# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S414
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

414

LIFE TOGETHER
reviewed, further investigated, if needed, and finally approved
by the Office of National Mission. Until and unless such
policies and instrument are developed, applications for
witness service organization or mercy service organization
status shall be handled under (3) below.
(3) Status of all other organizations, and the application
therefor, is administered directly by the Office of National or
International Mission, as appropriate, with district presidents
exercising ecclesiastical oversight of the operations of
recognized service organizations within their boundaries.
(b) Within the area of its responsibility and in accordance with
the Synod Board of Directors’ policypolicies and criteria
developed by the Synod Board of Directors, the respective
mission board, and office, each granting mission office or agency
may shall determine those to which organizations to which
recognized service organization status will be granted.
(c) Granting offices may be authorized to set and charge
application, renewal, and maintenance fees to recoup the cost of
administration, subject to policies set by the Board of Directors
of the Synod.

2016 Resolution 4-03B Task Force
Ov. 4-09

To Commend Actions to Synod Boards and Offices
to Revitalize Synod’s Recognized Service
Organization Program
WHEREAS, Pending approval by the current 2019 Synod
convention, the report of the 2016 Resolution 4-03B Task Force on
recognized service organizations (RSOs, included in the 2019
Workbook as R-61) provides guidance for revitalization of the
program by the appropriate boards and offices of the Synod, and
those boards and offices will thus desire to proceed with
development of policies and procedures required for the
implementation of the report’s recommendations; and
WHEREAS, The 2016 Res. 4-03B Task Force, during the course
of its work and at various points in its report, noted opportunities
for a number of specific, anticipated, and beneficial action items
that will improve the Synod’s RSO program and therefore could be
carefully considered, planned, and subsequently implemented by
the appropriate boards and offices of the Synod; and
WHEREAS, These anticipated beneficial action items fall outside
the direct purview of proposed amendments to Bylaw section 6.2,
which have been delineated in a separate overture by the 2016 Res.
4-03B Task Force; therefore be it
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS)
Office of National Mission (ONM), Council of Presidents and
district staffs, over the 2019–2022 triennium, work together to
create, document, and implement standard practices that promote
Synodwide uniformity and best practices in: (1) ecclesiastical
oversight of RSO relationships with the Church; (2) ecclesiastical
supervision of workers called by RSOs; and (3) administration of
the program by Synod and districts for the support of RSOs; and be
it further
Resolved, That as the aforementioned standard practices are
developed, consideration be given to the identification of costeffective means of gathering RSO, congregation, district and Synod
representatives together (e.g., in conference, webinar, or other
formats) to enhance communication, coordination, collaboration,

2019 Convention Workbook

and cooperation between participants in mission and ministry
efforts; and be it further
Resolved, That the ONM consider and implement with the
assistance of LCMS Communications an improved RSO “home
presence” on the Synod’s website, including but not limited to an
effective public-facing RSO search engine and an expanded
clarification of the nature of the Synod’s working relationship with
RSOs; and be it further
Resolved, That the ONM and LCMS Communications work
cooperatively to develop an effective communication plan that
highlights the work of RSOs to a wide audience of Synod and RSO
stakeholders; and be it further
Resolved, That this aforementioned communication plan include
provisions to inform such stakeholders of changes to the RSO
program adopted by the 2019 Synod convention, especially during
the first six months immediately following the convention; and be
it further
Resolved, That this aforementioned communication plan include
production of materials by LCMS schools and the RSO office for
the use of schools and districts to ease and lend confidence to the
transition of association schools off of RSO status and on to district
recognition, without loss of benefits, and to ensure that districts are
prepared properly to recognize association schools as those schools
strictly governed by multiple LCMS member congregations; and be
it further
Resolved, That the Synod’s districts and congregations be
encouraged to continue to learn about the resources and
opportunities available for the enhancement of their mission and
ministry efforts through the work of RSOs; and be it finally
Resolved, That The 67th Regular Convention of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod joyfully give thanks to God for the work
of RSOs in carrying out and enhancing the mission of the Church.
2016 Resolution 4-03B Task Force
Ov. 4-10

To Encourage Every Sunday Communion
WHEREAS, The Sacrament of Holy Communion was celebrated
every Lord’s day during the first centuries of Christendom; and
WHEREAS, The opportunity to receive the Lord’s Supper each
Lord’s day was a reality cherished by Dr. Martin Luther and set
forth clearly with high esteem in the confessional writings of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church (Article XXIV of the Augsburg
Confession and Article XXIV 1 of the Apology of the Augsburg
Confession); and
WHEREAS, Our Synod’s 1983 Commission on Theology and
Church Relations document on the Lord’s Supper (p. 28) and our
Synod’s 1986 [1991] translation of Luther’s Small Catechism both
remind us that the Scriptures place the Lord’s Supper at the center
of worship (“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” [Acts
2:42]; “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered
together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart
on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.” [Acts
20:7]; “When you come together, it is not the Lord ‘s Supper that
you eat.” [1 Cor. 11:20]; “For I received from the Lord what I also
delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took bread ... [1 Cor. 11:23] “), and not as an appendage
or an occasional extra, and that the new 2017 edition of Luther’s