LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 68

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68

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
tional opportunities outside its local context, that seek it out
for Kingdom work.

As of the writing of this report, the Board of Regents has not yet
reversed its action.
As Synod Bylaw 1.10.1.4 reminds, “Christian conflict resolution seeks to resolve issues in a manner pleasing to God. Those
in conflict are urged to proceed prayerfully in good faith and trust.
Disputes are more likely to be resolved harmoniously if those involved in the conflict recognize one another as redeemed children
of God,” that is, when we truly love one another as described in
1 John 4:9, 11 (KJV), “In this was manifested the love of God
toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the
world, so that we might live through Him. … Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

•

A failure to emphasize compliance with the doctrine and
practice of the LCMS is a departure from what we as a
church body believe, teach, confess, and do. This increases
the likelihood of mere shallow compliance with Article II of
the Synod’s Constitution. If there is any phrase that captures
the depth and entirety of the Synod’s confessional position,
its heart and soul, it is the phrase “the Synod’s doctrine and
practice,” which includes the entire Synod Handbook and
also its official doctrinal resolutions and statements, a phrase
referred to no less than 16 times throughout the Handbook
(Articles of Incorporation II c; Const. Art. XI B 2–3; Bylaws
2.14.5 [d]; 2.14.7.8 [f]; 2.15.7.8 [f]; 2.16.7.6 [f]; 2.17.5 [d];
3.6.6.4 [e]; 3.6.6.5 [e]; 3.10.6.4 [e]; 3.6.6.5 [e]; 3.10.6.4 [i]
[9]; 4.1.5; 4.8.1 [b]; 6.2.1; 6.2.2.2 [c][1]; and 6.1.3 [f]).

•

The Board of Regents is to act as an “agent of the Synod”
and as “custodian of the Synod’s property” (Bylaws 1.2.1
[a] and [r]; 3.10.6.4 [i]; 3.10.6.4 [i][1]; and 3.10.6.5). And
as with all officers and agencies of the Synod, they “shall be
accountable to the Synod for all their actions, and any concerns regarding the decisions of such officers and agencies
may be brought to the attention of the Synod in convention
for appropriate action” (Bylaw 1.4.1).

•

Finally, the Board of Regents acted less than two months
after finally providing CUS with CTX’s completed proposal,
thereby bypassing Bylaw 3.6.6.4 (i), and on Nov. 8, 2022,
voted to separate from the Synod through the purported
adoption of revisions to its governance documents.

Bylaws 1.10.1.5 and 1.10.1.6 get to the very heart of the matter,
providing wise counsel for Christians in dispute:
Christians involved in conflict must always stand ready to
ask for or extend forgiveness in accordance with Scripture.
As the church endeavors to help bring about peace, truth, justice, and reconciliation, it always seeks to do so with a proper
distinction between Law and Gospel, that is, in the context
of God’s judgment and mercy. We are ever to be mindful that
it is God who judges the hearts of sinful men and grants His
gracious word of forgiveness to us all.
When there is repentance and reconciliation, the body of
Christ rejoices in its oneness with Christ and with one another.
It is this love for each other, founded upon the love of God that
is ours in Christ, that brought CUS to Austin to meet with the CTX
regents and leadership. CUS’s stated goal for the meeting was to
seek repentance and, thereby, reconciliation.
Here are some of the reasons for this call to repentance.
•

CTX’s governance document changes are not an “alignment
with the Synod.” CTX has been aligned with our Synod for
nearly 100 years. Instead, the governance document revisions move CTX toward becoming separate from and unaligned with the Synod. Along with this, the governance
documents provide subscriptions to Holy Scripture and the
Lutheran Confessions that are not whole in CUS’s view,
much like that of so many other so-called Lutheran church
bodies and educational institutions whose good intentions
have ultimately lacked the depth of conviction to be able to
withstand over time the pressures and even persecutions of
an increasingly godless society.

•

An attempt to distance the university from our Synod occurs
throughout certain documents shared with the CUS Board.
In particular, they omit all references to the doctrine and
practice of our Synod, creating distance from the Synod. The
university retains sole power for it to do all that is necessary
or desirable to carry out its goals and purposes, this contrary
to one of an LCMS university’s primary duties clearly stated
in Synod Bylaw 3.10.6.1, that is, “the defining and fulfilling
of the mission of the institution within the broad assignment
of the Synod.”

•

The documentation provided to the CUS Board further appears to direct the university’s focus away from the Synod
toward: (a) LCMS entities such as congregations, schools,
and organizations; (b) the Texas District; (c) the greater
Austin Christian community (as a partner in the work of the
church’s mission across the region); and (d) national/interna-

2023 Convention Workbook

For the last three Synod conventions (2013, 2016, 2019), the
Synod has received overtures and resolutions that have requested
that CUS schools draw closer to the Synod in doctrine and practice.
All of these resolutions were adopted by more than 90 percent of
the delegates at those conventions. While most CUS schools have
already moved in that direction, the purported changes in CTX’s
governance documents move CTX in precisely the opposite direction through the removal of LCMS theological oversight. While
offering to “align” with the Texas District, CTX’s proposed governance documents describe an independent, self-perpetuating board
with an expanded presidential authority, leaving the LCMS with
little if any means to assure theological integrity.
CTX was founded in 1926 by members of the Lutheran, Texas, Wendish, immigrant community. One of their number, John
Killian, was also the founder of the first Texas Lutheran Church
that was a member of the LCMS. For 96 years, Missouri Synod
Lutherans have sent their children and their gifts to constitute and
result in the present campus and university operations. Those generations of Lutherans assumed that their support would further the
higher educational mission of the LCMS and nurture students in
the doctrine and practice of the Church. The church is indebted to
these saints and has a sacred obligation to preserve and enhance
their investment.
Beyond this ecclesial solidarity with previous generations of
confessing Lutherans, CTX occupies a strategic location for the
present and future witness of the LCMS. The city of Austin is at
the epicenter of economic and demographic growth in the United
States. CTX is the only campus that the LCMS has in the southern
portion of the United States and provides an irreplaceable platform
for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing the full