LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 277

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LIFE TOGETHER
congregations, pastors, Synod leadership, and affiliated educational
institutions to observe it.
Circuit 10 (Middle Tennessee), Mid-South District;
Circuit 9 (Nashville), Mid-South District
Ov. 4-09

To Rejoice in Proclamation of God’s Word
by His Called and Ordained Servants
WHEREAS, We come to the Divine Service not to serve, but to be
served by God through His called and ordained servants, as we
confess our sins, hear His words of Absolution spoken by the pastor
in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, hear Law
and Gospel rightly divided, and receive the Sacrament of Christ’s
body and blood; and
WHEREAS, When we hear the words of forgiveness of our sins
spoken by the pastor at Christ’s command, we are to rejoice and to
believe them as surely and certainly as if spoken by Christ Himself;
and
WHEREAS, In the orientation of the service, the words spoken
from the altar, pulpit, and lectern are the words of God spoken for
our benefit, whereas the congregation faces the altar and speaks
back the words God has said to us; and
WHEREAS, It is a great blessing for all those in the congregation
to hear the Word of God spoken by our pastors, who are our servants
(Mark 9:35), and it is meet, right, and salutary that we should accept
their service to us; and
WHEREAS, Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:17), and the use of
lay readers for Scripture lessons denies those persons the comfort
and benefit of hearing the Word of God spoken directly to and for
them by their pastors; and
WHEREAS, No one should publicly preach and teach in the
church without a rightly ordered call (Augsburg Confession XIV);
there can be no clearer public teaching of the Word of God than
reading it in the Divine Service; and thus the use of lay readers can
confuse the vocations of the called and ordained pastor as a servant
of the Word, and of the congregation as hearers of the Word; and
WHEREAS, The use of lay readers can be understood wrongly as
an individual “participating” in the conduct of the service, as though
greater meaning, benefit, or stature is thereby obtained (and by
implication, that those who do not read are taking a lesser role), and
we ought not burden mis-trained consciences in such manner, in
contrast to the right understanding that the whole congregation
benefits on an equal basis as it is served by the pastor; and
WHEREAS, As a practical matter, the pastor is best suited to read
the text without disruption or delay to the flow of the service and
with due emphasis on the pronunciation and salient points of the
text, particularly if it forms a portion of the sermon text; therefore
be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention give thanks and rejoice
in the proclamation of the Word by God’s called and ordained
servants; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod President disseminate appropriate
resources throughout the Synod to assist pastors in catechizing their
congregations to understand the great blessing of the role of the
pastor in the Divine Service, so that rather than giving offense, laity
who have been accustomed to read Scripture lessons may rather
understand and appreciate the service of the pastor for their benefit,

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and hear with great joy God’s Word as it is read for them; and be it
finally
Resolved, That the Synod President give emphasis in the next
triennium to a right understanding of the role of the congregation in
the Divine Service and other worship services, specifically toward
following the practice of having Holy Scripture read by the pastor
in all worship services, that all congregations may walk together in
doctrine and practice.
St. Paul
Brookfield, IL
Ov. 4-10

To Use Only Sustainable Bible Translations
WHEREAS, We accept without reservation that the “Scriptures of
the Old and the New Testament are the written Word of God and
the only rule and norm of faith and of practice” (Constitution Article
II 1); and
WHEREAS, Passages of Holy Scripture are used throughout the
hymnals, catechisms, and other printed resources of the Synod: “All
scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16 KJV); and
WHEREAS, Our printed resources must use accurate and
consistent translations of Holy Scripture from the original biblical
languages into the language of the people: “For I testify unto every
man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that
are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things
which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18–19 KJV); and
WHEREAS, Concordia Publishing House (CPH) and the Synod
currently use the English Standard Version (ESV) translation of the
Bible for most purposes; and
WHEREAS, The copyright for the ESV is not controlled by the
Synod but is owned by Crossway, a pan-Reformed entity that does
not subscribe to a Lutheran understanding of the Sacraments of
Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Crossway,
www.crossway.org/statement-of-faith/, accessed Feb. 28, 2023);
and
WHEREAS, Crossway retains the right to change the text of the
ESV and has done so on multiple occasions making hundreds of
changes (Crossway, “Word Changes in the ESV Bible Text –
2011”, Bible Researcher, Feb. 28, 2023, www.bibleresearcher.com/esv2011changes.pdf), with the result that the prior
versions are no longer licensed, similar to the situation that occurred
when the New International Version (1984) of the Bible—at one
time, a primary translation used by the Synod—was withdrawn by
its copyright owners; and
WHEREAS, This creates an untenable situation with respect to
printed materials of the Synod, because it allows a third party—
Crossway—to forcibly change the content of written resources of
the Synod by withdrawing the copyright to the prior versions of
ESV, unless Synod can persuade Crossway to allow Synod to use
alternate wording at Crossway’s sole discretion; and
WHEREAS, Contemporary or political considerations should not
impact the faithful translation of God’s Word, yet the ESV has
chosen to replace the word “slave” in its original translation with
2023 Convention Workbook