LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 311

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THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
Ov. 5-38

To Condemn Transgender Ideology
in All Forms and Protect Children
WHEREAS, Scripture declares, “God created man in his own
image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he
created them” (Gen. 1:27); and
WHEREAS, Our Lord and Savior proclaims, “Have you not read
that he who created them from the beginning made them male and
female” (Matt. 19:4); and
WHEREAS, God “formed the man of dust from the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7); and
WHEREAS, God said, “It is not good that the man should be
alone,” and made from one of man’s ribs “a helper fit for him,”
which he joyfully called “woman” (Gen 2:18, 20–23); and
WHEREAS, God gave the gift of marriage for one man and one
woman, whereby “a man shall leave his father and his mother and
hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24);
and
WHEREAS, David declared to God, “you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I
am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my
soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:13–14); and
WHEREAS, We confess in the meaning of the First Article of the
Apostles’ Creed, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures;
that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my
members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them”;
and
WHEREAS, God “created man and woman differently (as is
evident) not for indecency but to be true to each other, to be fruitful,
to beget children, and to nurture and bring them up to the glory of
God” (Large Catechism I 207 [Kolb & Wengert]); and
WHEREAS, The apostle Paul’s words, “There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28), pertain not to the
order of creation but of redemption; and
WHEREAS, Transgender ideology draws upon the ancient Gnostic
heresy that asserts the true self must liberate itself from the body;
promotes the false existentialist and feminist tenet that existence
precedes essence; and perverts the word “gender” from a
grammatical concept to an innate, self-disclosed feeling about one’s
sex or to a performance of roles as defined by society; and
WHEREAS, Children are especially susceptible to the deceit of
transgender ideology, whereby they are psychologically,
emotionally, and physically abused; and
WHEREAS, Governing authorities “have been instituted by God”
(Rom. 13:1) to “punish those who do evil and to praise those who
do good” (1 Pet. 2:14); and
WHEREAS, The Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed to all those
who are suffering or deceived by false identity, that they might be
healed and know an eternal identity in Christian baptism (Gal. 3:27–
29); therefore be it
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS)
condemn transgender ideology in all forms, including but not
limited to the use of false and fanciful pronouns, the lie of “sex
assignment” at birth, cross-dressing, the implementing of
communal, mixed-sex facilities such as bathrooms and locker
rooms, the prescribing and use of puberty blockers, cross-sex

311

hormones, and other drugs for gender “affirmation”, and gender
“reassignment” or “affirmation” surgeries; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention call upon all Synod
officials, district presidents, pastors, and congregation members to
petition federal, state, and local governing authorities to ban all
aforementioned forms of transgender ideology that impact children;
and be it finally
Resolved, That all LCMS pastors and congregations continue to
proclaim boldly the goodness of God, our Creator and Redeemer,
and direct all who have sinned or have been deceived to the
forgiveness and abundant life in Jesus Christ (Col. 1:14; John
10:10).
Circuit 10 (Middle Tennessee), Mid-South District;
Circuit 9 (Nashville), Mid-South District
Ov. 5-39

To Reconsider Woman Suffrage in the Church
WHEREAS, The 1969 convention of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod (LCMS) passed Resolution 2-17, “To Grant
Woman Suffrage and Board Membership,” permitting
congregations to adopt women’s suffrage and stated that any such
suffrage in the congregation must not conflict with the order of
creation or infringe on the pastoral office (Proceedings, 88); and
WHEREAS, An important principle of our Lutheran Reformation
was found in Martin Luther’s own confession at Leipzig in 1519
and at Worms in 1521 that councils can and do err; and
WHEREAS, The Scriptures clearly prohibit women from
exercising authority over men as noted in 1 Tim. 2:11–12 and 1 Cor.
14:34–35; and
WHEREAS, The polity of many LCMS congregations grants
members of the voters’ assembly authority over weighty matters
including the calling of a pastor and the final excommunication of
a sinner; and
WHEREAS, Voting is clearly an act of authority over men, in that
voting in the congregation determines matters which affect both
men and women; and
WHEREAS, Women’s suffrage permits women to vote against
men, including one’s own husband, thus overturning the order of
creation; and
WHEREAS, Our Synod strongly opposed the practice of women
suffrage in the church for the first 122 years of its history on the
basis of the Word of God, and many of its pastors and congregations
continue to oppose the practice to the current day; and
WHEREAS, Scripture allots to women wonderful opportunities to
serve God as wives, mothers, and in various capacities within the
church (altar guilds, ladies’ groups, teachers, deaconesses, mercy
work, etc.), which do not conflict with the divinely ordained
principle that a woman must not exercise authority over a man; and
WHEREAS, The church should not be at all ashamed of God-given
distinctions in the area of gender which ought to be increasingly
apparent in a society that wishes to ignore and deny differences
between the sexes; therefore be it
Resolved, That the congregations of the LCMS be encouraged to
study the matter on the basis of the Word of God; and be it further
Resolved, That the congregations of the LCMS be encouraged to
reconsider their current practice in light of Holy Scripture; and be it
finally
2023 Convention Workbook