LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 226

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12. RETENTION: SCHOOLS, FAMILY, YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS

To Strengthen the Family
as the Center of Discipleship
RESOLUTION 12-07B
Reports R1–1.2, R63, R65–66 (CW, 1–18, 343–84);
Overtures 12-03–05 (CW, 551–53); President’s Report,
Part 2 (TB, 1:19–26)

WHEREAS, The divine purposes for marriage are: 1) “for
mutual companionship, help, and support that each person
ought to receive from the other, both in prosperity and
adversity”; 2) “that man and woman may find delight in
one another … (and) shall take a spouse in holiness and
purity, not in the passion of lust, for God has not called us
to impurity but in holiness”; and 3) “for the procreation of
children who are to be brought up in the fear and
instruction of the Lord so that they may offer Him their
praise” (Lutheran Service Book [LSB] Agenda, 65; LSB, 275;
Gen. 2:23–24; Matt. 19:4–6); and
WHEREAS, Scripture teaches that marriage between one
man and one woman in life-long fidelity to each other is the
very image and representation of the Gospel; that is, of
Christ’s eternal fidelity and love for His bride, the Church
(Eph. 5:22–33; Rev. 19:1–9); and
WHEREAS, It is the duty of parents to pass on the faith to
their children: “Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6),
and as Paul says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to
anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4); and
WHEREAS, Moses writes in Deut. 6:6–7, “And these words
that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall
teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of
them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the
way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”; and
WHEREAS, If the duties of passing on the faith to the next
generation are neglected, an entire generation of our
children are at risk of not knowing the Lord, such as
happened in the time after Joshua’s death, when a whole
generation of Israelites did not know the Lord or the things
He had done in their midst (Judges 2:10); and
WHEREAS, The Large Catechism comments on the
promise God makes for those who keep this commandment
in reference to Ex. 20:12 and from Eph. 6:3 saying, “From
this you can see for yourself how serious God is about this
commandment. He not only declares that it is well pleasing
to Him and that He has joy and delight in it, but He also
declares that it shall prosper us and promote our highest
good, so that we may have a pleasant and agreeable life,
furnished with every good thing” (LC I 131–32); and
WHEREAS, It is clear this command was not meant to be
just for the next generation, but for succeeding generations,
as Moses says, “Now this is the commandment—the
statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God
226 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

commanded me to teach you ... that you may fear the LORD
your God, you and your son and your son’s son” (Deut. 6:1–
2); and
WHEREAS, Mothers and fathers are members of the
priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2); and
WHEREAS, The 2016 convention resolved to add
“strengthen and support the Lutheran family in living out
God’s design” as a seventh priority of the Office of National
Mission (Resolution 4-02A; 16-02A); and
WHEREAS, Faith formation has been misunderstood as
primarily the responsibility of the church, while the above
Scriptures, as well as sociological studies, show that
parents are the primary influence on faith formation:
• when the father and mother attend church
regularly, 33 percent of their children end up as
regular churchgoers;
• when the mother attends regularly but the father
is non-practicing, only two percent of their
children become regular churchgoers;
• when the father attends regularly but the mother
is non-practicing, 44 percent of the children
become regular churchgoers (Haug and Warner,
Vol. 2 of Population Studies No. 31, [Strasbourg,
2000]);
• and the church’s responsibility lies in equipping
the parents;
and
WHEREAS, Another study, focused on Sunday School,
found similar results on the impact of parents:
• when both parents attend Bible study in addition
to the Sunday service, 72 percent of their children
attend Sunday school when grown;
• when only the father attends Sunday school, 55
percent of the children attend when grown;
• when only the mother attends Sunday school, 15
percent of the children attend when grown;
• when neither parent attends Sunday school, only
six percent of the children attend when grown
(Nick Cady, The Impact on Kids of Dad’s Faith and
Church
Attendance,
June
20,
2016,
www.nickcady.org);
and
WHEREAS, Additionally, the survey found that:
• if a child is the first person in a household to
become a Christian, there is a 3.5 percent
probability everyone else in the household will
follow;
• if the mother is the first to become a Christian,
there is a 17 percent probability everyone else in
the household will follow;

Resolutions