LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 166

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166 THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

To Reject CTCR Report
‘Admission to the Lord’s Supper”

Wuereas, Christ instituted Holy Communion knowing His dis-
ciples would betray and deny Him that very night (Matt. 26:20-35;
Mark 14:18-31; Luke: 22:21-35; John 13:26-38); and

WHEREAS, St. Paul defines worthy reception of the body and
blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper in terms of self-examination
and discernment (1 Cor. 11:28—29); and

Wuereas, Dr. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism states: “He ts
truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words,
‘Given and shed for you for the remission of sins.’ But he that does
not believe these words, or doubts, is unworthy and unprepared;
tor the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe”; and

WHEREAS, The Augsburg Confession (1530), Art. VII (“Of
Church’) states:

The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the
Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly adminis-
tered. And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree
concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of
the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that
is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should everywhere be
alike, As Paul says: “One faith, one Baptism, one God and Fa-
ther of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5, 6.° (Concordia Triglotta, AC, p. 47)

And the Augsburg Confession (1530), Art. XIII (“Of the Use
of the Sacraments”) states:

The Sacraments were ordained, not only to be marks of the
profession among men, but rather to be sins and testimonies of
the will of God toward us, instituted to awaken and confirm faith
in those who use them. Wherefore we must so use the Sacra-
ments that faith be added to believe the promises which are of-
fered and set forth through the Sacraments (Concordia Triglotta,
AC, p. 49, emphasis added): and

WuereEas, Art. II (“Confession”) of the Missouri Synod Con-
stitution states that Scripture as the written Word of God is “the
only rule and norm of faith and practice” and that all the Symboli-
cal Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church are “a true and
unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God”; and

WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations
(CTCR) report “Admission to the Lord’s Supper” (November
1999) concludes with a twofold distinction between (1) those indi-
viduals who commune worthily/unworthily, and (2) “Christians as
persons who represent the confession or doctrine of the church
body to which they have promised their loyalty” (p. 53); and

WHEREAS, The CTCR adds the requirement of “right belong-
ing” to the requirement of “right believing” for admission to the
Lord’s Supper when it writes:

(1) “Differing church confessions render common eucharistic
fellowship impossible” (p. 43);

(2) “The second proposition that undergirds the practice of
withholding communion fellowship when doctrinal unity does not
exist among those who commune is this: Christians are not to be
seen merely as ‘individuals’ but also ‘confessors’ of the doctrines
of their own church body” (p. 43):

(3) “We ask at times that those who may have genuine faith and
who, if they were to commune in our churches might do so in a
worthy manner, still not commune at our altars becausc of other
doctrinal disagreements between their church bodies and our own
Synod” (p. 41); yet the CTCR acknowledges

(4) “A simplistic use of ‘denominational membership’ as the
sole criterion for communion admission, unaccompanied by ex-
hortation and teaching, would be a caricature of biblical and con-
fessional teaching” (p. 46); and

WHEREAS, A leading theologian of our own church body, Fran-
cis Pieper, former professor and president of Concordia Seminary,
in Christian Dogmatics cautioned about excessively permissive
(open) and restrictive (closed) Communion practices:

Christian congregations, and their public servants, are only
the administrants. and not the lords of the Sacrament. The Lord’s

2001 Convention Workbook

Supper is not their institution, but Christ's. Therefore they must
follow Christ’s instructions in administering the Sacrament. On
the one hand, they are not permitted to introduce “Open Com-
munion™; on the other hand, they must guard against denying
the Sacrament to those Christians for whom Christ appointed it
(p. 381); and
WHEREAS, Art. VII of the Missouri Synod Constitution ac-
knowledges that the Synod is “an advisory body” and that tndivid-
ual self-governing congregations retain the right to determine mat-
ters of doctrine and practice when it states: “Accordingly, no
resolution of the Synod imposing anything upon the individual con-
gregation is of binding force if it is not in accordance with the
Word of God or if it appears to be inexpedient as far as the local
congregation is concerned”; and

WHEREAS, The Missouri Synod historically has sanctioned de-
partures from strict closed admission practices that restrict Com-
munion to Missouri Synod communicants and those in fellowship
with the Missouri Synod, notably

(1) “We encourage all pastors of the Synod to conttnue to min-
ister to the spiritual needs of those on the college and university
campus, exercising a sincere pastoral concern for the members of
the campus community and applying the Communion guidelines
of Lutheran military and institutional chaplains” (Res. 2-07A, 1975
Synod Convention);

(2) “The LCMS has long encouraged its congregations and pas-
tors in extraordinary circumstances to provide responsible pastoral
care, including administration of Holy Communion to Christians
who are members of denominations not in fellowship with the
LCMS” (Resolution 3-01, 1981 Synod Convention);

(3) “Pastors and congregations of the Lutheran Church—Mis-
sourt Synod continue to abide by the practice of close communion,
which includes the necessity of exercising responsible pastoral care
in extraordinary situations and circumstances” (Res. 3-08, 1986
Synod convention); therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in the 2001 convention reject the
CTCR report “Admission to the Lord’s Supper” (November 1999);
and be it further

Resolved, That congregations and pastors of the Synod continue
to review their Communion hospitality practices to make sure they
are faithful to Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions; and
be it further

Resolved, That all synodical congregations, assisted by their
pastors, exercise their rights and responsibilities as self-governing
congregations under the Word of God to establish and maintain an
evangelical practice of Communion hospitality that makes the
Lord’s Supper available to all those for whom Christ intended it;
and be it finally

Resolved, That the voters’ assembly of St. John Lutheran
Church, Hattiesburg, MS, adopt and submit this overture to the
2001 convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod meet-
ing in St. Louis, MO.

St. John
Hattiesburg, MS

3-34
To Review and Revise CTCR Response

Wuereas, In accordance with Res. 3-05 of the 1998 conventton
of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the Commission on
Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) has produced Admission
to the Lord’s Supper: Basics of Biblical and Confessional Teaching
(ALS), which was to serve as a response to A Declaration of Eu-
charistic Understanding and Practice; and

WHEREAS, A number of responses which delineate serious defi-
ciencies in the CTCR’s response have been filed with the CTCR;
and

WHEREAS, These responses indicate that the ALS document fails
to deal adequately with all the pertinent scriptural and confessional
evidence concerning the Eucharist and the proper practice of its ad-
ministration; and