LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 56

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56

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

see below, II.A.1). The materials are all available on the CTCR’s
website at lcms.org/ctcr.
The Synod’s request for “practical guidelines … to assist officials, pastors, teachers, congregations, and individuals in the Synod
in determining which practices and activities are appropriate to the
various levels of inter-Lutheran and inter-Christian relationships in
which the Synod is involved” (1981 Res. 3-03A) remains permanently on the commission’s agenda as a standing assignment. The
CTCR continues to provide such guidance as needed and requested
(e.g., I.C.2, discussed above).

2. Unity in Doctrine and Uniformity and Variety in
Practice (2019 Res. 5-11)
2019 Res. 5–11 tasked the CTCR with preparing a report on the
relationship between unity in doctrine and uniformity and variety
in practice, the language for which is stipulated in Article III.7 of
the current LCMS Constitution. After discussing the constitutional
history of this issue, the committee is taking a current draft under
consideration and intends to produce this report, along with a possible discussion guide or Bible study, in the next triennium.

3. Biblical Six-Day Creation (2019 Res. 5-09A)
2019 Res. 5-09A encouraged pastors to study and discuss various CTCR reports related to biblical six-day creation, including
Creation in Biblical Perspective (1970), Together with All Creatures (2010), and All Things Hold Together in Christ (2015). It did
not request any direct action from the CTCR, but the commission
continues to review its current resources and consider new ones. It
also commends its recently approved report on the order of creation
as a contribution to this discussion.

4. Beginning of Life Issues (2019 Res. 11-01A)
2016 Task Force 3-04 reviewed all previous CTCR resources
related to relevant beginning of life issues and prepared an overture for convention consideration. 2019 Res. 11-01A then asked the
CTCR to “review and revisit” all pertinent documents in its corpus
“to determine whether and/or where updates to these documents
are needed, particularly regarding in vitro fertilization and recent
developments in genetic testing, and how such potential updates
might best and most effectively be communicated to the Synod.”
The commission and its staff have reviewed and continue to review
these reports with an eye toward if, where, and how updates might
be undertaken.

5. To Affirm the Common Humanity of All Peoples and
Ethnicities (2019 Res. 11-04A)
The 2019 convention passed Res. 11-04A, which encouraged
the use of the CTCR’s 1994 report Racism and the Church. In the
wake of various societal conflicts over race, many members of the
Synod, including the President of Synod, commended this report
and also asked the commission to further explore various aspects
of racism. While the commission found no need to update the 1994
report, it has continued working with the President to address concerns as they arise and to review questions regarding this issue.

6. Provide Assistance regarding Bioethics (1977 Res.
03-26)
The 1977 convention encouraged the CTCR to address the
moral implications of developments in bioethics and biomedical
technology in order to provide guidance to clergy, workers in those
fields, and the entire Synod. The commission uses this standing assignment to address pertinent matters as they arise, such as the new
2023 Convention Workbook

report on end-of-life decision-making (see I.B.4 above). Under this
rubric, it also assisted the Office of the President, in collaboration
with the Office of National Mission’s Life Ministries, in drafting
a statement concerning the Synod’s position on vaccines and fetal
cell lines.

E. Requests for Opinions
The CTCR receives and responds to requests for two sorts of
opinions:
1) Advisory opinions are requests for guidance from the Synod
President, district presidents, and the other Synod officers,
boards, and commissions on matters of theology and practice
under the general rubric that the CTCR “shall provide guidance to the Synod in matters of theology and church relations” (Bylaw 3.9.5.2.1) and “shall assist the President of the
Synod at his request” (Bylaw 3.9.5.2).
2) The Bylaws of the LCMS also specifically require the
CTCR, when requested to do so, to render opinions (within
30 days) on theological questions that may arise in cases of
dispute resolution or cases involving potential expulsion of
an LCMS member (see, e.g., Bylaw 1.10.18.1 [h]; 2.14.7.8
[h][3]).
In the current (2019–2023) extended triennium, the CTCR received no requests for a bylaw-mandated opinion, but did receive
multiple requests from the President of Synod (see I.E.1–2, below).
The resulting opinions are printed in the Appendix. Additionally,
the CTCR also completed an earlier 2015 request from the South
Wisconsin District president (see I.E.3 below).

1. Communion and Covid-19
Following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, President
Harrison requested that the CTCR staff draft an opinion addressing the propriety of online Communion. On March 20, 2020, the
CTCR unanimously approved the staff-drafted opinion, which was
then distributed by President Harrison to all district presidents and,
subsequently, to all members of the Synod. The opinion appeals to
a 2006 opinion regarding DVD consecration as precedent. Communion and Covid-19 specifically applied three points from the
2006 opinion to the current question: (1) The Words of Institution
spoken at consecration should not be separated by time, distance,
or means from the distribution and reception of the Sacrament; (2)
the pastorally spoken Words of Institution are not an incantation
that consecrate the Sacrament through their sound or recording;
and (3) no idiosyncrasy or technique for celebrating the Sacrament
should distract from or give doubt concerning God’s promise given
through the Sacrament. In the estimation of the commission, online
Communion would raise “doubts or uncertainty about the Sacrament” by departing from its New Testament pattern and practice,
and so it refused to endorse either the online consecration of the
elements by a pastor while communicants received the elements in
their home or the pastor consecrating elements for elders to distribute in homes. This opinion is included in the Workbook appendix.

2. “One Little Word Can Fell Him: Addendum to Communion and Covid-19”
In response to the CTCR’s Communion and Covid-19 opinion,
an anonymous critique was published, entitled “Communion in
Home During Times of Crisis: Scriptural and Confessional Principles” (or CIH). At the request of the President of Synod, CTCR
staff drafted a 10-point critique of CIH, which also served as an
elaboration of the arguments made in Communion and Covid-19.