LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 100

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100 RESOLUTIONS

should earnestly work toward a common approach and
practice in such matters. There must exist between such
church bodies a mutual trust that congregational and
synodical regulations in governing the expression and
exercise of pastoral care will be recognized and respected
by all concerned.

A congregation of one church body may call as its
pastor a clergyman of the other church body, provided
that prior consultation has resulted in mutual approval
by the respective administrative officials of both church
bodies involved in such a call. The establishment of fel-
lowship does not imply the indiscriminate calling of pas-
tors across synodical lines. A congregation and its pastor
shall belong to the same church body and be subject to
the discipline of that church body.

Where fellowship exists between church bodies, this
will express itself in various ways:

1. Pastors in good standing in each church body may
be invited to preach from the pulpits of congregations of
the other church body.

2. Congregations of church bodies in fellowship may
hold joint worship services.

3. Members of the congregations of each church body
who are in good standing in their own congregation and
do not violate principles regulating Communion practices
in the host congregation shall be welcome as guests at
the altar of congregations of the other church body. In
the interest of the pastoral care and responsibility of the
congregation of which an individual is a member, there
should not be an indiscriminate visiting of the altars of
churches either within his own church body or at the
altars of congregations of that church body with which
‘his church is in fellowship.

4, Members in good standing may transfer their mem-
bership from a congregation of one church body to a con-
gregation of the other church body in conformity with the
practices of the receiving congregation.

(Statement accepted in substance by the national and
District presidents of both The American Lutheran
Church and The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod at
a joint meeting in Minneapolis, Feb. 25—~26, 1969)

With this understanding we offer the following reso-

lution:

Wuereas, The three Canadian Districts of The Lu-
theran Church — Missouri Synod have formed the Lu-
theran Church— Canada (LCC) for the purpose of
expediting their work; and

Wnuereas, In 1966 the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Canada (ELCC), formerly a district of The Ameri-
can Lutheran Church, became an autonomous church
body; and

Wuereas, The LCC and the ELCC have examined
each other’s constitutions and found the confessional
basis to be adequate for altar and pulpit fellowship; and

WuerEas, The Commission on Theology and Church
Relations of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod
has reviewed the Constitutional Articles of Faith of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada and found
them to be “both Scriptural and adequate”; and

Wuereas, For several decades doctrinal discussions
between the LCC and ELCC, carried on in various
local, regional, and national meetings, have disclosed
and strengthened a genuine consensus in faith and
understanding; and

Wuereas, At its convention in June 1968 the ELCC
unanimously offered altar and pulpit fellowship to The
Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod; and

Wuereas, The 1968 conventions of the Canadian Dis-

tricts of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod autho-
rized Lutheran Church — Canada to make appropriate
recommendations to the Denver convention; and

Wuereas, The LCC, through the Commission on The-
ology and Church Relations, requests The Lutheran
Church — Missouri Synod to declare altar and pulpit
fellowship with the ELCC to enable the LCC and the
ELCC to give full expression to the unity that God has
given them; therefore be it

Resolved, That with gratitude for the Holy Spirit’s
guidance and blessing The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod establish altar and pulpit fellowship with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada; and be it also

Resolved, That through existing channels of inter-
church relations the Lutheran Church — Canada and
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada be encour-
aged to exercise a mutual ministry to strengthen their
understanding and practice of fellowship; and be it
finally

Resolved, That the Synod commit itself to the fol-
lowing

Conclusion:

We, the members of The Lutheran Church — Mis-
souri Synod, rejoice over the existing unity of faith and
confession, as stated in the doctrinal position of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada and The Lu-
theran Church — Missouri Synod, and we embrace the
opportunities and assume the obligations of altar and
pulpit fellowship. Recognizing that because of our sin-
fulness and human frailties there remain imperfections
in faith and understanding of the riches of God’s grace,
as well as failings in life and practice consistent with
the Gospel, we pledge ourselves to draw these and all
other problems affecting our relationships into the per-
spective of God’s grace as revealed in the divine Word
and deal with them within that framework. We pledge
ourselves always to have a tender regard for each
other’s consciences and to stand by each other in mutual
sympathy and understanding, forbearance and love.

As members of The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod, committed to the Holy Gospel, we obligate our-
selves to continued study and discussion, always re-
membering that we, in the love of Christ, must “bear
one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
(Gal. 6:2)

Action: Adopted as amended (12).
(Amendment: To add to this resolution the preamble and
conclusion of Res. 3-15.)

To Pursue Unity Between Lutheran
Church — Canada and Lutheran Church
in America — Canada Section

RESOLUTION 3-17
Report 2-01, II, B; Overture 3-265 (CW, pp. 62, 196)

Whereas, Lutheran Church— Canada, made up of
the three Districts of The Lutheran Church — Missouri