LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 176

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176

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

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September 2021 Governance Exploration: “The work on
which the board is embarking will set the institution on a
path in which it can thrive and move ahead. Having explored
options and making a conscious decision allows the institution to embrace its governance relationships and make important decisions for the future.”

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December 2021 President’s Goals for 2020–2021 include
“By February 11, 2022, the Board has decided on the governance structure that reflects its future relationship with
the LCMS. … I continue to explore this topic with multiple
people, seeking advice and best practices. I believe that the
Board is on track to make a decision no later than February
11.”

Despite repeated clarifications from the LCMS Commission on
Constitutional Matters (CCM) that, in accord with the Scriptures,
presidents of CUS universities must be men, CTX’s proposed new
bylaws are vague on the president being male, making no mention
of his role as theological overseer of the university and changing
pronouns to the generic and grammatically incorrect “their.” Of the
president of any institution of the Concordia University System,
LCMS Bylaw 3.10.6.6 says, “He shall serve as the spiritual, academic, and administrative head of the institution.” The proposed
new bylaws for CTX, however, describe the duties of the president
differently: “The President shall be an executive officer of the University and serve as the head of the University.” Not only does the
proposal remove CTX from the ecclesiastical oversight carried out
by the President of the Synod, the CUS, and the Synod in convention, but it also removes any responsibility for ecclesiastical headship from the president.
CTX’s proposal to separate from the ecclesiastical oversight of
the Synod brings into question CTX’s faithfulness to a Lutheran
identity before such a separation might occur. If CTX is already
robustly and faithfully Lutheran, one could perhaps expect such
a divorce from ecclesiastical oversight to yield—at best—no diminishment of the university’s Lutheran identity. Not one of the
visitors, nor any careful student of the history of formerly churchaffiliated universities, expects such a separation to result in the
university’s increased faithfulness to a scriptural and confessional
Lutheran identity. Therefore, this is the pressing question: If the
current status quo is the ceiling for a Lutheran identity following a
separation of CTX from the Synod, how faithful is CTX presently
to such a Lutheran identity?

shortcoming, however, is its failure to articulate a Lutheran identity. Merely saying “we are Lutheran and we agree with what The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod teaches” fails to offer anything
meaningful whereby the teaching and practice of the university
might be evaluated using the DLI, which is its expressed function.
The DLI calls for university leadership that “both represents
and is committed to” the confession of the faith in Article II of
the LCMS Constitution, as well as “a sufficient number of faculty
who deeply understand the ethos of Lutheran higher education.”
And yet, presently only three members of the leadership team are
members of LCMS congregations. The majority of the faculty are
not members of LCMS congregations, although CTX leadership
suggests improvements have been made in the quantity of LCMS
faculty over the last three years. One interviewee described the current process for catechizing new faculty: a four-day orientation in
the summer, which includes a half day on “Lutheran ethos.” Neither Luther’s Small Catechism nor the Augsburg Confession, both
foundational to a Lutheran identity and prescriptive for a Lutheran
ethos, is used.
The visitation team heard from two former faculty members
who believed that their quick and quiet dismissals were due in
part to their fidelity to the Lutheran Confessions. One other former
faculty member grew so tired of secular worldviews and agendas
antithetical to a Lutheran identity that he left for employment elsewhere.
The visitation team produced an extensive list of troubling
things at odds with the insistence of interviewees that CTX is built
on a solid foundation of Lutheran theology, which would positively
influence students, even if they were not Lutheran, some of which
are listed below:
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The professor of Lutheran identity and mission resigned
from the LCMS clergy roster in 2011.

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Speakers on Lutheran identity have included the current
dean of Christ College, Valparaiso University, and a former
dean of Christ College, Valparaiso University. No interviewee recalled any faculty instruction in Lutheran identity from
anyone in the LCMS.

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Non-Lutheran faculty regularly speak in chapel, and the visitation team was told that this practice has BOR approval.

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In anticipation of the visit, some of the visitation team
members watched the online CTX chapel service for Holy
Tuesday. The service featured a pastor from a local nondenominational church, who invited students to make their first
surrender to God.

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A post on the CTX website from an administrator closed
with a prayer from Richard Rohr, a Roman Catholic priest
who denies that salvation is only through Christ. This prayer
began and concluded, “O Great Love … we offer these
prayers in all the holy names of God. Amen.”

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A CTX webpage on “consent” approaches sexual ethics
from a purely secular perspective, without any treatment of
God’s design for marriage and sexuality. “Show your partner
that you respect them enough to ask about their sexual needs
and desires. If you are not accustomed to communicating
with your partner about sex and sexual activity, the first few
times may feel awkward. Practice makes perfect. Be creative
and spontaneous. Don’t give up.”

Lutheran Identity
What does the evidence show regarding CTX’s Lutheran identity? Interviewees assured members of the visitation team that the
university has a clear, distinct Lutheran identity. Few, however,
articulated what a Lutheran identity is. Some interviewees talked
about vocation and preparing students for lives of service. Some
interviewees spoke of the paradoxes of Lutheran theology. Some
faculty told us they were glad to be able to talk about faith in the
classroom; others told us that a Lutheran identity is not part of their
jobs.
In order to maintain alignment with LCMS doctrine and practice, the CTX BOR drafted Concordia University Texas—A Demonstration of its Lutheran Identity (DLI), “a framework by which
CTX will live out and demonstrate faithfulness to its Lutheran
identity.” This document notably states that CTX will continue to
subscribe to Article II of the LCMS Constitution, despite a pending
proposal to separate itself from the Synod. The document’s major
2023 Convention Workbook