# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1956_S529
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS 529

29. The orthodox character of a church is established not by its
mere name nor by its outward acceptance of, and subscription to,
an orthodox creed, but by the doctrine which is actually taught
in its pulpits, in its theological seminaries, and in its publications.
On the other hand, a church does not forfeit its orthodox character
through the casual intrusion of errors, provided these are com-
bated and eventually removed by means of doctrinal discipline,
Acts 20:30; 1 Tim. 1:3.”

This doctrinal stand has been substantially reiterated in the
Common Confession I, Section IX:

“It is the duty of the Church to be faithful to the Lord and His
Word in all its testimony, to be steadfast in its confession of His
truth at all times, and to avoid and combat error. It is the duty
of the Church to mold and keep its practice in conformity with the
Lord’s directives in the Holy Scriptures. Therefore we dare not
condone error or have pulpit fellowship and unscriptural co-opera-
tion with erring individuals, church bodies, or church groups that
refuse to be corrected by God’s Word. We must also be alert and
susceptible to the Lord’s leading to establish and maintain fellow-
ship with those whom He has made one with us in the faith, and
to seek to win the erring and wayward for unity in the true faith.
We are mindful of our Lord’s intercessory prayer that we, who are
His brethren, may be one, even as He and the Father are one.”

These statements represent The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod’s understanding and application of the statements of the
Lutheran Confessions on church fellowship, especially Articles VII
and VIII of the Augsburg Confession.

With the stand on church fellowship which our Synod has
taken in these documents, membership in the Lutheran World
Federation would, we believe, conflict; for the activities envisioned
by its Constitution and the actual functioning of the Federation
make it clear that membership in the Lutheran World Federation
does involve church fellowship; the name “Federation” does not
alter anything in this respect, for the name cannot make joint ac-
tivities which per se involve confessional commitment into con-
fessionally neutral acts.

We urge that the Constitution of the Lutheran World Federa-
tion is not actually federative in character, since it assigns to the
Federation as such functions and activities which are churchly in
character and, therefore, presupposes a confessionally unanimous
constituency, which in the case of the Lutheran World Federation