Registration Forms
LCMS National Convention • July 18–July 23, 2026 • Phoenix
Registration forms for delegates, alternates, representatives and other attendees to the 69th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod will be emailed directly to the party responsible for registration. Forms that are available for "on-demand" use by parties authorized to register (or adjust existing regisrations of) delegates or representatives are linked below.
Links on this page are currently being updated to forms and information relevant to the 2026 Synod convention. Be aware of outdated 2023 resources that may remain linked for the time being.
Instructions
Prior to completing any form listed under a reference to the LCMS Handbook, please review the instructions published by the LCMS Office of the Secretary.
- Instructions for Circuit Visitors: PDF
- Instructions for District Secretaries: PDF
- Instructions for District Presidents: PDF
- Tips for submitting forms
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Tips for submitting forms
- Make sure you collect the following for each registrant:
- Full Name
- Residential (and, if it differs, mailing) address
- Cell phone number
- Email address
- Congregation name, city, state, ZIP code
- If you experience problems or have any questions regarding form submission, please email [email protected]. Please include your contact information, including phone number.
Forms
Voting Delegates and Alternates
2023 Handbook Bylaws 3.1.2–3.1.2.2
- Form I: Official Registration – Voting Delegates and Alternates
- Form IV: Notice of Change in Registration – Voting Delegates and Non-Voting Advisory Delegates
- Form V: Presidential Appointment – Voting Delegates Only (to fill vacancy)
Non-Voting Advisory Delegates and Alternates — Ordained Ministers
2023 Handbook Bylaws 3.1.3.–3.1.3.2
- Form II: Official Registration – Non-Voting Advisory Delegates and Alternates (Ordained Ministers)
- Form IV: Notice of Change in Registration – Voting Delegates and Non-Voting Advisory Delegates
Non-Voting Advisory Delegates and Alternates — Commissioned Ministers
2023 Handbook Bylaws 3.1.3.–3.1.3.2
- Form III: Official Registration – Non-Voting Advisory Delegates and Alternates (Commissioned Ministers)
- Form IV: Notice of Change in Registration – Voting Delegates and Non-Voting Advisory Delegates
Advisory Representatives
2023 Handbook Bylaws 3.1.4–3.1.4.6
- Form VI: Official Registration – Advisory Representatives
- Form VII: Notice of Change in Registration – Advisory Representatives
Non-Handbook Categories
- Form VIII: Official Registration – Special Guests
- Form IX: Official Registration – Convention Support
- Form X: Official Registration – Corporate Synod Staff
- Form XI: Notice of Change in Registration – Non-Handbook Categories <LINK>
Change of Address: All Registrants
- Form XX: Notice of Change to Contact Information <LINK>
Convention Bylaws
Voting Delegates
3.1.2
Electoral circuits shall meet as required by the Bylaws of the Synod to elect circuit voting delegates to the Synod’s national conventions.
(a) An electoral circuit shall consist either of one or two adjacent visitation circuits, as shall be determined by the district board of directors on the basis of the following requirements: each pair of delegates shall represent from 7 to 20 member congregations, involving an aggregate confirmed membership ranging from 1,500 to 10,000.
(b) Exceptions to these requirements may be made only by the President of the Synod upon request of a district board of directors.
(c) Voting delegates shall consist of one pastor and one layperson from each electoral circuit. These pastoral and lay delegates and their alternates shall be elected according to the regulations of the Synod (Bylaw 3.1.2.1).
(d) The lay delegate shall serve throughout the triennium following the convention as an advisory member of the circuit forum.
3.1.2.1
Elections of voting delegates shall take place in accordance with established policy and procedure.
(a) Each electoral circuit shall meet at the call of the circuit visitor(s) to elect its delegates not later than nine months prior to the opening day of the convention. When in-person meetings are burdensome (e.g., geographically large circuits), a circuit may select another manner of meeting (e.g., e-meeting technologies) that is suitable and made available to all participants, taking into consideration the need to provide for an open and fair exchange of ideas and secure, private, and confidential voting.
(b) Each electoral circuit may adopt procedures and methods that will ensure efficiency and accuracy, including the use of mechanical, electronic, or other methods of casting, recording, or tabulating votes.
(c) The privilege of voting shall be exercised by one pastor and one layperson from each member congregation of the circuit, both of whom shall have been selected in the manner prescribed by the congregation. Multiple parishes shall be entitled to a lay vote from each member congregation.
(d) Should a multi-congregation parish involve congregations having membership in different electoral circuits, each lay representative, voting and advisory, shall attend the forum of that circuit of which the representative’s congregation is a member. The pastoral delegate shall attend the forum of the circuit, within which he serves a congregation and within the district in which he holds membership, to which he is assigned by his district president. His eligibility for election as circuit delegate shall be within that circuit only. No multi-congregation parish is entitled to more than one pastoral and one lay voting representative because of its inclusion of congregations from different electoral circuits.
(e) All four persons elected shall come from four different member congregations or multi-congregation parishes of the circuit.
(f) The electoral circuit shall determine whether the elections start with the lay or pastoral voting delegate. The two delegates shall be elected first, then the two alternates, alternating in the determined order between pastoral and lay elections.
(g) For the election of the lay voting delegate: Prior to the meeting of the electoral circuit, each congregation may nominate one layperson (i.e., not a commissioned or ordained minister), either from its congregation or from the circuit. These names must be submitted to the circuit visitor prior to the day of the circuit meeting. Nominees not disqualified by other delegate elections shall constitute the slate of candidates.
(1) Each voter shall vote for only one candidate. Candidates receiving zero votes and the candidate receiving the least number of votes shall be removed from each succeeding ballot until one layperson shall have received a simple majority of all votes cast, whereupon he/she shall be declared the lay delegate.
(2) The congregation or multi-congregation parish from which the lay delegate has been elected shall then be removed from consideration for supplying candidates for the other delegate and alternate elections for that particular convention.
(h) For the election of the pastoral voting delegate: Except those who have been disqualified by other delegate elections, each pastor who is called and installed to a congregation of the circuit in a non-assisting capacity and not a specific ministry pastor shall be eligible for election and their names shall constitute the ballot.
(1) Each voter shall vote for only one candidate. Candidates receiving zero votes and the candidate receiving the least number of votes shall be removed from each succeeding ballot until one pastor shall have received a simple majority of all votes cast, whereupon he shall be declared the pastoral delegate.
(2) The congregation or congregations served (in other than an assisting capacity) by the elected pastoral delegate shall be removed from consideration for supplying candidates for the other delegate and alternate elections for that particular convention.
(i) For the election of the alternate lay delegate: All lay nominees except those who have been disqualified by other delegate and alternate elections shall be eligible for election as the alternate lay delegate.
(1) Each voter shall vote for only one candidate. Candidates receiving zero votes and the candidate receiving the least number of votes shall be removed from each succeeding ballot until one candidate shall have received a simple majority of all votes cast, whereupon he/she shall be declared the alternate lay delegate.
(2) The congregation or multi-congregation parish from which the alternate lay delegate has been elected shall then be removed from consideration for supplying candidates for the other alternate election for that particular convention.
(j) For the election of the alternate pastoral delegate: All other eligible pastors, except those who have been disqualified by other delegate and alternate elections, shall be eligible for election as the alternate.
(1) Each voter shall vote for only one candidate. Candidates receiving zero votes and the candidate receiving the least number of votes shall be removed from each succeeding ballot until one pastor shall have received a simple majority of all votes cast whereupon he shall be declared the alternate pastoral delegate.
(2) The congregation or multi-congregation parish from which the alternate pastoral delegate has been elected shall then be removed from consideration for supplying candidates for the other alternate election for that particular convention.
(k) The visitor(s) shall report the results of the election to the secretary of the district in writing immediately after said election.
(l) If the circuit fails to elect a delegate or alternate, the circuit is permitted to meet again prior to the deadline (Bylaw 3.1.2.1 [a]) to elect the delegate or alternate in accordance with this election procedure.
(m) If after the election deadline neither the delegate nor the alternate (pastoral or lay) can serve, the district president, in consultation with the respective circuit visitor(s), shall appoint a delegate to fill the vacancy.
3.1.2.2
Voting delegates shall serve a three-year term beginning with the convention, shall function as advisory members of the circuit forum, shall serve as resource persons in the circuit, and shall assist in the dissemination and implementation of resolutions of the Synod in the circuit.
(a) Delegates are responsible to the circuits they represent and shall attempt to discover the sentiment of the members thereof.
(b) Congregations shall not require their delegates to vote in accordance with specific instructions, but every delegate shall be permitted to vote according to his or her own conviction.
(c) Delegates are expected to be faithful in attendance at all sessions of the convention. All duly elected voting delegates shall attend all sessions regularly until the close of the convention. Delegates who arrive late or leave early or who do not attend at all shall present a written excuse.
(d) Delegates shall report the actions of the Synod to their circuits after each convention, preferably appearing before each of the congregations they represent.
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Nonvoting Advisory Delegates
3.1.3
In a convention of the Synod, all commissioned ministers and those ordained ministers not eligible for election as a voting delegate under Bylaw 3.1.2.1 (d) and who are not eligible to represent other entities or offices in the Synod as advisory representatives in any category under Bylaw 3.1.4 shall be represented as follows:
3.1.3.1
Within each district one advisory delegate shall be selected for every 60 such ordained ministers, and one advisory delegate shall be selected for every 60 such commissioned ministers. Fractional groupings shall be disregarded except that each district shall be entitled to at least one advisory delegate in each category.
(a) Selection of district advisory delegates to conventions of the Synod shall be made by the respective groups meeting at the call of the district secretary, during the district convention, at official district conferences of ordained and/or commissioned ministers, or via electronic means according to Board of Directors policy (Bylaw 1.5.3). The district secretary may assist the groups by facilitating the elections.
(b) Such selections must be completed at least nine months prior to the opening day of the convention.
(c) Ordained ministers who are eligible for election as a voting delegate under Bylaw 3.1.2.1 (d) (that is, all parish pastors except specific ministry pastors and those serving only in an assisting capacity) and all individuals who are eligible for selection in any category under Bylaw 3.1.4 shall not be counted in determining the number of advisory delegates from each district, shall not be eligible to be selected as delegates from the groups defined in this bylaw, and shall not participate in the election process.
3.1.3.2
All district voting and nonvoting advisory delegates and representatives and their alternates shall be certified before attending a convention of the Synod.
(a) The names and addresses of all voting and nonvoting advisory delegates and representatives and their alternates shall be forwarded by the district secretary before the announced registration deadline to the Secretary of the Synod on registration forms provided by the latter.
(b) This procedure shall constitute certification.
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Other Advisory Representatives
3.1.4
Officers of the Synod, including district presidents, and representatives of the Synod’s boards, commissions, educational institutions, mission areas, chaplains and district boards of directors shall also serve as advisory representatives to the convention of the Synod.
3.1.4.1
Each elected and appointed board and commission of the Synod shall be represented at conventions of the Synod.
(a) Each board or commission shall be represented by its chairman or another board or commission member and by its principal staff person. The boards for National and International Mission shall also be represented by the executive directors of the Offices of National and International Mission, respectively.
(b) Standing exceptions shall be the Board of Directors, the Commission on Constitutional Matters, the Commission on Handbook, and the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, who may be represented by as many of their membership and executive staff as they deem necessary.
(c) Other exceptions must have the approval of the Board of Directors of the Synod prior to each convention.
3.1.4.2
Each educational institution of the Synod shall be represented at conventions of the Synod.
(a) Educational institutions of the Synod shall be represented by one board member in addition to the district president, by their presidents, and by one faculty member for every 30 faculty members who are members of the Synod, elected from among and by the same.
(b) Fractional groupings shall be disregarded.
3.1.4.3
Each foreign mission area, as defined and established from time to time by the Board for International Mission, shall be represented at conventions of the Synod.
(a) Foreign mission areas shall not exceed 10 in number and may be represented by an advisory representative from within the mission area who is on home leave at the time of the convention and will return to the mission area represented.
(b) These representatives shall be elected by the Board for International Mission in consultation with the field authority for each field and shared with the missionaries at least nine months in advance of a convention of the Synod, provided, however, that each said mission area shall be entitled to a representative, even though there may be no other than terminating missionaries on home leave at convention time.
3.1.4.4
Chaplains in each branch of the Armed Forces of the United States may be represented at conventions of the Synod.
(a) Chaplains may be represented by active-duty chaplains stationed stateside.
(b) Representatives shall be approved by the Board for International Mission at least nine months before the convention of the Synod.
3.1.4.5
Each district board of directors shall be represented at conventions of the Synod.
(a) Each district board of directors is entitled to send one representative from the district board of directors and one from the district executive staff other than the district president.
(b) If the district has no executive staff, it may select two members of its board of directors.
3.1.4.6
Each district may be represented by two youth representatives at conventions of the Synod.
(a) Youth representatives may be selected as a district may specify.
(b) They may speak at the request of a floor committee and with the permission of the chair.
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