# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_October 1862_S291
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Report for the Sessions of the Synod of Missouri, etc., Western District. 291

§ 14. The outward direction of the assembly falls to those
who in general preside over the congregation, or who have to administer the office of the
outward governance in particular. Acts 15:6; 1 Timothy
5:17; Romans 12:8; 1 Corinthians 12:28.

§ 15. The subjects of deliberation and resolution
in such assemblies are matters of doctrine, Acts 15; the
filling of the ecclesiastical offices, Acts 1:15–26; 6:1–6; 2 Corinthians 8:19;
church discipline, Matthew 18:17–20; 1 Corinthians 5:1–5; 2 Corinthians 2:6–11;
1 Timothy 5:20; public offenses, Acts 21:20–22; disputes among
the members, 1 Corinthians 6:1–8; matters of good order and ceremonies,
1 Corinthians 14:26–40; 16:1–2, and so forth.

§ 16. Matters of doctrine and of conscience are to be settled according to God's Word
and the confession of the Church with unanimity, Isaiah 8:20; but those
things, on the other hand, which are neither commanded nor forbidden in God's Word are
to be decided, after prior deliberation in Christian order, according to the principles of
love and equity, by majority vote. 1 Corinthians 16:14; 14:40; Colossians 2:5. Should it
happen that something is decided and established by the congregation against God's Word,
then such a decision and establishment is null and void, and is to be
declared such and revoked.

§ 17. In order that everything proceed in an orderly and honest manner and that love
not be injured, the assembly must first be publicly announced, and a time fitting for as
many of the members as possible must be appointed for it. But whoever
nevertheless does not appear then thereby forfeits, for that occasion, his own
right to vote. For the sake of love and peace and necessary caution it
is advisable that important resolutions concerning postponable matters attain
the validity of a congregational resolution only when they have been confirmed in the
assembly immediately following.

§ 18. The substance of the proceedings should be taken down in the minutes by a
clerk appointed for the purpose, read aloud at the close of each
assembly, voted upon as to the correctness of the account,
corrected as the case requires, and read aloud again at the beginning of the next
assembly. Acts 15:23–31.

§ 19. The preacher opens and closes the assembly with a
prayer; in case of his absence, a prayer is to be read by a
person appointed for that purpose. Matthew 18:19–20; Colossians 3:17; 1 Timothy
4:4–5; Acts 1:14; 16:4.

B. Second Section. On the Exercise of a Congregation's Duty that the Word
of God Dwell Richly Among It and Have Free Course.

§ 20. The exercise of this duty consists above all in the establishing
and maintaining of the public preaching office in its
midst, Titus 1:5; Ephesians 4:11, 14.

§ 21. To this belongs, first, the election and calling. For the orderly
performance of this highly important act, according to God's Word