LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 161

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 161

Resolved, That the committee be instructed to include theolog-
ical study on the nature of love and its involvement in fellowship in
keeping with the Spirit of Christ as noted in the above Scriptures
and the Confessions (Art IV of the Apology of the Augsburg Con-
fession, pp. 139-40, Tappert sections 231-37).

English District

3-17

To Avoid Legalistic Approach to Fellowship Practices

Wuereas, God has blessed our beloved Synod with faithful
pastors and teachers who are solidly committed to the Holy Scrip-
tures and the Lutheran Confessions; and

Whereas, In the past there was a spirit of joyful trust among
the brethren, as congregations and their leaders sought to reach out
into their communities with the Good News of salvation; and

WHEREAS, The 1991 CTCR document Inter-Christian Relation-
ships—An Instrument for Study recognized this and seemed to open
the way for freedom to be pastoral in ministry (see especially the
case studies, pp. 48-52); and

Wuereas, In recent years this spirit of trust is seemingly being
replaced by a spirit of distrust and legalism (see the 2000 CTCR
document The Lutheran Understanding of Church Fellowship, in
which it appears from the case studies that the lines are drawn and
that there will be no room for pastoral judgment in carrying out
ministry); and

WHEREAS, The joyful trust and comradeship among church
workers of the past is being replaced by sorrow and fear as profes-
sional church workers fear they will be disciplined for being pas-
toral; and

Wuereas, Professional church workers whose hearts are hurt-
ing because of these recent trends in the Synod are probably not
going to be very effective in recruiting future professional workers
for the Church; and

WuerEAS, A legalistic approach is often viewed by those of
other denominations as arrogant and isolates us from fellow mem-
bers of the body of Christ, thus making it more difficult for our pro-
fessional church workers to give an answer to those who ask for a
reason for the hope that is in them and to do so'with gentleness and
respect (1 Peter 3:15); therefore be it

Resolved, That, while we continue to uphold our official syn-
odical policies regarding fellowship (no jointly sponsored services
to indicate that fellowship has been achieved, no jointly sponsored
services of Holy Communion, and no clergy person not in fellow-
ship with us to occupy our pulpits in a regular worship service), we
also trust our professional workers and congregations to make
sound judgments with regard to wedding and funeral services, spe-
cial community services, and pastoral administration of Holy Com-
munion.

Concordia
Hoisington, KS

To Develop a Both/And Fellowship Position
and Practice

Rationale

The mission of the church and the founding principles of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod clearly call us to continue to
fashion church fellowship positions and practices that BOTH re-
member our history and honor our life together AND respect the
body of Christ and trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance in each congre-
gational context. Only a fellowship understanding that BOTH joy-
fully affirms the historic fellowship principles of the denomination
AND joyfully affirms the historic freedom and responsibility of the
congregation will be able to serve the demand for confessional clar-
ity in national and international church relations and the need for
evangelical charity in local relationships.

For the sake of synodical integrity and, of infinitely greater im-
portance, for the sake of the Gospel in the lives of God’s people,
we must develop a BOTH/AND position and practice in our un-
derstanding of church fellowship.

Resolved, That we affirm with joy the oneness to which Christ
calls us in His high priestly prayer (John 17) with all who confess
and serve God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At the same time we
recognize with deep sadness the divisions within the body of Christ
and the continuing need for fellowship principles that require com-
mon confession of the Gospel in all its parts before public celebra-
tion of worship together; and be it further

Resolved, That we affirm with joy the unity that the Holy Spirit
gives and the bond of peace (Ephesians 4) that we share as mem-
bers of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. At the same time
we recognize with deep sadness the suspicions, legalisms, and
lovelessness that sometimes mar our synodical partnerships in the
Gospel and threaten to destroy our fellowship in Christ; and be it
further

Resolved, That we affirm with joy our Synod’s objectives to
both “conserve and promote the unity of the true faith” and “pro-
vide a united defense against schism, sectarianism, and heresy.” At
the same time we recognize that the synodical objective to “work
through its official structure toward fellowship with other Christian
church bodies” seems at times both remote from and irrelevant to
local congregational fellowship decisions; and be it further

Resolved, That we affirm with joy our Synod’s tradition of the
bold confession of “justification by grace through faith,” the ple-
nary and verbal inspiration of Holy Scripture, and a denominational
fellowship position that refuses compromise of any scriptural doc-
trines through false fellowship. At the same time we recognize that
at times our expression of this position has been expressed in ways
that have unnecessarily confused and offended fellow Christians.
We also recognize that attempts to apply a national/institutional
policy without the freedom for interpretation in the local/congre-
gational context would leave faithful Missouri Synod congrega-
tions and pastors with virtually no alternatives for seizing the mo-
ment in the local community for a common confession of unity in
Christ; and be it finally

Resolved, That we BOTH affirm with joy our Synod’s historic
position on church fellowship (this includes the necessity of con-
tinuing ecumenical dialogue in national, international, and local
contexts, and the commitments of congregations and professional
workers to honor synodical practice) AND affirm with joy the au-
thority and responsibility of each congregation to make local, pas-
toral decisions regarding church fellowship opportunities and chal-
lenges insofar as they are in harmony with the rest of the Synod.

Christ, Overland Park, KS; Prince of Peace, Topeka, KS

3-19

To Encourage Tolerance Toward Fellow Christians

WHEREAS, There is increasing conversation among us concern-
ing the perceived trend in our Synod and District to treat with in-
tolerance those in the body of Christ who differ from us confes-
sionally or denominationally; and

WHEREAS, Such rude and uncharitable treatment of fellow
Christians with whom we may have theological disagreement has
no place among the followers of the Prince of Peace and King of
Love; therefore be it

Resolved, That this congregation petition the Synod convention
of 2001 to establish more loving and respectful policies concerning
our relationships with other Christians; and be it further

Resolved, That members of our District and Synod be affirmed
in and encouraged to exercise responsible freedom, upholding the
truths of the Gospel as their consciences guide them in their rela-
tionships with other Christians.

Trinity
Hudson, WI

200! Convention Workbook