# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S551
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

RETENTION: SCHOOLS, FAMILY, YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS
confession, but a particularly Lutheran approach to congregational
life by implementing the following suggestions, including, but not
limited to:
Offering a study of the Small Catechism, Large Catechism,
and/or Augsburg Confession to the members of our district
congregations;
Encouraging members to avail themselves of various resources
such as the Lutheran Witness; bookofconcord.org; various
programs on kfuo.org such as Thy Strong Word, Law and Gospel,
Concord Matters, and Issues, Etc.; or to attend area seminars and
conferences sponsored by Vine and Branches, Confessional
Lutherans for Christ’s Commission and others;
Encouraging weekly readings out of the Book of Concord by
publishing excerpts for congregational reading, and using the
weekly assigned readings at congregational meetings;
Encouraging the youth of district congregations to engage with
the Confessions by attending studies demonstrating the truth of
the apostolic faith as confessed in Lutheranism, and encouraging
Bible bowls to also include portions of the Confessions;
Encouraging pastors to seek to incorporate passages of the
Confessions in their sermons and Bible studies, and ensure that
the doctrine proclaimed in their congregations shall be examined
according to our confessional writings;
and be it further
Resolved, That the MNS District in convention memorialize the
Synod in convention in 2019 to do similarly.
Minnesota South District
Ov. 12-02

To Encourage Congregations toward Retention of
Members Through Catechesis
WHEREAS, We are surrounded by Christians who don’t know the
full riches of God’s grace; and
WHEREAS, We are tempted to emulate and identify with them so
that the Lutheran church, rather than being the queen that she is with
all the gifts given to her, becomes a beggar with regard to these
Christians of different confessions; and
WHEREAS, Many in our congregations are proselytized from the
Lutheran faith at all stages of life because they don’t know the
apostolic faith as confessed in the Lutheran symbols; and
WHEREAS, The times to help people to know the faith are
primarily when they are first brought into our congregations as
members and as youth when they are first learning the faith; and
WHEREAS, Many of our congregations don’t do a thorough
catechesis of new members, preferring to accept new members into
their congregation without helping them to know that their
membership entails a confession of what is taught at their
congregation’s altar (1 Cor. 10:18); and
WHEREAS, The prevailing understanding of youth ministry is that
after confirmation, the Small Catechism is no longer necessary,
much less any other confessional documents; therefore be it
Resolved, That during catechesis leading up to confirmation,
whether in the home or at the church, the congregations of the
Minnesota South District recognize that they are preparing the
youth, among other reasons, to safeguard them against
proselytization into churches of different confessions; and be it
further

551

Resolved, That we encourage congregations of the district
toward ongoing catechesis after confirmation, using the Bible, the
Small Catechism, and the Synod explanations with generous
references to other confessional documents; and be it further
Resolved, That we encourage congregations to provide a
thorough catechesis for their new members recognizing that this is
also, among other things, to prevent their proselytization into
churches of different confessions; and be it further
Resolved, That the district in its communications highlight best
practices that encourage study of the Scriptures, Small and Large
Catechisms and other parts of the Lutheran Confessions. Examples
of best practices shall be solicited from the circuit and should
highlight examples of deeper study of Christian doctrine in youth
and adult classes (including Sunday school), creative use of the
catechism and other confessional documents, creative techniques
families are using to teach the Lutheran faith, use of libraries for
members and community, seminars held and attended, etc.; and be
it finally
Resolved, That the district in convention memorialize the Synod
in convention in 2019 to do the same.
Minnesota South District
Ov. 12-03

To Encourage Families to Teach the Lutheran
Faith with an Eye Toward Lutheran Mission
WHEREAS, President Harrison wrote in his report as recorded on
p. 8 in the 2016 Workbook “When the German mission leader and
theologian of the last generation Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf (1910–
1982) asserted, ‘The Lutheran church can only do Lutheran
missions,’ he was observing that the Lutheran confession is
inseparable from mission”; and
WHEREAS, The Synod in convention in 2016 passed Resolution
16-02A, entitled “To Make Strengthening Lutheran Families a
Mission Priority”; and
WHEREAS, That resolution stated, “The family home is to be the
place of forming Christian disciples”; and
WHEREAS, It also stated, “The witness of our children, discipled
at home and in the church, is key to reaching those outside the
faith”; and
WHEREAS, Our Synod has developed outreach tools like
Everyone His Witness and the various programs in re:Vitality [a
revitalization program developed by the Office of National
Mission]; and
WHEREAS, In His priestly prayer, Jesus prayed for His disciples
before He prayed for those they would reach (John 17); and
WHEREAS, In popular parlance, the flight attendant tells the
travelers to always fix the mask on their own face before trying to
help others with theirs; therefore be it
Resolved, That the congregations of the Minnesota South District
in convention encourage the parents of our congregations toward a
more thorough discipling of their children in the Lutheran faith with
an eye toward the mission of the church; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District in convention
memorialize the Synod in convention in 2019 to do similarly.
Minnesota South District

2019 Convention Workbook