Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1981 · 54th Convention › Page 396
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 396

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

396

POSTSCRIPT

THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS

POSTSCRIPT: A Plea for Responsible Freedom
in the Context of Responsible Commitment

The Commission concludes this study with a pastoral word to the
members of the Synod concerning our loving commitment to each other
This report has shown that, while the Scriptures present basic principles
regarding the nature of feliowship, they do not provide the specific
organizational structure and procedures for the implementation of these
principles. This task is left for the church to carry out

By virtue of our membership in the Synod, we in the LCMS have
voluntarily agreed with one another regarding those activities and actions
with fellow Christians in other church bodies which we understand the
Scriptural principles of fellowship to permit and prohibit. “* We have made
certain decisions together regarding the specific meaning of altar and pulpit
fellowship, as well as the way in which we go about declaring it and
implementing it. We have also established procedures for revising previous
decisions in this area. The loving commitment of the members of the Synod
to each other requires that we submit ourselves to our joint decisions.”

“6 Article VI of the constitution of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod, for example, requires the renunciation of “taking
Part in the services and sacramental rites of heterodox congrega-
tions or of congregations of mixed confession.”

~Cf. Roland Wiederaenders, Circuit Counselor’s Manual.
rev. ed.. 1979, p. 5: “All the members of the Synod, congrega-
tions. pastors and teachers are to consider the rules and
regulations of the Synod as applicable to them. Resolutions of the
Synod are to be respected not because the Synod is a legislative
body which legislates for its members, but because such resolu-
tions are the expression of the majority and because Christian
love asks that for the sake of peace and harmony we submit
ourselves one to another in the fear of God. If a congregation or
another member of the Synod is convinced that a resolution is not
inharmony with the Word of God, such a member should seek to
demonstrate that conviction from holy Scripture, not merely to
assert that it is a conviction and ignore the resolutions of the
Synod. Such resolutions of the Synod are adopted in order to
carry out the objectives of the Synod—objectives to which
members of the Synod pledge themselves when they sign the
constitution of the Synod.”

45

The workability of ecclesiastical declarations of altar and puipit fellow-
ship is dependent upon the existence of mutual trust and confidence among
the pastors, teachers, and congregations of the Synod. Such an atmosphere
comes into being when the members of the Synod voluntarily demonstrate
their responsible commitment not only to its doctrinal position but also to its
mutually agreed-upon decisions. This means that from time to time
responsibly committed members of the Synod may have to forego the
practice of church fellowship with individuals and congregations with
whom they find themselves in doctrinal agreement. It is not sufficient for
responsibly committed members of the Synod to justify the violation of their
mutual decisions with the claim that a certain activity can be engaged in
without violating specific doctrines taught in the Scriptures and confessed in
the Lutheran symbols. The love of Christ, which seeks the edification of aif
members of His body, will also constrain us to take seriously the commit-
ments which we have made with our fellow members in the Synod

At the same time, it must also be recognized that unusual and difficult
situations can and do arise in this world. Responsible commitment to our
mutually agreed-upon fellowship policies does not mean legalistic siavery to
rules. Rather, this very commitment itself demands freedom for responsible
pastoral ministry. When, in certain unusual circumstances, our regular ways
of proceeding would get in the way of a ministry of Word and sacrament toa
person in spiritual need, then an alternate way of proceeding must be sought.
In such cases the advice and counsel of brothers in the ministry can be of
inestimable value. It should also be recognized that individuals equally
committed to the Scriptural principles of fellowship may not always come to
identical conclusions regarding specific ways of proceeding in administering
pastoral care in such exceptional cases. It is imperative that pastors show a
mutual respect for one another’s ministry. Uninformed and judgmental
criticism of actions which appear to be wiolations of mutually agreed-upon
ways of proceeding are destructive of the trust and confidence which fellow
members of the Synod should have in one another. It should go without
saying, however, that Christian love includes the exercise of loving admoni-
tion and doctrinal oversight, especially by those to whom this responsibility
has been entrusted.

Freedom for responsible pastoral ministry goes hand in hand with
responsible commitment to mutual decisions. It is impossible to have one
without the other. A lack of responsible commitment invites the very
suspicion and mistrust which inhibits responsible pastoral care. But genuine
commitment to our agreed-upon procedures builds the atmosphere of
confidence and trust in which freedom for pastoral ministry thrives.