# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2004_S178 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 178 THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 3-44 To Encourage Local Administration of Lord’s Supper WuerEAS, Christ instituted the Sacrament of His body and blood to nourish and sustain His people and assure them of His grace; and WuerEAS, St. Paul defines worthy reception of the body and blood in terms of self-examination and discernment of the Lord’s body (1 Cor. 1 1:28-29); and WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions state clearly that one is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in the words of Christ “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins” (SC VI 10); and WHEREAS, A practice congruent with the Scriptures and the Confessions calls for the Sacrament to be shared with baptized Christians who repent of their sins, believe in all that the Lord is giving them in the Sacrament, and sincerely intend to amend their sinful lives; and WHEREAS, The current policy of The Lutheran Church—Mis- souri Synod as outlined in Res. 3-08 is restrictive and can become an obstacle to pastoral care; therefore be it Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod con- tinue to acknowledge that there are legitimate exceptions to the practice of limiting the Lord’s Supper to fellow Christians of our Synod only; and be it further Resolved, That the LCMS in convention encourage the pastors and congregations of the Synod to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, also with those indi- viduals of Christ’s body who are not members of the LCMS or who do not belong to an LCMS congregation; and be it finally Resolved, That the LCMS in convention encourage the pastors and congregations of the Synod to determine whom to include in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and under what circumstances. Board of Directors Northwest District 3-45 To Approve Normative Communion Policy WHEREAS, There is an inconsistency in our District and Synod regarding what constitutes a normative and responsible policy for determining admission to the Communion table; and Wuereas, Our Synod teaches that it is an improper policy to deny the Holy Supper to anyone based on denominational affilia- tion alone, as our textbooks advise our congregations “they must guard against denying the Sacrament to those Christians for whom Christ has appointed it” (Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Volume 3, page 381, Concordia Publishing House); and WHEREAS, Martin Luther taught concerning admission to the Sacrament that, “He is truly worthy and well-prepared who has faith in these words. ‘Given and shed for the remission of sin’” (Small Catechism) and Lutherans rightly teach that the Lord’s Sup- per is a means of grace; and WuerEas, We need to help one another keep the emphasis and focus on grace and gift and welcome rather than on restrictions and complicated barriers; and WHEREAS, It is our intention and practice to administer the Holy Supper to all baptized Christians who sincerely desire it and profess a common belief with us * about the Supper, * about the Lord Jesus Christ and * about ourselves in that as sinful human beings we need the forgiveness of sins, and * believe with us that Christ Jesus both invited and commanded us to use His Supper, and * that the true body and blood of Jesus ‘given and shed for the remission of sins’ are actually present, as Martin Luther described, “in, with, and under the bread and wine” because Jesus said so, and * that in this Sacrament we receive the forgiveness of sins; and WHEREAS, It would be best to refrain from offering the Sacra- ment to those who do not profess a common belief with us about the Supper, about the Lord, and about themselves; therefore be it Resolved, That the CNH District offer the following description of a normative Communion policy: 1. We do not approve of “Open Communion,” defined as that practice in which our Communion Table is open to all who present themselves without regard to status and doctrinal understanding of the Holy Supper, nor do we approve of “Closed Communion,” de- fined as that practice in which our Communion Table is closed to all who do not have denominational affiliation in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. 2. We approve and encourage “Close Communion,” defined as the Evangelical Lutheran practice in which we welcome to our Com- munion Table any Christians who are in agreement with our under- standing of the Holy Supper and who are worthy through their faith and desire to seek the assurance of the forgiveness of sins. 3. We further affirm that the responsibility for overseeing and facilitating this evangelical Lutheran practice is, and remains, with the called pastor in the local congregation, and be it further Resolved, That the CNH District memorialize the 2004 synodi- cal convention to approve, encourage, and practice the above stated normative Communion policy. California-Nevada-Hawaii District To Encourage Continued Responsible Pastoral Care re Close Communion WHEREAS, There is a divergence of theological opinion and practice in the administration of the Sacrament of Holy Commu- nion within our Synod; therefore be it Resolved, That the pastors of our Synod continue to exercise re- sponsible pastoral care within the framework of our historic syn- odical practice of close Communion; and be it further Resolved, That the English District memorialize the 2004 LCMS convention to encourage the same responsible pastoral care. English District 3-47 To Reevaluate Holy Communion Practice WHEREAS, Christ instituted the Sacrament of His body and blood to nourish and sustain His people and assure them of His grace; and WHEREAS, St. Paul defines worthy reception of the body and blood in terms of self-examination and discernment of the Lord’s body (1 Cor. 11:28-29); and WHEREAS, Our Lutheran Confessions, in the words of the Small Catechism, state clearly that one is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in the words of Christ: “Given and shed for you for the remission of sins” (SC VI 10); and Wuereas, A practice congruent with Scripture and the Confes- sions calls for the Sacrament to be shared with baptized Christians who repent of their sins, believe the real presence, and sincerely intend to amend their lives; and WHEREAS, The current policy of The Lutheran Church—Mis- souri Synod, outlined in Res. 3-08 of our 1995 convention, is re- strictive and can become an obstacle to pastoral care; therefore be it Resolved, That the current policy be reevaluated (by a task force appointed by the Council of Presidents to consist of clergy and laity representing divergent views on this issue), and a policy be devel- oped which reflects a more pastoral approach consistent with the above points. Village Bronxville, NY