Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2023 · 68th Convention, Milwaukee › Page 276
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 276

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

276

LIFE TOGETHER

location, need, and specific accommodations in regard to the
number of worship services and people in attendance; and be it
further
Resolved, That this resolution not be understood to devalue or
seek to stop the use of streaming or recorded services to proclaim
God’s Word; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Texas District memorialize the Synod to do
the same.
Texas District

Resolved, That the congregations of the district be encouraged to
limit online worship; and be it further
Resolved, That congregations of the district be discouraged from
practicing remote membership and virtual congregations; and be it
further
Resolved, That the congregations of the district be encouraged to
teach our members the specific dangers of remote and virtual
worship attendance; and be it finally
Resolved, That this resolution be forwarded to the Synod for
adoption at its 2023 convention.

Ov. 4-07

To Reaffirm Biblical Practice of Gathered Local
Congregations with Rightly Called Local Pastors
and to Encourage Congregations to Practice
In-person Worship, Teaching,
and Administration of Sacraments
WHEREAS, The churches of the Lutheran Confession have
consistently maintained membership rosters for the sake of good
order and pastoral care; and
WHEREAS, Local congregations have long striven to work with
one another fraternally and for the sake of good order in regard to
transfers and changes in membership, as well as honoring church
discipline when such has been necessary; and
WHEREAS, Pastors are instructed to “shepherd the flock of God
that is among [emphasis added] you, exercising oversight,” (1 Peter
5:2) and they have vowed to “perform the functions of a pastor in
an evangelical manner; to aid, counsel, and guide members of all
ages and social conditions; to visit the sick and the dying; to
admonish the indifferent and the erring” (Supplement to the
Diploma of Vocation); and
WHEREAS, A pastor who is not physically among his people is
not able to shepherd the flock by visiting the sick and the dying or
to exercise oversight or to administer the Sacraments in person; and
WHEREAS, The emerging practice of congregations seeking and
receiving as members those who are geographically distant,
especially when there is a local congregation near such individuals,
creates confusion and division in congregations, circuits, and
districts while generating many questions about pastoral oversight
and visitation, care at the time of death, and Christian burial, etc.;
and
WHEREAS, There are already a number of “churches” in the
quickly expanding online world of remote pastors who teach and
guide virtual members; and
WHEREAS, A growing number of Christians are choosing to join
virtual churches and participate exclusively online, and our
Lutheran congregations are not immune from this temptation to
abandon the traditional gathered body of believers as recorded in
Acts 1:12–14; and
WHEREAS, The writer to the Hebrews teaches, “let us consider
how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting
to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb.
10:24–25); therefore be it
Resolved, That the pastors and congregations of the Montana
District be encouraged to study God’s Word and our Lutheran
Confessions to be reminded what it means to be a Christian
congregation and a member of the Body of Christ; and be it further
2023 Convention Workbook

Montana District
Ov. 4-08

To Hold Day of Fasting, Prayer, and Repentance
for Response to 2020–22 COVID-19 Pandemic
WHEREAS, God commands, “Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8); and
WHEREAS, Our Lord and Savior proclaims, “Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of
God” (Matt. 4:4); and
WHEREAS, The apostle Peter declares, “We must obey God
rather than men” (Acts 5:29); and
WHEREAS, The Scriptures admonish Christians to “consider how
to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and
all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24–25); and
WHEREAS, One’s Christian liberty should not be determined by
someone else’s conscience (1 Cor. 10:29); and
WHEREAS, It is erroneous to teach that the Sacrament of the Altar
is “a matter of liberty, not of necessity, and that it is enough if
[Christians] simply believe. Thus, the great majority go so far that
they become quite barbarous and ultimately despise both the
Sacrament and God’s Word” (Large Catechism V 41 [Tappert]);
and
WHEREAS, During the years 2020, 2021, and 2022, responses to
the COVID-19 pandemic by congregations, pastors, Synod
leadership, and affiliated educational institutions included the
cancellation of communal, in-person worship services, the “online”
administration of the Sacrament, the urging of experimental and
controversially-sourced vaccinations, and the submission to the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine mandate;
and
WHEREAS, These responses inculcated in God’s flock and the
world at-large the ideas that communal, in-person worship is nonessential, that worship of God should give way to earthly fear, and
that public opinion or government demand can supersede the
command of God; and
WHEREAS, These responses undoubtedly led to a burdening of
Christian consciences and false accusations of not loving one’s
neighbor as oneself; and
WHEREAS, The great societal distress over the COVID-19
pandemic ought to have finally compelled the Church to keep her
doors open; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod appoint a Sunday as a day of fasting,
prayer, and repentance, for the response to the COVID-19 pandemic
during the years 2020, 2021, and 2022, and encourage all Synod