# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S169
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

CHURCH RELATIONS 169

prepared an official statement of doctrinal agreement to
which we may turn for assurance of mutual unity: and

WuerEAS, The ALC has officially approved a practice
in dealing with membership in Christ-denying societies
which does not accord with our official or constitutional
position; therefore be it

Resolved, That First Lutheran Church of Burbank,
Calif., request The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod,
meeting in convention on July 11—19, 1969, in Denver,
Colo., to decline altar and pulpit fellowship with The
American Lutheran Church.

First LutHeran Cuurcu
Burbank, Calif.

Don Katn, President

Pup N. Scorrt III, Secretary

(3-202)

To Respectfully Decline Fellowship
at This Time

Wuereas, The American Lutheran Church holds
membership in both the Lutheran World Federation and
the World Council of Churches: and

Wuereas, It is possible that The ALC will join the
National Council of Churches next year (1970): and

Wuereas, The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod
has for a variety of sound theological reasons declined
membership in these organizations: and

Wuereas, Altar and pulpit fellowship between The
ALC and our Synod would have the effect of declaring
that there are no theological reasons against member-
ship in these organizations: and

Wuenreas, The ALC is in altar and pulpit fellowship
with the Lutheran Church in America: and

Wuereas, Fellowship between our Synod and The
ALC would therefore put us into de facto fellowship
with the LCA: and

Wuereas, There are sound reasons from The Lu-
theran Confessions and from the Holy Scriptures that
force us to decline fellowship with the LCA in view of-
the differences that have been documented in doctrine
and practice between that church and our own; and

Wuereas. The ALC has a more liberal lodge practice
than that officially outlined in our synodical Handbook;
and

Wnereas, It wou'd be both unrealistic and unfair to
tolerate a lodge practice for a church in fellowship with
us that we would not accept officially within our own
Synod: and

Wuereas, The Gospel and the administration of the
sacraments are most clearly and directly involved in
the lodge policy of a church body; and

Wuereas, It has been repeatedly documented that
many teachers and professors in ALC educational insti-
tutions no longer hold to the inerrancy of the Scriptures
in all points but openly teach a method of higher criti-
cism that is incompatible with a high view of the re-
liability of the Bible; and

Wuereas, These same liberal theological views are
also found in certain materials used in the Sunday
schools of The ALC; and

WuereAs, These liberal views have been officially
endorsed through the endorsement of The Bible: Book
of Faith at the 1964 convention of The ALC; and

Wuereas, Little effort is made to correct this situa-
tion in The ALC, though orthodox statements to the
contrary are found in the Constitution of The ALC; and

Wuereas, It is impossible logically and/or theolog-
ically to maintain the historic Sola Scriptura of the
Lutheran Confessions without asserting that the Bible
is both without error and incapable of error in either
theology or in matters of geography, science, and his-
tory, and it is furthermore impossible to maintain the
purity of the Gospel (Sola Gratia and Sola Fide) once
an unequivocal “Scripture Alone” stance is abandoned:
and

Wuereas, The Brief Statement states that “the ortho-
dox character of a church is established not by its
mere name nor by its outward acceptance of, and sub-
scription to, an orthodox creed, but by the doctrine
which is actually taught in its pulpits, in its theological
seminaries, and in its publications”: and

Wuereas, Jesus Christ in His Great Commission
(Matt. 28:18-20) calls us to teach disciples “to observe
all things that I have commanded you”; and

Wuereas, St.Paul in Acts 20:27 asserts that “I did
not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of
God": and

Wuereas, Altar and pulpit fellowship without full
doctrinal agreement on the issues indicated above can-
not and would not lead to true, God-pleasing unity in
the Gospel but would rather constitute only an agree-
ment to disagree, which would displease the Almighty
though it gain approval and win plaudits from men; and

Wuereas, The declaration of altar and pulpit fellow-
ship between the LCMS and The ALC could not but
destroy whatever unity of mind and spirit still exists
by God's grace within our Synod at this present time;
therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod respectfully and regretfully decline to enter into
altar and pulpit fellowship with The American Lu-
theran Church at this time; and be it further

Resolved, That our Synod in the spirit of Gal. 6:1 ff.
encourage The ALC and all other Lutheran bodies
throughout the world to stand steadfast on the historic
teachings of the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confes-
sions as our fathers did: and be it further

Resolved, That we ask The ALC to withdraw from
membership in the Lutheran World Federation and the
World Council of Churches, and to refrain from joining
the National Council of Churches; and be it finally

Resolved, That we as a Synod most sincerely and
prayerfully encourage all officials of our body to deal
both swiftly and efficiently with problems of doctrine