LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 74

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74

SYNOD REPORTS

It also posts the minutes of its meetings online at www.lcms.org/bod,
and it sends out a quarterly e-newsletter from the Synod’s Web site for
those persons who have signed up to receive the mailing.
Finally, the Synod needs to know that this board has worked
together in an effective manner, as reflected in its self-evaluation.
It has worked through some tough issues with care and diligence,
respected various viewpoints, sought and often achieved consensus,
used time efficiently, and, above all, tried hard to keep focused equally
on caring for people and executing its tasks. For that, God is praised,
as are all with whom the board has been privileged to serve.
Donald Muchow, Chairman
Ronald Schultz, LCMS Chief Administrative Officer
Note
1. Legal fees include actual expenses for 2008 and 2009 and approximately seven periods of 2010.

R4-04-01

Progress Report of the Task Force
on Synodical Harmony
Introduction
The 2007 national convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod adopted Res. 4-01A:

Resolved, That the Council of Presidents and Board of Directors as
elected leaders of the Synod be given the responsibility to initiate a specific plan for the sake of the whole church to restore harmony in our
Synod; and be it further
Resolved, That they bring together a representative group of respected
leaders throughout this church for a summit, and that at the end of this
summit these church leaders present to the Council of Presidents and to
the Board of Directors a strategy toward harmony that demonstrates how
this great church body can provide a God-pleasing witness of our confession and practice; and be it finally
Resolved, That the product of their coming together honor the
Scriptures and Confessions and dishonor the work of Satan that diverts
us from the “way of the Lord.”

In response to this resolution the Council of Presidents and Board
of Directors chartered a group of twelve leaders in the Synod with
the task of recommending “a strategy for harmony.” Three of these
leaders came from the Council of Presidents, three from the Board
of Directors, and six from the church at large. This group of twelve
constitutes the Task Force on Synodical Harmony.
Early in our work, the task force members realized that we needed
a common language for communication with the church and with one
another. Three concepts that kept reappearing in our conversations
were unity, concord, and harmony. We often used them interchangeably with some confusion and miscommunication. It was extremely
helpful in our work to develop a clear definition for each of the concepts. These can be summarized below:
• Unity: The oneness that all believers in Christ have with each
other through Spirit-given faith in Jesus created through the
means of grace. “There is one body and one Spirit—just as
you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one
Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:4). This unity cannot be
seen by human eyes, but we confess it by faith: “I believe in
one holy Christian and apostolic church” (Nicene Creed).
• Concord: The oneness that believers in Christ seek to manifest and express in their confession of the Gospel and “all its
articles” (FC SD X, 31). The church’s unity as confessed in
the Creed is a “given.” Concord in doctrine and confession is

a goal that we “strive to maintain” (Eph. 4:3) by God’s grace
on the basis of His Word. St. Paul urges the Christians at
Corinth—and us—to speak the same thing, to avoid divisions,
and to be perfectly united in the same mind and judgment (1
Cor. 1:10–11). The Book of Concord sets forth what we in the
LCMS continue to affirm without qualification as a “single,
universally accepted, certain, and common form of doctrine,”
drawn from the Word of God, that bears faithful witness to the
oneness of doctrine and confession that serves as the basis for
true concord in the church.
• Harmony: The oneness that believers in Christ seek to manifest and express in their life together as God’s people. Paul
urges those who are united in Christ and who seek to manifest
that unity through concord in doctrine and confession to be
eager to maintain this unity “in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).
He reminds the Christians at Corinth that Christ-like attitudes
and behavior are crucial to their efforts to maintain doctrinal
concord (1 Cor. 13). Above all, says Paul in Colossians, “put
on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”
(Col. 3:14). “Paul urges that there be love in the church to
preserve harmony…lest the church disintegrate into various
schisms and lest enmities, factions and heresies arise from such
schisms” (Ap IV, 232).
In summary, unity focuses on our oneness with Christians everywhere by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Concord focuses on our
oneness in doctrine and practice. Harmony focuses our life together in
Christ to be characterized by Christ-like attitudes, particularly love.
These definitions helped us focus on a biblical understanding of harmony and its relationship to unity and concord.
Task force members also reached some initial conclusions as we
considered our charter. These observations were foundational for our
work:
• While we will look at what divides and alienates us from one
another, we must not ignore the abounding grace of God
among us. God’s people still gather around the Word and the
Sacraments to be graced with His forgiveness and together
move forward in God’s mission in the world. The treasure of
the church is still ours—the glory and grace of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
• While disharmony in the Synod is nothing new (an undercurrent
of quarrelling, rumor, and unkind words being present through
most of our Synod’s history), in recent years it has deepened to
the point of being destructive of both our unity in Christ and
our concord in doctrine and practice.
• We are convinced that until we find a way to speak and to listen to one another in love, little hope exists for moving toward
greater concord in doctrine and practice. Luther’s insight is
compelling: “Where there is no love, there doctrine cannot
remain pure” (LW 24, 244).
• We also believe that conflict can be a blessing in the church.
Historically, the church has taken quantum leaps out of its
conflicts. The debate at the Jerusalem Council clarified the
church’s doctrine of salvation and united her in mission. The
Arian conflict of the fourth century led to a trinitarian confession in the Nicene Creed. The conflict over justification in
the sixteenth century led to the Reformation and the Lutheran
Confessions. Closer to home, the LCMS conflict of the 1970s
yielded a church with a more clearly defined theology of the
authority of the Scriptures.
• Disharmony in the LCMS is not just about what we say and
what we do with one other; it is about the way we are with one
another. It is a concern for our character as Christians who

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