Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Page 166
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 166

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

166 CHURCH RELATIONS

the Book of Concord, 1580, as a true exhibition of sound
Christian doctrine; and

Wuereas, The efforts toward altar and pulpit fellow-
ship with The ALC have done much tto stress the
“acknowledging” but little the “remaining true to” the
Book of Concord; and

Wuereas, Any real advantage of such proposed fel-
lowship is much beclouded by the ALC’s associations
with the Lutheran World Federation and the World
Council of Churches; and

Whereas, The true unity of the body of Christ has
existed, and always will exist, only in the Holy Spirit;
therefore be it

Resolved, That this convention refrain from estab-
lishing altar and pulpit fellowship with The ALC until
such time as The ALC shows, by its teaching and prac-
tice, that it does indeed acknowledge and remain true
to the Book of Concord as a true exhibition of sound

Christian doctrine. — gy Paut Lutieran CHurcH

Cincinnati, Ohio

DANIEL B. STARTSMAN, Chairman

Water H. RoscukF, Pastor
(3-193)

Not to Enter into Formal Fellowship

Wuereas, The strength of our Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod has always been its loyal adherence to
the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God; and

Whereas, The prophecy of the Sacred Scripture, “In
the latter days there shall be a falling away from the
truth” is finding its fulfillment in our day; and

Wuereas, The ecumenical movement tends to mini-
mize the importance of doctrine and to compromise the
truth; and

Whereas, It is apparent that The American Lutheran
Church is permitting erroneous views of the Bible
truths concerning the infallibility, the inspiration, and
the truthfulness of Scripture to be taught in its prepara-
tory schools without disciplining those who thus teach
(see Theological Perspectives and The Bible: Book of
Faith); and

Whereas, It is our firm conviction that altar and pul-
pit fellowship with The American Lutheran Church
would serve to weaken our testimony to the truth before
the world: and

Wuereas, The American Lutheran Church in its
recent convention voted to establish altar and pulpit
fellowship with the Lutheran Church in America, an
even more liberal church body: therefore be it

Resolved, That St. Paul’s Congregation of San Diego
respectfully request The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod, assembled in convention at Denver, Colo., not to
enter into formal altar and pulpit fellowship with The
American Lutheran Church at this time.

St, Paut’s LUTHERAN CONGREGATION
San Diego, Calif.

Victor J. Stusss, Chairman

G. C. ScHRAMM, Pastor

(3-194)
Not to Enter into Fellowship

Whereas, After study of the three essays on Sola
Gratia, Sola Scriptura, and the doctrine of the church,
and the booklet Toward Fellowship, including Resolu-
tion 3-23, we find them incomplete in covering the
doctrines that need to be studied and agreed upon; and

Wuereas, It may have been shown that a consensus
existed for the commissioners who drew up the essays;
nevertheless it has not been shown that a consensus
exists on the local level among the members of The
Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod internally nor be-
tween the two synods; and

Whereas, Holy Scripture says (1 Cor.1:10), “Now
I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there
be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judg-
ment,” but yet we find from reading both official and
unofficial writings of our Synod that there is much dis-
harmony among the members of the Synod in regard to
the basic issues of altar and pulpit fellowship with The
American Lutheran Church; and

Wuereas, Holy Scripture says (2 Tim.3:16), “All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” and (1 Cor.
2:13), “We speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth,” but
professors and teachers within The ALC subscribe to
and hold such statements as “We . . . cannot subscribe
to Scriptural inerrancy because our knowledge of Scrip-
tures prevents us from making such a claim,” and “To
simply affirm that every statement is inerrant, therefore
impervious to critical examination, is not only an ob-
scurantist attitude but fails to recognize that God used
human beings to bring us His Word” (Luther College
Bulletin, IV, 2, Spring 1967, p.6) and “The Word of
God dare not simply be equated with the words of the
Bible. Nothing leads to greater misunderstanding of
biblical inspiration than this false equation.” “The in-
fallibility of the Scriptures is the infallibility of Jesus
Christ and not the infallibility of the written text” (W.
H. Weiblen, The Bible: Book of Faith, Augsburg Pub-
lishing House, Minneapolis, 1964, pp. 143, 148), which
statements show that a false view of Scripture is being
held in The ALC: and

Whereas, The American Lutheran Church as a body
practices religious unionism as a member of the Lu-
theran World Federation and the World Council of
Churches, and with the Lutheran Church in America,
which is contrary to 1 Cor. 1:10; 1 Tim. 6:3-5; and Rom.
16:17, since none of these organizations “all speak the
same thing,” nor are they “perfectly joined together
in the same mind and in the same judgment,” yet they
either are or assume the functions of a church: and

Whereas, The “Joint Statement and Declaration”
calls for fellowship without complete agreement in doc-
trine, and does not describe what the “practices in the
church which militate against the Gospel” are, which
puts us in a position contrary to 1 Cor. 1:10: and