrating the plans, budgets and policies of all the various agencies of the Synod. The first meeting was held March 22, 1961.
The duties of the council at that time included: assembling long-range forecasts concerning the direction in which the Synod is/should be moving, preparing long- and short-range plans of synodical work and preparing budgets for the various divisions of the Synod. Additional duties included reviewing the performance of all divisions and departments of the Synod and ensuring overall coordination, balance, teamwork and communication between all departments and divisions of the Synod. All work of the council was under the direction of and approved by the Board of Directors. Through the years the duties of the council shifted from preparation of budgets and plans to review of budgets and plans. The council’s main function became to coordinate the administration of the Synod and the work of the Council on Mission and Ministry of the LC-MS.
At its creation, the members of the council included: the president of the Synod, the first vice-president, the treasurer, the controller, the secretary, the executive director of the Board of Directors and the division chairman for each of the (at that time) seven divisions in the Synod. Membership has changed little. Several advisory nonvoting members from other departments are now included in the council, as well as those specially appointed by the president.
The 1998 Convention eliminated the COA due to its decreased decision-making responsibilities. The Administrators Forum took its place as means of sharing information with Synod’s administration.
For more detailed information concerning the Council of Administrators please see the following sources:
- Synodical Handbook (editions 1961 to present)
- Proceedings of the Synodical Convention San Francisco, 1959, Section VI (pp. 428-30)
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Council of Administrators Records consist of minutes, agenda and exhibits from monthly meetings and reports generated by, or presented to, the Council of Administrators. The collection is arranged into two series: Minutes/Agenda and Indices.
The Minutes/Agenda series is arranged in two chronological sets: bound volumes and folders. There are four volumes of bound minutes from March 1961 to March 1968 and three volumes of both minutes and agenda from March 1966 to December 1968.
The volumes are followed by monthly minutes and agenda in folders from March 1961 through December 1974. Included with these minutes are various folders of supplemental materials. These supplemental materials consist of exhibits and reports that were used in the monthly meetings of the council.
Minutes and agenda from the meetings held from 1975 to the present are erratic. There are no records from 1976 to 1978. These records contain a good amount of data on the yearly work programs and budgets of the various divisions of the Synod.
The Indices series contains three sets of indices for the minutes of the Council of Administrators for the years 1961-1969. These indices provide access to the minutes by topic.
FOLDER LIST
Minutes/Agenda series
Volumes
Minutes: v.1-4, 1961-1968
Minutes and Agenda: v.5-7, 1966-1968
Box 1
Minutes and Agenda: 1961-1963
Additional Material for Unidentified Meetings, c.1961-1963
Box 2
Division of Missions, 1963
Synodical Report, “Districts of the LC-MS in the United States,” 1963
Minutes and Agenda: 1964-1965
Box 3
Minutes and Agenda: 1966-1967
Box 4
Minutes and Agenda: 1967-1970
Box 5
Minutes and Agenda: 1970-1973
Box 6
Minutes and Agenda: 1974-1975, 1979-1980
Box 7
Minutes and Agenda: 1981-1997
Indices series
Index to Minutes, 1961-1963
Topical Index, 1965-1969
Index, 1962-1965
DONOR INFORMATION
The material in this collection was transferred to CHI by various people.
