# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2023_S433
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SCHOOLS, FAMILY, YOUNG ADULTS, AND YOUTH
always teaching and holding before their children the divine
institution and pattern of marriage and household as God gave it.
Pastors’ Conference
Wyoming District
Ov. 12-13

To Remind All That God Has Appointed Parents
to Be Primary Authority in Life of Their Children
WHEREAS, In the Scriptures, we read: “Children, obey your
parents, for this is right”; and, “Honor your father and your
mother—which is the first commandment with promise— so that it
may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth”
(Eph. 6:1–3 NIV); and
WHEREAS, Luther in his Large Catechism explanation to the
Fourth Commandment, makes it clear that “… all who are called
masters stand in the place of parents and must derive from them
their power and authority …” (Large Catechism [LC] I 142;
Kolb/Wengert, eds., The Book of Concord, [Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 2000], 406); and
WHEREAS, Luther further declares that “God has given
fatherhood and motherhood a special position of honor, higher than
that of any other walk of life”; and, that God “places them near to
Himself” (LC I 105; id., 400); and
WHEREAS, It has become increasingly common in modern
society and in matters of education, in particular, to treat the office
of parent as subsidiary and inferior to that of the State and its agents;
and
WHEREAS, Parents are increasingly seen by progressive
educational authorities as bigoted and ignorant and thus obstacles
to the proper instruction of children; and
WHEREAS, It is increasingly clear that educational authorities
behaved in ways which lead children to question the authority and
competence of their parents and to reject other authority figures
including grandparents and religious leaders in their life; and
WHEREAS, Educational authorities are even regularly found to
have formal or informal policies which forbid teachers and staff
from informing parents about issues of sexuality and
transgenderism that surface in the school setting; and
WHEREAS, School systems are increasingly unwilling to be fully
transparent with parents regarding the content of materials used to
educate their children; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District, in convention,
clearly and unequivocally reassert the Scriptural truth that God has
given to parents both the primary responsibility and the primary
authority in the lives of their children; and that all other authorities
in the lives of children derive their authority from parents; and be it
further
Resolved, That pastors and teachers of the Church be encouraged
to regularly focus attention on the application of the Fourth
Commandment in our modern American context and, in so doing,
to lift up and expound on the godly and high office of parent; and
be it further
Resolved, That the Church reject the claim of many schools that
parents may be prevented from having full access to their children’s
records and reasonable control over their child’s educational
experience; and be it further

433

Resolved, That the Church support parental empowerment
mechanisms such as Education Savings Accounts, which remove
inappropriate State bias in parental decision-making in matters of
education, by allowing State- collected education dollars to follow
the child to any school of the parents’ choosing, including religious
schools; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District, in convention,
memorialize the Synod to use its resources and influence to elevate
the place of parents in our Church and our society.
Minnesota South District

2023 Convention Workbook