# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1986_S92 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) ALIVE IN CHRIST—THE LOCAL CONGREGATION 91 The portion of Scripture which the chaplain read a few moments earlier from Eph. 4:1—6 is most fitting for our consideration this morning. It also underscores the reason for our living together in the synod, namely to conserve and promote the unity of the true faith (Art. II, objectives). In addition to that, there are those terrific sections of Scripture which tell us about the church in Eph. 2:19-20, which read: Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the house- hold of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. . .” The additional section from Scripture that we want to focus on as we think of the local congregation is one of Dr. C. F. W. Walther’s favorite Bible passages taken from 1 Peter 2:9-10: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His mar- velous light. As we celebrate the Walther anniversaries shortly—the 175th of his birth this October and the centennial of his death next May—we have a special opportunity to see what this great theologian had to say about the local congre- gation. While the role, responsibilities, and authority of the lo- cal congregation are again critically debated, discussed, and examined by many Lutherans in America today, where does our Synod stand? We are most fortunate that our church has a rich heritage, and a certainty in knowing what the local congregation is. Look at that briefly in your small group discussions. Welcome back. I hope you have been intrigued by your discussions and have gained a great deal from them. This presentation has a twofold objective: 1. To glance at some Scripture passages with respect to the local congregations and 2.To review what Walther had rediscovered in the midst of great confusion on the issue One of the greatest Lutheran theologians in America who held most high the role, work, functions, and authority of the local congregation was Dr. C. F. W. Walther. Permit me to illustrate that by way of two instances: First, 140 years ago a handful of pastors met in St. Louis to draft a constitution for a new church. This was to become the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod one year later. Lu- theranism in America during the 1840s was in consider- able disarray and was faced with deep theological uncertainty and confusion. Some had knowingly aban- doned their Lutheran heritage; others did so unknowingly. Some called themselves Lutherans when they weren’t, and others were trying to determine what it meant to be Lu- theran. There was also a great deal of suspicion that the clergy wanted to control the church. In the midst of all this, a handful of pastors, some who had never met each other before, gathered to write a constitution for this church which we affectionately call the Missouri Synod today. What is particularly interesting and amazing is that, in this kind of atmosphere Walther, the host pastor in St. Louis, invited his entire voters assembly to attend sessions. These sessions consisted of three lengthy evening meetings during which the draft of the constitution was most thoroughly discussed and debated, revealing many hidden fears. One of the pastors present, Friedrich Lochner, de- scribed these meetings later on: At this time several meetings were held in the St. Louis con- gregation, in which their pastors presented the plan for con- sideration. I, ... occasionally opened my eyes wide in astonishment when I saw that the congregation did not at once acquiesce, but questioned this and that item; indeed, several members disputed sharply with the pastors. These men, how- ever, entered into their doubts and objections with such calm consideration as if the congregation were made up of none but scholarly theologians, (Polack, How the Missouri Synod Was Born, p. 25). What a demonstration of an active congregation!—de- scribed as consisting of “scholarly theologians” who were profoundly interested in the formation of a new synod. They had, indeed, been nurtured—through study of the Holy Scriptures, Lutheran Confessions, and also Luther’s writings. These people sought the will of God because of a deep fear of “priest rule” (i.e., the control of the church by clergymen) and still harbored anticlerical and antiheir- archical feelings. One of the historians observed: Walther’s five year’s experience on American soil with a con- gregation that suffered from morbid fear of priest rule . . . left their marks on the constitution. From past experience Walther knew that the voters of Trinity would not tolerate another priest rule. In a certain sense one may call the constitution of the Missouri Synod the result of a seven-year battle for con- gregational rights. (Mundinger, 1947, p. 179). The second instance comes from the oft-quoted presi- dential address of 1848 when, two years after the St. Louis meeting took place and one year after the Missouri Synod was organized, President Walther again emphasized the role of the local congregation and its relationship to the Synod: We have merely the power to advise one another, only the power of the Word and of persuasion. According to our con- stitution we have no right to formulate decrees, to pass laws and regulations, and to make judicial decisions, to which our congregations would have to submit unconditionally in any matter involving imposing something on them. Our constitu- tion by no means makes us a consistory, by no means a su- preme court of our congregations. It rather grants them the most perfect liberty in everything, with the exception of the Word of God, faith, and love. According to our constitution we are not above our congregations, but in them and at their side,” (CHIQ, vol. XXXII, April 1960, p. 13). But what does all this mean to us today in 1986? It means first of all, that we have a wonderful and noteworthy heritage. What we have inherited has been particularly won for us through years of theological dis- cussion and even battles. It means, secondly, that our congregations have enor- mous responsibilities to be involved in the five basic func- tions of worship, nurture, witness, service, and support. An excellent working definition of the local congregation is one that our first synodical president himself gave us: An Evangelical Lutheran local congregation is an assembly of believing Christians at a specific place among whom God’s Word is preached purely according to the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the holy sacraments are administered according to Christ’s institution as stated in the Gospel (Walther, The Proper Form; Drickamer, Walther on the Church, St. Louis: CPH 1981, p. 125).