# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S100 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) : ! [ 100 RESOLUTIONS should earnestly work toward a common approach and practice in such matters. There must exist between such church bodies a mutual trust that congregational and synodical regulations in governing the expression and exercise of pastoral care will be recognized and respected by all concerned. A congregation of one church body may call as its pastor a clergyman of the other church body, provided that prior consultation has resulted in mutual approval by the respective administrative officials of both church bodies involved in such a call. The establishment of fel- lowship does not imply the indiscriminate calling of pas- tors across synodical lines. A congregation and its pastor shall belong to the same church body and be subject to the discipline of that church body. Where fellowship exists between church bodies, this will express itself in various ways: 1. Pastors in good standing in each church body may be invited to preach from the pulpits of congregations of the other church body. 2. Congregations of church bodies in fellowship may hold joint worship services. 3. Members of the congregations of each church body who are in good standing in their own congregation and do not violate principles regulating Communion practices in the host congregation shall be welcome as guests at the altar of congregations of the other church body. In the interest of the pastoral care and responsibility of the congregation of which an individual is a member, there should not be an indiscriminate visiting of the altars of churches either within his own church body or at the altars of congregations of that church body with which ‘his church is in fellowship. 4, Members in good standing may transfer their mem- bership from a congregation of one church body to a con- gregation of the other church body in conformity with the practices of the receiving congregation. (Statement accepted in substance by the national and District presidents of both The American Lutheran Church and The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod at a joint meeting in Minneapolis, Feb. 25—~26, 1969) With this understanding we offer the following reso- lution: Wuereas, The three Canadian Districts of The Lu- theran Church — Missouri Synod have formed the Lu- theran Church— Canada (LCC) for the purpose of expediting their work; and Wnuereas, In 1966 the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada (ELCC), formerly a district of The Ameri- can Lutheran Church, became an autonomous church body; and Wuereas, The LCC and the ELCC have examined each other’s constitutions and found the confessional basis to be adequate for altar and pulpit fellowship; and WuerEas, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod has reviewed the Constitutional Articles of Faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada and found them to be “both Scriptural and adequate”; and Wuereas, For several decades doctrinal discussions between the LCC and ELCC, carried on in various local, regional, and national meetings, have disclosed and strengthened a genuine consensus in faith and understanding; and Wuereas, At its convention in June 1968 the ELCC unanimously offered altar and pulpit fellowship to The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod; and Wuereas, The 1968 conventions of the Canadian Dis- tricts of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod autho- rized Lutheran Church — Canada to make appropriate recommendations to the Denver convention; and Wuereas, The LCC, through the Commission on The- ology and Church Relations, requests The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod to declare altar and pulpit fellowship with the ELCC to enable the LCC and the ELCC to give full expression to the unity that God has given them; therefore be it Resolved, That with gratitude for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and blessing The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod establish altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada; and be it also Resolved, That through existing channels of inter- church relations the Lutheran Church — Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada be encour- aged to exercise a mutual ministry to strengthen their understanding and practice of fellowship; and be it finally Resolved, That the Synod commit itself to the fol- lowing Conclusion: We, the members of The Lutheran Church — Mis- souri Synod, rejoice over the existing unity of faith and confession, as stated in the doctrinal position of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada and The Lu- theran Church — Missouri Synod, and we embrace the opportunities and assume the obligations of altar and pulpit fellowship. Recognizing that because of our sin- fulness and human frailties there remain imperfections in faith and understanding of the riches of God’s grace, as well as failings in life and practice consistent with the Gospel, we pledge ourselves to draw these and all other problems affecting our relationships into the per- spective of God’s grace as revealed in the divine Word and deal with them within that framework. We pledge ourselves always to have a tender regard for each other’s consciences and to stand by each other in mutual sympathy and understanding, forbearance and love. As members of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, committed to the Holy Gospel, we obligate our- selves to continued study and discussion, always re- membering that we, in the love of Christ, must “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2) Action: Adopted as amended (12). (Amendment: To add to this resolution the preamble and conclusion of Res. 3-15.) To Pursue Unity Between Lutheran Church — Canada and Lutheran Church in America — Canada Section RESOLUTION 3-17 Report 2-01, II, B; Overture 3-265 (CW, pp. 62, 196) Whereas, Lutheran Church— Canada, made up of the three Districts of The Lutheran Church — Missouri