# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S107 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 107 3:2-7: Heb. 13:17; Titus 1:5-9 (see section on Women in A Chris- tian Handbook. pp. 336—352, available from Christian News. Box 168, New Haven, Mo.): and WHEREAS. The inspiration and verity of Holy Scripture is denied by those who ordain women to the holy ministry; there- fore be it Resolved. That the LCMS refuse to continue in altar and pul- pit fellowship with those who ordain women to the holy ministry: and be it further Resolved. That no professor or clergymen in The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod be allowed to teach that the Scriptures permit and/or do not speak to the matter of the ordination of women. Trinity Lutheran Church New Haven, Mo. Orville Meyer, Secretary Identical or similar: 3-145B Trinity, Easthampton, Mass. Louis G. Elbert 3-146A To Expand Role of Women in Life of Church WHEREAS, Christian women are full members of the body of Christ who share with all believers the unity of the Spirit and the ministry of the Gospel: and WHEREAS, Fuller participation by women in the deliberative and administrative life of parishes, particularly through the exercise of the franchise, has been encouraged by the LCMS (1969, Denver convention, Resolution 2-17): WHEREAS, Women in the LCMS are presently excluded from holding certain parish offices, specifically, president, vice- president, and elder, on the grounds that their holding of such offices would entail either the administration of the Office of the Keys as pertains to the pastoral office or the exercising of authority over man (‘‘Suggestions for Congregational Constitu- tions or Bylaws Regarding the Privileges of Women,” an opinion of the Commission on Constitutional Matters); and WHEREAS, The holding of any office in the polity of the church and the exercising of any authority must never be a lording over but rather a practice of Christian love in the one bond of faith which cuts through all differences among people, including differences of sex: and WHEREAS, We of Grace Lutheran Church, Eugene, Oreg., after prayer and careful study, are able to find no portions of Holy Scripture which clearly prohibit women from holding offices in the polity of the church at the parish or synodical level, specifically, the offices of congregation president and vice- president, offices which do not in most cases include or pertain to the tasks or duties of the pastoral office: therefore be it Resolved, That the LCMS in convention at Anaheim en- courage its member parishes to continue to extend to women the largest possible role in the mission and in the adminstrative life of the parish; and be it further Resolved, That the Synod strive to make use of the talents and gifts of women in the mission and administrative life of the church at the synodical and District levels: and be it further Resolved, That the Synod instruct its Commission on Con- stitutional Matters to alter its “Suggestions for Congregational Constitutions or Bylaws Regarding the Privileges of Women” to allow congregations who are so inclined the right to elect women to the offices of president and vice-president: and be it finally Resolved, That the Synod continue its encouragement of the appropriate commissions to prayerfully study the role of women in the church, with particular reference to their eligibility or ineligibility for the office of elder and the pastoral office. Grace Lutheran Church Eugene, Oreg. Arthur Erickson, President Shirley Bublitz, Secretary Identical or similar: 3-146B University, Los Angeles, Calif. Roger Timm 3-147 To Repudiate CTCR Document “A Lutheran Stance Toward Ecumenism” WHEREAS. The Commission on Theology and Church Rela- tions has recently adopted the document *‘A Lutheran Stance Toward Ecumenism,” which according to the news release of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod Department of Public Relations (Dec. 6, 1974) seriously disturbs our fervent efforts to fulfill our Lord's desire ‘‘that they may all be one: even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me”’ (John 17:21-23) by: 1) asserting a ‘‘oneness with all Christians in the ‘Una Sancta’ (one holy Christian Church)” in such a way as to imply that our Lord’s desire for unity is already accomplished, thus evading God's judgment against our divisions, removing the call to repent, and distorting if not removing the impetus for our ecumenical endeavor; 2) demanding “confessional agreement . . . that extends to all the articles of faith revealed in the Sacred Scriptures and comprised in the Lutheran Symbols” which requires more than our confessions themselves (‘‘For it is sufficient for the true unity of the Christian church that the Gospel be preached in conformity with a pure understanding of it and that the sacra- ments be administered in accordance with the divine Word,” Augsburg Confession, Art. VII), demands a uniformity in the interpretation and understanding of Holy Scripture that is humanly impossible, and would seem ultimately to require that every Christian walk alone: 3) falsely assuming that a proper understanding of “‘all the articles of faith’ is necessary before ‘the Gospel [can] be preached in conformity with a pure understanding of it”; 4) asserting that we are to seek concord “by exposing and refuting error and by confessing the truth,” giving the impres- sion that The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has arrived at all truth and has no error, thus effectively eliminating the possibility of any real dialog with other Christians: therefore be it Resolved. That the Commission on Theology and Church Relations document ‘‘A Lutheran Stance Toward Ecumenism” be repudiated and withdrawn: and be it further Resolved. That the Commission on Theology and Church Relations be directed to produce a document on ecumenism that reflects our confessional desire for unity among Christians based alone on a “pure understanding of the Gospel” and administration of the sacraments “in accordance with the divine Word”; and be it further Resolved. That our ecumenical priorities be thus ordered: 1. Internal relationships in The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod: 2. Preserving and strengthening relationships with sister churches and other Lutheran bodies in fellowship with the Synod: 3. Seeking pulpit and altar fellowship with the Lutheran Church in America: 4. Seeking to resolve disagreements with former sister synods: 5. Conversations and dialogs with other church bodies. Eastern Pastoral Conference English District Amandus J. Derr, Secretary