LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 191

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

UNPRINTED REPORT AND LATE OVERTURES
Bylaw 3.19, 2, b, requires that reports and overtures be
submitted not later than 18 weeks prior to the opening day
of the convention. March 10, 2001, was that date for this
convention.
The same Bylaw goes on to state: “No report or overture
received subsequent to that date shall be accepted for convention consideration unless a committee consisting of the
President, the First Vice-President, and the Secretary adjudge it to be a matter of overriding importance and urgency which is not adequately covered by documents already before the convention.”
After a careful evaluation of all late overtures, the committee referred to in the Bylaw approved the following for
consideration by the convention.
Report 2-07 is also printed because it was inadvertently
omitted when the Workbook was printed.
R2-07

Report of Task Force
on Recognized Service Organizations
(Schools)
Introduction
Service organizations officially recognized by the Synod
are called Recognized Service Organizations (RSOs). Such
an organization extends the mission and ministry of the
Synod, but is not part of the Synod. RSO agencies work in
several fields, mainly social ministry and education. This
report deals with RSO schools.
Basically, “RSO Schools” are “association schools.”
Under Bylaw 2.15 (1998 Synodical Handbook, 25–26) pastors or teachers serving an association school must either
be called (1) by one of the association congregations or (2)
by the association itself if it is a synodical RSO. Further,
Lutheran Church Extension Fund loans are available only
to associations that are RSOs. Therefore, school associations have sought and acquired RSO status. When the
Board for Congregational Services grants such recognition
under Bylaw 14.03 (1998 Synodical Handbook, 144), it says
a given association “respects and does not act contrary to
the doctrine and practice of the Synod.”
For many years, even before the RSO classification existed in the Bylaws, congregations of the Synod were banding together to operate elementary and secondary schools.
Such school associations have sometimes included congregations of other church bodies. In every current case, these
are church bodies with which the Synod is not in altar and
pulpit fellowship.
In 1998, the Synod in convention recognized that “Recent ecumenical directions of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America [ELCA] may jeopardize the doctrine
and practice of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod congregations participating in RSOs (i.e., instruction of the
Christian faith, chapel services, and theological supervision).” Therefore it called for the appointment of a task

force “to review the status of RSOs granted by the Board
for Congregational Services” (Resolution 2-06A, 1998 Convention Proceedings, 107). Early in 1999, there were 116
such RSOs, 108 of which were school associations. Of these
108, 34 had some sort of membership on the part of ELCA
congregations. These 34 associations operated 9 elementary
schools and 27 high schools among them. They form the
focus of the present report.
Membership of the Task Force
Per 1998 Resolution 2-06A, President A. L. Barry appointed a task force (TF) in consultation with the Board for
Congregational Services. President C. William Hoesman of
the Michigan District served as chairman, President Ron
Garwood of the Wyoming District was vice-chairman, and
Pastor Peter Meier of Zion Lutheran Church, Mayer, Minnesota, served as secretary. Other TF members were Mrs.
Judy Enos, lay teacher and counselor at Salem Lutheran
School, Gretna, Louisiana; Mr. Roger Laesch, retired South
Wisconsin District education executive; Mr. Jan Lohmeyer,
Principal of Memorial Lutheran School, Houston, Texas;
Mr. Greg Miller, attorney in St. Louis; Dr. Kenneth Palmreuter, Executive Director of the Lutheran High School Association of Denver, Colorado; Dr. Neil Sandfort, Nebraska
District education executive; and the Rev. Dr. Paul A. Zimmerman, retired synodical college professor and president.
International Center staff assisting the TF were the Rev.
Ken Schurb and Dr. Ross Stueber. The TF members committed themselves to strengthening Lutheran schools and
helping them boldly proclaim the Word, in the prayer that
the Holy Spirit would use these schools to reach many with
the Gospel of Christ.
I. Impact of Recent ELCA Actions on Missouri
Synod RSOs
In 1998 Resolution 3-08A, the Synod expressed its “deep
regret and profound disagreement” with two 1997 ELCA
Churchwide Assembly actions: (1) its adoption of A Formula of Agreement with the Presbyterian Church (USA),
the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church
of Christ and (2) its formal acceptance of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, a statement drawn
up by Lutheran and Roman Catholic theologians worldwide. The former action declared full Communion with
three Reformed church bodies while recognizing continuing
disagreements with them on the presence of Christ in the
Lord’s Supper. The latter claims a common understanding
between Lutherans and Roman Catholics on the sinner’s
justification by grace through faith in Christ despite continuing lack of agreement on the meaning of the key terms
involved. At its 1999 Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA approved a concordat that initiates its full Communion with
the Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church in America, and commits the ELCA to a process whereby also
ELCA clergy will all be ordained in apostolic succession.
President Barry has noted that these latest ELCA decisions
“have pushed our two churches further apart, and this is
191

200l Convention Proceedings