LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 393

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS

“impossible to separate the fellowship between local churches from the
fellowship between the church bodies to which they belong.”5*

4. Ecclesiastical Declaration of
Altar and Pulpit Fellowship

From the very beginning of the Reformation Luther and his followers
sought external unity in the church on the basis of agreement in the
confession of the apostolic faith. Expressing the hope that they might be
“united in one, true religion” with their opponents “even as we are all under
one Christ,” the Lutherans in 1530 in Augsburg presented “a confession of
our pastors’ and preachers’ teaching and of our own faith, setting forth how
and in what manner, on the basis of the Holy Scriptures, these things are
preached, taught, communicated. and embraced in our lands” (Preface to
the Augsburg Confession, 8-10). They also participated in a variety of
doctrinal discussions with leaders of the Reformed Church, e. g., in Marburg
in 1529. Their concern was not “that ceremonies, instituted by men, should

59Hermann Sasse, “Selective Fellowship.” The Aus-
tralasian Theological Review (September 1957), p. 55. As Sasse
points out, selective fellowship with its excessive congrega-
tionalism betrays a deficient understanding of the doctrine of the
church. Sasse writes: “From these biblical facts it must be
understood that the Church in all ages up to the 17th century
always has seen fellowship between Christians as fellowship
between the churches to which the individuals belong. There was
never such a thing as private practice of intercommunion, never
something like ‘selective fellowship,’ which is an invention of
modern Americans. Elert in his last book, mentioned above, gives
aconvincing proof of this for the Ancient Church.” Cf. the results
of a study project on local ecumenism carried out recently by the
Strasbourg Institute of Ecumenical Research, Lutheran World
Information, Dec. 18, 1980, pp. 12--14. This study concluded:
“The transcending of old divisions means in many places the
creation of new divisions. Congregationalism is often promoted
at the cost of loyalty to individual confessional! families and the
whole church. Two congregations which belong to the same
ecclesial family but find themselves in different geographical
locations are in danger of estranging each other by their individual
‘ecumenical efforts'--mostly made without reciprocal informa-
tion. A local ‘unity’ with others can lead to separation from those
congregations who belong to the same ecclesial family but live in
other places.”

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external unity in the church, these new churches had to answer the question
regarding church fellowship with one another as well as with the growing
number of other denominations present on the American scene. Free
conferences for the purpose of discussing doctrine were held.*? These
discussions revealed that many of these new churches were divided not only
by language. national origin, and church polity but also by doctrinal
differences resulting from the various rationalistic, pietistic, and confessional
circles out of which they had originated in Europe. Moreover, it soon became
quite obvious that Lutherans were no longer in agreement regarding the
meaning of subscription to the Lutheran Confessions.*? Altar and pulpit
fellowship, therefore, could not be established among all of these young
churches. But the very fact that doctrinal discussions were held and that
there was a general consensus that some kind of identification with at least
the Augsburg Confession was necessary for the celebration of church
fellowship illustrates that 19th-century Lutherans in America generally
followed the model of ecclesiastical declarations of altar and pulpit fellowship
on the basis of agreement in doctrine at the church-body level.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, in accordance with this
historical Lutheran precedent, has consistently followed this model with
respect to its official relationships with other church bodies. Desiring to avoid

*zIbid., p. 19: “Free conferences for members from all
Lutheran groups who ‘subscribed to the Augsburg Confession
without reservation’ were held for the purpose of discussion of
doctrine at Columbus, Ohio, in 1856; at Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1857;
at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1858; and at Ft. Wayne. Ind., in 1859."

® There was disagreement on the question as to whether
pastors and congregations should subscribe to The Book of
Concord insofar as (quatenus) or because (quia) it is a true and
unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God

In 1872 President C. P. Krauth set forth the General
Council's understanding of pulpit and altar fellowship: “I. The
Ryle is: Lutheran pulpits are for Lutheran ministers only.
Lutheran altars are for Lutheran communicants only. Il The
Exceptions belong to the sphere of privilege. not of right. III. The
Determination of the exceptions is to be made in consonance
with these principles, by the conscientious judgment of pastors.
as the cases arise.” This statement was amended by the addition
after the word “Rule” of “which accords with the Word of God
and with the Confessions of our Church” at an 1875 conference
held in Galesburg, lil.—hence the name “Galesburg Rule” (The
Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 1965 ed., s. v. “Galesburg
Rule”)

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be observed uniformly,” but that "the Gospel be preached in conformity with
a pure understanding of it and that the sacraments be administered in
accordance with the divine Word” (AC, VII, 2-3). Altar and pulpit fellowship
apart from agreement in doctrine was unthinkable for them.”

In the years following the settlement of the serious doctrinal disputes
which arose in the wake of Luther's death, church fellowship among the
various territorial churches (the European nations in which Lutherans lived
were divided into territories. with each one having its own church) was
achieved by agreement with the confessional writings in The Book of
Concord (1580). Subscription to these confessions. understood by all to bea
binding commitment to the entire doctrinal! content of these writings, meant
that pastors were allowed in each other's pulpits and that lay people were
welcomed at each other's altars. *:

With the passing of time and as a result of the coming of Lutherans to
America, however, problems concerning church fellowship arose. In the
absence of the territorial churches, ecclesiastical structures such as
ministeria (organizations of ministers) and synods (organizations of congre-
gations together with their pastors) were developed. Concerned about

«Cf. FC SD, VII. 33: “Dr. Luther. who understood the
true intention of the Augsburg Confession better than any one
else, remained by it steadfastly and defended it constantly until he
died. Shortly before his death, in his last confession, he repeated
his faith in this article with great fervor and wrote as follows: “|
reckon them ali as belonging together (that is, as Sacra-
mentarians and enthusiasts), for that is what they are who will not
believe that the Lord's bread in the supper is his true, natural
body. which the godless or Judas receive orally as well as St
Peter and all the saints. Whoever, | say, will not believe this. will
please let me alone and expect no fellowship from me. This is
final “~

= Cf. “Theology of Fellowship.” p. 18. “Though the subject
of pulpit and altar fellowship is not discussed expressis verbrs in
the Lutheran Confessions, these confessions themselves became
the effective limits for pulpit and altar fellowship for Lutherans
Those who subscribed to them were automatically in pulpit and
altar fellowship with one another. Those who did not subscribe to
them, but adhered to other confessions, were, according to the
Preface to the Book of Concord, not condemnedas heretics, the
Lutherans could even ‘have special sympathy with them.’ How-
ever, church fellowship, communicatio in sacris, with them was
impossible. This followed inevitably from the doctrine of the
church as it is contained in the Lutheran Confessions.”

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both sectarianism or separatism® as well as syncretism or unionism, it has
sought external unity in the church through the use of the model of
ecclesiastical declarations of altar and pulpit fellowship based on agreement
in doctrine and practice. From the time of its origin in 1847, the Synod has
always insisted on formal doctrinal discussions with another church body
prior to establishing altar and pulpit fellowship with it. Discussions between
official representatives from each church body are carried out on the basis of
the following principles

1. That the Confessions must be subscribed to quia, not quatenus.:.e..
because, not merely insofar as, they are correct expositions of the
Scripture:

That all doctrines taught in the Confessions are binding:

That subscription to the Confessions must be implemented by
corresponding public teac hing (publica doctnna) in pulpit, instruction
room, seminary. and in the church's publications, and that all who
departed from this norm were to be disciplined.*”

wn

*SSeparatism, defined by Webster’s Third New Interna-
tional Dictionary as “a disposition toward secession or schism,”
1s an ecclesiastical term used to refer to a separation between
Christians for unscriptural reasons. The constitution of the
LCMS states in its first objective that the Synod shall “conserve
and promote the unity of the true faith (Eph. 4:3-6; 1 Cor. 1:10).
work through its official structure toward fellowship with other
Christian church bodies, and provide a united defense against
schism, sectarianism (Rom. 16:17), and heresy” (Convention
Proceedings. 1979. p. 104).

®Unionism, defined by the Synod as “church-fellowship
with the adherents of faise doctrine, as disobedience to God's
command, as causing divisions in the Church, Rom 16:17;2 John
9. 10, and as involving the constant danger of losing the Word of
God entirely, 2 Tim. 2:17-21” (see the “Brief Statement,” par. 28),
1s aterm which has come into use in connection with the efforts of
King Friedrich Wilhelm II! of Prussia to effect a union of the
Lutheran and Reformed churches in his realm in 1817. The
constitution of the LCMS lists as one of the conditions of
membership the “renunciation of unionism and syncretism of
every description” (Art. VI, 2).

* See “Theology of Fellowship.” pp. 20f. Cf. also C. F. W.
Walther, “Why Should Our Pastors, Teachers, and Professors
Subscribe Unconditionally to the Symbolical Writings of Our
Church,” Concordia Theological Monthly (April 1947), pp.
241—53.

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