LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 145

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CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES 145

WuerEAS, Our Synod’s 1983 CTCR document on the Lord’s
Supper (p. 28) and our Synod’s 1986 translation of Luther’s Cate-
chism both remind us that the Scriptures place the Lord’s Supper at
the center of worship (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:20, 33), and not as
an appendage or an occasional extra; and

WHEREAS, Our Synod’s pastoral theology book states that the
Lord’s Supper should be offered each Lord’s Day to those who
hunger for Christ’s body and blood and are prepared to receive it
and that the fact that some of those present do not wish to receive
should not prevent others from receiving (Pastoral Theology,
Mueller and Kraus, CPH, 1990, p. 97); and

Whereas, Nowhere else does our Risen Lord come so close to
us as to feed us with the very body and blood He offered once for
all on the cross; and

WHEREAS, We dying sinners so deeply need Jesus’ heavenly
food of forgiveness in this passing world; therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in con-
vention encourage its pastors and congregations to study the scrip-
tural, confessional, and historical witness to every Sunday Com-
munion with a view to recovering the Lord’s Supper each Lord’s
Day; and be it further

Resolved, That the Commission on Worship make available to
pastors and congregations materials which will help us recover this
life-giving treasure.

Luther Memorial
Shorewood, WI

2-66

To Encourage Celebration
of the Sacrament Every Sunday

WHEREAS, Christ said He came that we might have life (John
5:40); and

WHEREAS, The Sacrament of the Altar is the very body and
blood of Him who is Himself both the Bread of Life (John 6:48)
and the Fountain of Life (Ps. 36:9); and

WHEREAS, The practice, of celebrating the Sacrament every
Sunday, once customary, is returning in many of our churches;
therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in con-
vention acknowledge the laudable steps churches have taken to re-
cover every-Sunday Communion celebration; and be it further

Resolved, That we continue to encourage our congregations
who have not yet reached this goal to continue toward it.

Rock Island Circuit Forum
Central Illinois District

2-67

To Protect Religious Liberty

WHEREAS, America was founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic
and this comerstone was publicly recognized and affirmed for the
first 160 years of our existence as a nation; and

WHEREAS, Up until the last quarter of a century, the U.S.
Supreme Court has applied a strict scrutiny test to government ac-
tion alleged to burden the exercise of religion and this test required
the government to show that its action burdening religion served a
compelling public interest and that no less burdensome course of
action was feasible; and

WHEREAS, In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court abandoned the
compelling public interest test and held that religiously neutral laws
may be uniformly applied to all persons without regard to any bur-
den or prohibition placed on their exercise of religion; and

WHEREAS, An example of the type of cases which come to the
court in response to a conflict between a law or regulation adopted
by the legislative, executive, teaching, or regulatory branch of gov-
emment and a religious right or belief is

* public school classroom subject matter on sexual permissiveness
which conflicts with biblical truth;

* public employees forced to undertake sensitivity training on accept-
ing homosexuality in conflict with biblical truth;

medical students forced to learn abortion procedures as a condition of
getting a medical license and violating a right to life belief based on
Scripture and threatening the license of the training hospital;
churches that cannot modify their buildings because of a city zoning
law;

and 7

WHEREAS, The rejection by the Supreme Court of the “com-
pelling state interest” test justifying government restrictions over-
riding religious rights or beliefs needs to be reversed by Congres-
sional action; and

WHEREAS, The Congress did adopt a Religious Freedom

Restoration Act in 1993 with the compelling state interest test as a
statutory standard; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Supreme Court in June 1997, concluded
that the RFRA Act of 1993 was an unconstitutional effort of Con-
gress to tread on the turf of the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting
the First Amendment; and

Whereas, This 1997 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court is a
threat to religious freedom in America; therefore be it

Resolved, That the LCMS does hereby request that Congress
pass new legislation which will impose the compelling state inter-
est test in a constitutionally correct form in order to protect reli-
gious liberty in America.

Our Savior
Fullerton, CA

2-68

To Allow Student-Led Prayer in Public Schools

WHEREAS, America was founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic
and this cornerstone was publicly recognized and affirmed for the
first 160 years of our existence as a nation; and

WHEREAS, Since 1947, a series of decisions by the U.S. Supreme
Court has stolen the religious heritage on which America was
founded; and

WHEREAS, A sample of some of these decisions in recent years
illustrates the hostility of the federal judicial system to people of
faith in America which threatens the religious expressions of all
Americans irrespective of religious affiliation:

¢ Freedom of speech and press are guaranteed to students, un-
less the topic is religious, at which time such speech becomes
unconstitutional (Stein v Oshinsky, 1965; Collins v. Chandler
Unified School Dist., 1981).

It is unconstitutional for students to see the Ten Command-
ments since they might read, meditate upon, respect. or obey
them (Stone v. Graham, 1980; Ring v. Grand Forks Public
School Dist., 1980; Lanner v. Wimmer, 1981).

It is unconstitutional for a war memorial to be erected in the
shape of a cross (Lowe v. City of Eugene, 1969).

Despite the fact that the Ten Commandments are the basis of
civil law and are depicted in engraved stone in the U.S.
Supreme Court, it is unconstitutional for a public courthouse
to display them (Harvey v. Cobb County, 1993).

¢ It is unconstitutional for a public cemetery to have a planter in
the shape of a cross, for if someone were to view that cross, it
could cause “emotional distress” and thus constitute an “in-
jury-in-fact” (Warsaw v. Tehachapi, 1990).

A moment of silence designated for silent prayer at school is
unconstitutional (Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985).

It is unconstitutional for a classroom library to contain books
which deal with Christianity, or for a teacher to be seen with
a personal copy of the Bible at school (Roberts Madigan,
1990).