# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1874_S30
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 30 —

in which he lives. Only if the person concerned himself sees and recognizes that the welfare of the Church and of many souls makes it necessary that another order be observed, only then could he break that divine contract. But if someone comes, say, first from Europe and moves to such a place where sister congregations live intermingled, and he wished, while living near one church, to go over to the other church and join himself there, he should be held back, to stay and join where he lives. To be sure, the intermingled living of the congregation members already present will make him uncertain and, if he is stubborn, greatly stiffen his back to hold to wherever he pleases; but that is also itself a clear proof of what a disorder our so-called order is. This too should drive us to think seriously about getting out of such abnormal conditions.

Thesis 7.

Where the boundaries of different parishes flow together, the care for one's own soul and the furtherance of the kingdom of God decide to which of them one is to attach oneself, whereby not only nearness or distance from the place of preaching but also the greater ease or difficulty of reaching it, and of course also the language, come into consideration; for where faith does not determine, there love shall be the measure (1 Cor. 16:14).

For this an excerpt was read from an opinion of the theological faculty at Wittenberg, reported in the Wittenbergiſche Conſilien [Wittenberg Consilia]. It reads:

"By divine right the parishes or church districts, which are called Parochieen or dioceses, shall and must remain distinct, and once they are distinct, they shall not, without considerable reasons, be reunited, concorded and put together, much less mixed and blended; for which the testimonies of Holy Scripture, Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2, are not unfitting, also other such commands, Titus 1:5: 'For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the cities here and there' (that is, city by city, or each single city) 'with elders, etc.,' as also examples, such as that of the distinct churches in Asia, Judea, Galilee, etc., of which mention is often made, not unfairly cited, and the prohibitions of the ancient councils, the first Nicene, the first Constantinopolitan, the first Carthaginian, and other such, rightly observed. Nevertheless times and cases arise when one may, without violation of divine honor, command and prohibition, transfer episcopal residences, pastorates, diaconates and other church offices, divide, unite, rearrange the parishioners, and make such alterations, or, when they have been made and, with tacit or express consent of those who have to decide on it, introduced and confirmed, and no considerable cause for re-alteration or return to the former number of pastorates, parishioners, hearers, place, time and site of divine service is involved, tolerate them, and also, matters being as they are, confirm them. And such a cause is this: that,

[Handwritten additions in pencil or ink: at the top margin above the folio line three slanting lines, largely illegible; in the left margin beside "in which he lives ..." four slanting lines, illegible. Underlined by hand in the print: "irre machen", "wenn er eigensinnig ist, ihm gewaltig den Rücken stärken" and "es ist das aber eben auch".]