LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 194

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194

UNPRINTED REPORT AND LATE OVERTURES

directly to the congregations of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod that are members of the Association and to
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod through the District President.

sacraments, and also the Roman Catholic Church with
which we disagree on the doctrine of justification by grace
for Christ’s sake through faith, as well as a number of
other subjects.

V. Dual RSO Status

A further requirement for eligibility for ELCA Affiliated
Schools status is that clergy and laity of each church body
represented in a school association participate in leadership of school worship. This leads to confusion on the part
of our students concerning areas of teaching where the
ELCA differs from the LCMS.
The TF concludes that dual LCMS and ELCA affiliation
is not truly possible. It is true that such dual-affiliation
schools have served as outstanding ministries of Christian
nurture and outreach, but affiliation entails confession. To
be faithful to its agreement with either the ELCA or the
LCMS, an association should decide which confession it will
honor.

Like RSO status in the LCMS, ELCA Affiliated Schools
status provides eligibility to call workers, borrow money
from the church “bank,” participate in retirement plans,
and receive guidance and counsel from the larger church
body. A number of school associations have sought and received both recognitions, LCMS RSO status and ELCA Affiliated Schools status. These associations constitute a special category.
LCMS recognition “signifies that a service organization
. . . respects and does not act contrary to the doctrine and
practice of the Synod” (Bylaw 14.03a). The Synod’s Board
for Congregational Services specifies that this doctrine and
practice is “set forth in the Scriptures, the Lutheran Confessions, and the applicable resolutions of the Synod.”
On the other hand, in the ELCA “Affiliation is the
means by which the Division for Higher Education and
Schools establishes and maintains a relationship with
schools. . . . Through affiliation, the ELCA identifies the
school as one whose nature, mission, and ministry is consistent with the Confession of Faith, Nature of the Church,
and Statement of Purpose of the ELCA as stated in Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the ELCA Constitution. . . . Church affiliation of a school signifies commitment to a relationship between the school, the member congregations, the synod,
Division of Higher Education and Schools, and other ELCA
Congregation Schools and ELCA Affiliated Schools” (from a
1993 document approved by the ELCA Church Council entitled “ELCA Affiliated Schools: Criteria and Procedures,”
p. 1).
An association holding both statuses is called upon to
make differing and conflicting commitments. For instance:
• The LCMS Constitution accepts “All the Symbolical
Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and
unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of
God” (II2). Chapter 2 of the ELCA Constitution states its
acceptance of the same documents in three different categories and modes, but never calls them a true exposition
of Scripture.
• Unlike the LCMS Constitution, the ELCA Constitution
uses the word confess within its “Confession of Faith”
chapter, but it “confesses” only “the Gospel, recorded in
the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical
creeds and Lutheran confessional writings.” This suggests a different confessional basis from that of the
LCMS.
• The LCMS Constitution lists as a condition of synodical
membership the “Renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every description” (VI2). Chapter 4.03 of the
ELCA Constitution says “this church shall . . . [e.] foster
Christian unity by participating in ecumenical activities,
contributing its witness and work and cooperating with
other churches which confess God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit.” This would include Reformed churches with
which our Synod disagrees on several topics such as the
200l Convention Proceedings

Recommendations Regarding Dual RSO
Membership:
1. Lutheran school associations that are currently both
LCMS RSOs and ELCA Affiliated Schools should
counsel with their District President and the Board
for Congregational Services to resolve their dual
membership by July 1, 2006. The Synod should direct
the Board for Congregational Services to withdraw
RSO status from any LCMS RSO that maintains
ELCA Affiliated Schools status after that date.
2. In the case of current LCMS RSOs that do not have
ELCA Affiliated School status: the Synod should direct the Board for Congregational Services to withdraw LCMS RSO status if and when any such school
receives ELCA Affiliated Schools status.
3. In the case of new school associations: the Synod
should direct the Board for Congregational Services
not to grant RSO status to any school association that
is also seeking ELCA Affiliated Schools status.
In all cases, the resources of the Board for Congregational Services and LCMS District Presidents will be available for prayer, information, and counsel to help lead this
process to a God-pleasing outcome.
VI. Instruction in the Christian Faith
Education is the purpose for everything planned in
Lutheran schools. Religious teaching occurs when there is a
worship service, devotion, church, chapel, or religion class.
As with all instruction in our Lutheran schools, this instruction must be in agreement with Holy Scripture and
therefore with our Lutheran Confessions. The aim is to unfold more and more for pupils the Christian faith into
which they were baptized by teaching them to observe all
things Jesus said (Matthew 28:19–20).
To ensure that all religious instruction conforms to the
doctrine and practice of the Synod, we believe that it is important that worship services as well as religion classes in
our schools be led and/or supervised by LCMS rostered fulltime church workers. In any event, ELCA clergy and other
personnel (also Episcopal, PCUSA, RCA, UCC, or those
from other church bodies with which our Synod is not in