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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 427

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

THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
The Synod is in altar and pulpit fellowship with two other church
bodies in southern Africa. The first of those churches, the Free
Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA) was
founded in 1892 to avoid unionistic practices found in Germany.
The Synod also is in altar and pulpit fellowship with the Lutheran
Church in Southern Africa (LCSA) which was founded as an
independent church in 1967 with roots in the missionary work of
FELSISA. These two church bodies have maintained friendly
relations with the CLCSA over the years. It is our prayer that the
three church bodies will grow closer to one another.
In 2018, the International Lutheran Council (ILC) welcomed the
CLCSA into membership.
WHEREAS, The CLCSA formally requested altar and pulpit
fellowship with the LCMS in October 2015; and
WHEREAS, The CLCSA accepts all the canonical books of the
Sacred Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testaments as the
infallible, revealed Word of God. As a correct exposition of the
Sacred Scriptures, the CLCSA accepts the symbolic books of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church, compiled in the Book of Concord of
1580, and it will not admit any modification to this rule; and
WHEREAS, The 2016 Handbook, Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2(b), says,
“When a church body applies for formal recognition of altar and
pulpit fellowship with the Synod, such recognition shall be
proposed at a convention of the Synod only after the approval of the
commission”; and
WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations
has examined pertinent theological and organizational documents
of the CLCSA and found these documents to be faithful to Scripture
and the Lutheran Confessions; therefore be it
Resolved, That we acknowledge with gratitude the unity of
confession that has been given to our churches under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod formally recognize the existence of
altar and pulpit fellowship between the CLCSA and the Synod; and
be it further
Resolved, That we encourage and walk with the CLCSA as they
proclaim the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Synod renew its commitment to work
together and cooperate in the mission of the Gospel in South Africa
with the CLCSA, FELSISA, and LCSA; and be it further
Resolved, That we pray for God’s blessings in the coming years
on this agreement in the confession of the Gospel that the CLCSA
and Synod enjoy as partner churches; and be it finally
Resolved, That in celebration and thanksgiving of this
partnership in the Gospel, the convention assembly signify its
approval by rising and singing the common doxology.
Commission on Theology and Church Relations
Ov. 5-04

To Clarify Status of LCMS Relationships
in Sri Lanka
Preamble
The Lanka Lutheran Church was a mission start of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod beginning in 1927, achieving recognition
as a self-governing church by the Synod in 2001. In 2001 the Lanka
Lutheran Church also became a member of the International

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Lutheran Council (ILC) and the Lutheran World Federation. The
Lanka Lutheran Church was declared defunct by the Sri Lankan
government in 2007. The Synod continued to work in Sri Lanka,
and the former Lanka Lutheran Church was reconstituted as the
legally registered Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) in
2017. The CELC was inducted as a member of the ILC in 2018 at
the same time that the defunct Lanka Lutheran Church was removed
from membership. Although not yet ready to be recognized as a
self-governing church body, it is expected that, in the years to come,
the CELC will apply to be recognized by the Synod as a selfgoverning partner church body.
WHEREAS, The Lanka Lutheran Church was recognized in 2001
as being in altar and pulpit fellowship with the Synod; and
WHEREAS, The Lanka Lutheran Church ceased to exist as a legal
entity in 2007; and
WHEREAS, The Synod has continued its mission work in Sri
Lanka that began in 1927 and has assisted in the reorganization of
the former Lanka Lutheran Church as the new and legal CELC; and
WHEREAS, The ILC in 2018 removed the Lanka Lutheran Church
from its membership and welcomed the CELC into membership;
therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod formally recognize that it is no longer
in altar and pulpit fellowship with the now-defunct Lanka Lutheran
Church and that it has removed the Lanka Lutheran Church from
the roster of church bodies with whom it is in altar and pulpit
fellowship; and be it further
Resolved, That the convention give thanks for the Synod’s
mission work and the work of the Office of International Mission
(OIM) in Sri Lanka; and be it further
Resolved, That the convention and the Synod will continue to
pray to the Lord of the harvest for the work being done in Sri Lanka
by the CELC; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Synod will continue to support and pray for
the work being done by the OIM in Sri Lanka and by the CELC.
Commission on Theology and Church Relations
Ov. 5-05

To Revise Paragraph 3(a) of the
Operating Agreement Between
the Lutheran Church—Canada
and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in
convention at Indianapolis, Indiana, July 1986, unanimously
approved the formation of an autonomous Lutheran Church—
Canada (LCC) out of the previous three Synod districts of the
LCMS in Canada, namely: The Ontario District, the ManitobaSaskatchewan District and the Alberta-British Columbia District;
and
WHEREAS, A protocol document, titled, “Operating Agreement
between Lutheran Church—Canada and The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod,” signed May 1987, was to provide a path for the
two separate but interdependent church bodies to govern their
relationships going forward; and
WHEREAS, That Operating Agreement has worked fairly well
over the thirty years it has been in place, allowing the LCC to
become established and standing on its own feet apart from the
mothering church. For example, it has been able to graduate from
2019 Convention Workbook