LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 13

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SYNOD REPORTS
Only by the mercy of our almighty God does hope remain for us
poor, miserable sinners. By His grace, through Word and Sacraments,
the evangelical witness and authentic message of sin and grace, Law
and Gospel, must resound to a troubled world so desperately in need
of His love in Christ.
May God grant each of us sensitivity, humility, boldness, courage, faithfulness, and forgiveness as we continue to strive toward
God-pleasing harmony and concord in what we believe, teach, and
confess. We have much to accomplish in the mission our Lord Jesus
has entrusted to us.
May God have mercy upon us all, and grant us His peace in Christ.
Appendix II
Appointment of Task Force on Theological Implications of
ELCA Human Sexuality Decisions

January 6, 2010
The Epiphany of Our Lord
Dr. Joel Lehenbauer
Dr. Dale Meyer
Dr. Dean Nadasdy
Dr. Samuel Nafzger
Rev. Larry Vogel
Dr. Dean Wenthe
Rev. John Wohlrabe
Dear Brothers in Christ:
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world and
Lord of the universe, through whom alone we receive forgiveness of
sin, life, and salvation!
On a number of occasions during the past few months I have
responded in several ways to the decisions of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America’s Churchwide Assembly this past summer regarding same-gender unions and ordination of homosexual
pastors. These ELCA actions regarding issues of human sexuality,
together with those proposed by the Lutheran Church of Sweden
and other church bodies, have caused consternation and confusion
in many Lutheran arenas around the world.
In my address to the ELCA Assembly I said, “The decisions by this
assembly to grant non-celibate homosexual ministers the privilege of
serving as rostered leaders in the ELCA and the affirmation of samegender unions as pleasing to God will undoubtedly cause additional
stress and disharmony within the ELCA. It will also negatively affect
the relationships between our two church bodies. The current division
between our churches threatens to become a chasm. This grieves my
heart and the hearts of all in the ELCA, the LCMS, and other Christian
church bodies throughout the world who do not see these decisions as
compatible with the Word of God, or in agreement with the consensus of 2,000 years of Christian theological affirmation regarding what
Scripture teaches about human sexuality. Simply stated, this matter is
fundamentally related to significant differences in how we [our two
church bodies] understand the authority of Holy Scripture and the
interpretation of God’s revealed and infallible Word.”

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In many ways, those words are proving to be prophetic. In the
midst of the stress and disharmony within the ELCA, questions are
being asked by LCMS District Presidents, parish pastors, Synod and
congregational leaders regarding how to respond to ELCA decisions
and inquiries from ELCA people, congregations, and pastors. In general, the questions might be summarized this way:
1. What are the theological and practical implications of belonging to a Lutheran church body when other church bodies
that bear the name “Lutheran” are making decisions that are
not in accord with Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions?
2. What can be done to express properly and pastorally our
concerns about the ELCA’s obviously different and, from
our perspective, unacceptable approach to biblical authority?
3. How should LCMS pastors, congregations, and individual
members respond theologically and pastorally to contacts
from ELCA pastors, congregations, and individual members, while being sensitive and welcoming, without being
judgmental or appearing to be interested in “sheep stealing”?
4. On what theological basis can or should the LCMS continue
to be involved in inter-Lutheran, cooperative ministry with
the ELCA? Or is it theologically mandatory that we separate
ourselves from such inter-Lutheran involvement?
These questions and my desire to help our congregations and pastors address this very important matter have resulted in this request
for the development of a theological statement that addresses issues
of biblical authority, especially in matters of human sexuality, from
the perspective of our own identity as LCMS Lutherans. Production
of such a statement should involve those charged with providing theological leadership in our Synod. As one of such theological leaders,
I’m inviting you to address this important matter as a member of the
Task Force on Theological Implications of ELCA Human Sexuality
Decisions. In accomplishing the task set before you, feel free and
be encouraged to seek input and counsel from others in the Synod,
especially those whose ministries intersect in any way with ELCA
individuals or agencies.
Here are some further considerations in this regard:
• World Lutheranism is facing a growing vacuum of confessional
leadership.
o ELCA actions this summer revealed that the largest Lutheran
church body in America is no longer able to confess an unambiguous biblical teaching, especially on a matter of significance
and relevance in our country and throughout the world.
o The ELCA’s action represents something deeper than disagreement over a single point of sexual ethics. It involves a failure
to uphold the Confessions’ confidence in and reliance upon the
final authority of Holy Scripture.
• The urgent need for confessional theological leadership can be
demonstrated in several ways.
o There have been significant numbers of contacts with the LCMS
from:
1. ELCA Lutheran individuals and congregation in the
U.S.;
2. Some ELCA dissenting groups (e.g., Lutheran CORE,
Word Alone, STS);
3. Lutheran church bodies outside the U.S. (e.g., Ethiopian
Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Lutheran Churches in
Madagascar, several African countries, et al.).

o Member churches of the Lutheran World Federation have exhibited increasingly respectful recognition of the International
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