LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 180

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180 THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

the LCMS that “the President’s ad represents a serious abuse of
power and an offense to fellow Christians of such a magnitude that
it must be dealt with as quickly and strongly as possible” (the letter
President Emeritus Bohlmann sent to the COP and other leaders of
the LCMS, his letter to the newspapers, and President Barry’s ad
and letter to all LCMS congregations appear in the December 20,
1999, Christian News); and

WHEREAS, President Barry’s ad does represent the position
taken by the 1998 convention of the LCMS and both Concordia
Seminary, St. Louis, and Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne (Chris-
tian News, December 27, 1999, and January 3, 1999); and

Wuereas, Dr. Bohlmann refused to discuss his attack on Presi-
dent Barry with our pastor and answer such questions as “Do you
think the LCMS should have signed the Joint Lutheran—Roman
Catholic Declaration on Justification?” “Have any members of the
Council of Presidents and other LCMS leaders, to whom you sent
your written attack on Barry, taken issue with you and asked you to
apologize?” “Do you believe the LCMS should be enough for those
who maintain that the Bible does not oppose women serving as
pastors?” (Christian News, December 20, 1999, p. 8); and

WuereEasS, The January 2000 Jesus First, which was sent to all
LCMS congregations, included on its front page Dr. Bohlmann’s
attack on President Barry; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Bohlmann is associated with Jesus First, a group
of LCMS liberals, moderates, and charismatics who want the
LCMS to include pastors who promote the ordination of women,
deny the inerrancy of the Bible, and support the notion that man
and the universe evolved from some primary organism; therefore
be it

Resolved, That Trinity Lutheran Church, New Haven, Missouri,
ask the 2000 convention of the LCMS Missouri District and the
2001 convention of the LCMS to declare that President Barry’s ad
does represent the official position of the LCMS; and be it further

Resolved, That the 2000 convention of the Missouri District and
the 2001 convention of the LCMS ask Dr. Bohlmann to apologize
for his attack on President Barry and send a letter to all newspa-
pers that published his attack, stating that President Barry’s ad does
represent the official position of the LCMS.

Trinity, New Haven, MO; Immanuel, San Antonio, TX;
Concordia, Fair Haven, MN; Redeemer, John Day. OR

3-69

To Establish a “Clergy Code of Ethics”

WHEREAS, The Bible in Gal. 5:19-21 lists as “acts of the sinful
nature ... hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy”; and

WHEREAS, The Ten Commandments teach, “Thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy neighbor.” Martin Luther explains that in
the Small Catechism to mean, “We should fear and love God that
we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, nor defame our neigh-
bor, but defend him, speak well of him and put the best construc-
tion on everything” (Concordia Triglotta, p. 541); and

WHEREAS, Luther in the Large Catechism further elaborates:
“Now, whatever is done with the tongue against a fellow man God
would have prohibited. ... Here belongs particularly the detestable,
shameful vice of speaking behind a person’s back and slandering,
to which the devil spurs us on” (Concordia Triglotta, p. 655); and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has an es-
tablished procedure for bringing charges against an erring brother,
if such is necessary, thereby eliminating the need for public attack;
and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has now for
many years been torn apart by unofficial publications, and today
there are “slander rallies” conducted by a few in the Synod, and the
Internet is used to distribute slanderous propaganda against con-
gregations in good standing and their pastors; and

WHEREAS, The Clergy Shortage Study states:

2001 Convention Workbook

There is a harshness that has crept into many of our congre-
gations and a substantial portion of our clergy corps. This atti-
tude is chewing up and spitting out wonderful people of God
who have made incredible personal and financial sacrifices to
engage in full-time work in God’s kingdom here on earth. This
harsh and intolerant spirit is poisoning the infrastructure of the
LCMS. It is at the heart of most of the issues listed below [in
the report] related to problems in recruitment and retention of
LCMS parish pastors (pp. 46-47);

therefore be it

Resolved, That the President of the Synod instruct the Council
of Presidents to establish a Clergy Code of Ethics, in which such
sins against the Eighth Commandment are condemned and wherein
guidelines are offered for the conduct of Christian brothers in re-
gard to these matters; and be it further

Resolved, That the District Presidents be directed to take disci-
plinary action against pastors, congregations, or others who openly
transgress the clear teaching of Scripture on the matter of slander-
ous attacks against others; and be it finally

Resolved, That the convention in assembly, meeting as the
LCMS in this place and time under the leadership of the synodical
President, rise and pray a confession of sins regarding misuse of
the tongue, receive absolution from the synodical President, and
then all pledge to amend their ways and work to heal this infection
in our church.

Concordia, Kirkwood, MO; Gloria Dei, Houston, TX;
Grace, Pensacola, FL; Concordia, San Antonio, TX; Lord
of Life, Leawood, KS

3-70

To Establish Theological Dialogues

WuenreAS, In the Nicene Creed we confess that we believe in
“one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church”; and

Wuereas, God in His holy Word calls upon us to build up the
body of Christ (Eph. 4:12) and condemns those who divide it or
tear it apart (Rom. 16:17); and

WHEREAS, The Constitution of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod clearly establishes our first objective as the promotion of
Christian fellowship and the repudiation of sectarianism; and

WHEREAS, The doctrine of justification by grace through faith
lies at the heart of the Christian faith (“the article by which the
church stands or falls”) and Christian unity; and

WHEREAS, The doctrine of justification by grace through faith
states that “we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous be-
fore God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we be-
lieve that Christ suffered for us and that for His sake our sin is for-
given and righteousness and eternal life are given to us” (*AC, [V),
therefore be it

Resolved, That as a corollary to its ten-year “Tell the Good
News About Jesus” evangelistic emphasis the Florida-Georgia Dis-
trict encourage our synodical leadership to establish theological di-
alogues with other major church bodies in the United States by the
year 2003, with initial reports on the progress to be presented at the
national convention of 2004; and be it further

Resolved, That the Florida-Georgia District reaffirm the clear
mandate of God’s holy Word and the synodical constitution to
“conserve and promote the unity of the true faith” (Art. III); and
be it finally

Resolved, That the Florida-Georgia District encourage its con-
gregations to highlight the doctrine of justification by grace through
faith during the month of October during the decade from 2000-
2009 so as (1) to sharpen our understanding of the doctrine of jus-
tification by grace through faith; (2) to deepen our appreciation of
this doctrine as the chief legacy of the 16th century Reformation;
(3) to heighten our sensitivity to the differing interpretations of this
doctrine among Christians; and (4) to motivate and equip our shar-
ing of this gift.

*AC = Augsburg Confession

Florida-Georgia District