Beginning in 1974, presidents of eight of the 35 LCMS districts (equivalent of a diocese) began placing graduates of Seminex as pastors of LCMS congregations in violation of the LCMS bylaws and constitution. Outraged, the Synod in Convention passed a resolution demanding those districts cease placing Seminex graduates and granting the synodical president the power to remove a district president if the latter refused. Four of the districts subsequently ceased, while four defied the Synod in Convention. By 1976, the four dissident district presidents had been ousted from their office and subsequently resigned from the Synod.