# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S191
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

CHURCH RELATIONS 191

congregations and individuals in other synods who have
expressed similar convictions; therefore be it

Resolved, That we recognize our first and immediate
problem and concern as not one of broader fellowship
but one of Biblical orthodoxy; and be it further

Resolved, That in an effort to establish harmony and
to move out of the framework of indecision and confu-
sion, so as not to appear to be arrogant and separatistic
but to follow the conviction of God’s Holy Spirit, our
Synod work toward a restructuring of Lutheranism as
the only way to bring about concord and, to achieve
this goal, agree upon the following course of action:

1. All fellowship resolutions be declined with respect
to both The American Lutheran Church and the Lu-
theran Church in America; and

2. To have our Synod assume the lead in working
toward the establishing of a new confessional body
(dropping our name if need be) whose confessional
platform will include A Brief Statement or will be
formulated with A Brief Statement as its guide; and

3. To have our Synod issue a general appeal to like-
minded synods and congregations, pastors and individ-
uals, to join us in formulating such a new confessional
body and at the same time encourage those who do not
favor such as arrangement to seek fellowship elsewhere;
and a

4. To have the Synod take appropriate st ps so that
those pastors who may wish to affiliate with us from
other synods may do so without loss of pension, retire-
ment, or other benefits which they have accumulated
over the years in their respective synods; and

5. That our Synod then call upon the editors of
various independent theological publications to evan-
gelically publish their materials as a matter of harmony
and to close ranks in a common cause and iaith; and

6. That our Synod then apply itself with even greater
fervor toward the great goal and commission of our

Savior. Pastors oF ALPENA CIRCUIT

MICHIGAN DISTRICT
M. D. HILGENDORF
HERMAN J. HEINECKE
Harry W. WHITE

W. H. MErcE

D. E. SCHILLING
ALBERT H. GEHNER
L. H. RuscuH

Harotp G. MoLzan

(3-248)

To Reorganize All Lutheran Bodies in the
Americas Along Present Doctrinal Lines

Wuereas, There has been an increasingly sharp line
drawn in recent years between those who, on the one
hand, view Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, and the true
mission of the church as having been given by God
to man and those who, on the other hand, see them
much more as having been produced by men; and

Wuereas, There has been abundant evidence that
the same line is being drawn ever more sharply also
within world Lutheranism; and

Wuereas, The same division has clearly been taking
form among Lutherans in the New World, resulting
in a definite disunity of faith which cuts across present
denominational lines and affects almost all Lutherans
in the Americas; and

Wuereas, The gap between these two doctrinal posi-
tions has become so wide and so hardened that the re-
sulting disunity seriously threatens to destroy the hon-
esty, the integrity, the mission outreach, the educational
programs, and the peaceful coexistence of all present
Lutheran denominations and congregations in the
Americas, regardless of any past, present, or potential
efforts to “patch up” the differences; and

Wuereas, A complete realignment of Lutherans in
the Americas which would group them into new church
bodies reflecting much more honestly the actual beliefs
and practices now held among them would have many
advantages, including those of being fair, amicable,
honest, and much less attended with the turmoil and
confusion which now threatens to rend Lutheranism
asunder with consequences too painful to contemplate;
and

Wuereas, The threatened painful rending seems to
be rapidly approaching, according to a multitude of
portents; therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod in its Denver convention take the lead in recog-
nizing the aforesaid doctrinal division and in a peaceful
reorganization of all Lutherans in the Americas —

1) by inviting all other Lutheran bodies in the New
World to join in setting a mutually acceptable date on
which all such bodies would go out of existence, in
order that they could be replaced by two or three sepa-
rate, new bodies which would reflect much more hon-
estly the present realities of belief and practice existing
among the Americas’ Lutherans;

2) by arranging for all congregations, lay members,
pastors, professors, and administrators to make a choice
between the new bodies according to their own convic-
tions; and

3) by instituting joint committees whose assignments
would be to arrange the fair, proportionate, and amica-
ble division of property, institutions, and other assets

among the new bodies. = gq Paut’s LUTHERAN CHURCH

Bremen, Ind.
MARSHALL STINE, President
ELDON ROEDER, Secretary
(3-249)

To Explore Possibility of Fellowship
with the Lutheran Church in America

Wuereas, Transfers between Lutheran congregations
across synodical lines have been considered very ac-
ceptable by the vast number of members in our Lu-
theran churches in the Atlantic District; therefore be it