# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Dezember 1856_S378
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

378
Miscellaneous Church News.

The United Synod of Ohio, at its meeting held in Delaware, O., in October, abolished the licensing system. It further adopted, among others, the following resolutions: 1. "Whereas the Pennsylvania liturgy is already in use among some of our pastors, yet does not entirely correspond to our conviction, and whereas we do not consider it fitting now to publish a new liturgy: be it therefore resolved, that a committee be appointed which, for the purpose of uniformity in worship, shall designate those forms of the Pennsylvania liturgy which the Synod recommends to its preachers for use; the committee shall report at the present session; further resolved: that the Synod request the Pennsylvania Synod to omit, in a new edition, those forms of its liturgy which we do not approve; resolved finally: that we, should this request not be heeded, will take measures toward the publication of a new liturgy more in accord with the confessions of the church." 2. "Resolved: that we, as a part of the Lutheran Church in this land, in view of the great influence which the two Synods of Missouri and Buffalo exercise in the Lutheran Church of America, and for the sake of the church, earnestly call upon these two bodies to employ every means in their power to restore peace among themselves." 3. "Resolved: that we hope and desire that no other synods of the Lutheran faith, by whatever name they may be called, will receive any preachers or congregations of our body without entering into correspondence with our Synod and giving due regard to its rights." The earlier resolution against secret societies was reaffirmed, and authority was granted for the formation of a special English district synod. Finally, we extract the following two items from the minutes-extracts found in the "Standard": 1. "Lutheran Practice. The committee appointed at an earlier synodical session, which was to report at the present one on Lutheran practice and customs, submitted a fairly detailed report, which was also adopted, of the following purport. Practice and customs in the Lutheran Church, it holds, are quite varied and not essential to the unity of the church; but in answer to certain questions put to it, it replies: 1) A Lutheran preacher cannot serve unionistic congregations without denying his conviction as a Lutheran pastor. 2) Since the holy Supper is in part a confession, members of other denominations cannot be admitted to it without both the one receiving and the one distributing making themselves guilty of unfaithfulness to our confession. In accordance with the Augsburg Confession, members of our congregations should not receive the holy Supper without confession and absolution. 3) The call of the preacher is of so high and holy a kind that no pastor should let himself be hired out by his congregation for a fixed term. 4) The examination of candidates for the preaching office should take place before the ministerium, though it might be conducted by a committee in which all have confidence. — Church Court. In consequence of a memorial from the Northern District Synod, a committee to which the matter had been referred reported the following as an essential change to the Constitution, to be voted upon at the next session of the United Synod: that a church court be formed, consisting of the president of the United Synod, the presidents of the various district synods, and one layman to be elected by each from its district; and these officers shall be elected for three years. These shall elect, from among the secretaries of the district synods, a secretary, who shall keep an accurate record of their proceedings but shall have no vote among them; this body shall assemble, at the expense of the district synods, at some centrally located place, for a week or as much longer as business requires, in order to render its decision respecting disputes, church discipline, and other important matters brought before it by an individual person, a preacher, or a congregation who are dissatisfied with the decision of the District