LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 418

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418

CHURCH AND CULTURE

Ov. 11-19

To Condemn Racism, White Supremacy, and
White Nationalism and Reaffirm Biblical and
Confessional Common Humanity of All Peoples
WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures teach that all humanity shares a
common origin in Adam and Eve, whom God created in His own
image (Genesis 1–2; Acts 17:26); and
WHEREAS, All humans, except our blessed Lord Jesus, are
sinners from birth, have inherited original sin from Adam and Eve
(Rom. 5:12; Augsburg Confession [AC] II 1–2; Smalcald Articles
[SA] III I 1; Formula of Concord [FC] I 1), and do in fact sin
personally (Rom. 3:23; AC II 2); and
WHEREAS, In His Law, God condemns all sinners without
exception (Rom. 1:18; 5:18; SA II III 4–5; FC I 6; IV 3); and
WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures teach that God desires that all
people be saved (2 Cor. 5:19; 2 Peter 3:9) and that, to this end,
Christ died for all people (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2), and the Lutheran
Confessions unambiguously testify to this will and saving work of
God in Christ as proclaimed by the Holy Scriptures (AC IV; Small
Catechism [SC] II 3–4; FC V 5; XI 18); and
WHEREAS, Our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded His followers
to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
(Matt. 28:19); and
WHEREAS, The Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the
Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments, gathers the
Church from all nations (Matt. 24:14; 28:19; Acts 1:8; John 20:23;
AC XIII; SA II 4); and
WHEREAS, “God shows no partiality, but accepts in every nation
anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him”
(Acts 10:34–35); and
WHEREAS, Racism is defined as: (1) A belief that race is the
primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial
differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
(Racism, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism); and (2)
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone
of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior
(www.lexico.com/en/definition/racism, no longer accessible); and
WHEREAS, White supremacy is defined as a belief that the “white
race is inherently superior to other races and that white people
should have control over people of other races” (White Supremacy,
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white%20supremacy); and
WHEREAS, White nationalism is defined as “a type of racial
nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white
people are a race and seeks to develop and maintain a white racial
and
national
identity”
(White
nationalism,
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/white_nationalism); and
WHEREAS, Racism, white supremacy, and white nationalism are
found in the cultural life of the United States at this time; and
WHEREAS, Some white supremacists and white nationalists in
America have self-identified with The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod (LCMS); and
WHEREAS, Racism—including white supremacy and white
nationalism—has its roots in the sins of pride and arrogance, which
have plagued humankind in every time and every place including in
the Christian church; and

2023 Convention Workbook

WHEREAS, Racism—including white supremacy and white
nationalism—harms its victims in body, mind, and spirit, and
people in our communities and ministries have experienced such
harm; and
WHEREAS, Racism—including white supremacy and white
nationalism—implies denial of the biblical and confessional
doctrines that all humanity was created in God’s image; that all
humans are equally fallen in sin; that God’s Law judges all humans
impartially; that Christ’s death has atoned for all people of all
ethnicities, languages, and nations; and that the Holy Spirit gathers
the one Holy Christian and Apostolic Church from all nations; and
WHEREAS, Racism—including white supremacy and white
nationalism—is, rather, consistent with atheistic evolutionary and
pagan ideologies and movements that claim the supremacy of one
people group over another; and
WHEREAS, The Church and its ministers are called to identify and
condemn sin and false teaching in every time and age; and
WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations’
(CTCR) February 1994 document, Racism and the Church states:
“We in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod have before us a
wonderful opportunity to commit ourselves to strive toward making
racism a thing of the past, and to demonstrate before a watching
world how people of all cultures and groups can become one in
Christ, who has made of many one body for the edification of all”;
therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention underscore and reaffirm
its historically consistent and categorical rejection of racism and its
current manifestations (e.g., white supremacy, white nationalism,
Nazism—both in its historic and current forms—and attempted
defenses of slavery or antisemitism), not on the basis of any
contemporary social theory, but because racism is antithetical to the
teachings of Holy Scripture as exhibited by the Lutheran
Confessions; and be it further
Resolved, That the LCMS redouble its efforts to affirm—in all
of its proclamation and public teaching, its more local and global
mission, its parish life, and its individual and corporate works of
mercy—the reconciliation Christ has won for us with God and with
all other forgiven sinners from every tribe, race, and nation; and be
it further
Resolved, That the CTCR provide new or updated resources for
ordained and commissioned ministers to study further and address
these issues in their parish and in their circuit and district forums;
and be it further
Resolved, That all members of the Synod be encouraged to
commit themselves afresh to better understanding and loving their
neighbors of every ethnicity, tribe, and language, as God in Christ
has loved us all; and be it further
Resolved, That all members of the Synod be admonished to
refrain from espousing or associating with racism in any form, even
in jest, and that they be admonished to build all brothers and sisters
up in love, which adorns the Gospel with uprightness of life; and be
it further
Resolved, That all members of the Synod be exhorted to proclaim
without shame or fear that Gospel that Christ, the Lamb of God, has
saved us and made us His own people with His own blood; and be
it finally
Resolved, That the assembly here please voice its anticipation of
the time to come when we and peoples from all ethnicities, tribes,