LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 143

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

144 DISTRICT AND CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES

WHEREAS, The Commission on Worship’s functions and duties in-
clude to “recommend worship materials to the church and advise and
wam against the use of worship materials that are unworthy of use in
the corporate worship of the Lutheran Church” (Bylaw 3.928 c); and

Wuereas, Concordia Publishing House “shall serve the Synod
by publishing and distributing resources for all synodical agencies”
(Bylaw 3.301 b); therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod direct
the Commission on Worship and Concordia Publishing House to
dedicate some of their time and personnel resources to provide as-
sistance to the many congregations of the Synod that provide a
“contemporary” or “blended” setting for their regular worship in
their practice of biblical and confessional Word and Sacrament
ministry, recognizing that many congregations have found this to
be one effective means of proclaiming “the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ” (Bylaw 3.301 b); and be it further

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod encour-
age the seminaries of the Synod to provide instruction that also pre-
pares seminarians to evaluate and employ a “contemporary” or
“blended” setting for their regular worship in their practice of bib-
lical and confessional Word and Sacrament ministry, thus prepar-
ing pastors to be of assistance to the many congregations that have
found this to be one effective means to “proclaim the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ” (Bylaw 3.301 b).

Immanuel
Brookfield, WI

2-05

To Retain Familiar Nicene Creed

WHEREAS, The Commission on Worship has determined to
field-test changes to the translation of the Nicene Creed for the next
hymnal; and

WHEREAS, The purpose of the field test is “for discussion in the
church” (COW minutes, Nov. 11-12, 2002); and

WHEREAS, The most significant proposed change is to replace
the familiar phrase “who for us men and for our salvation” with
“who for us humans and for our salvation” (COW minutes, Nov.
11-12, 2002); and

WHEREAS, The Greek word anthropoi can refer to males (e.g.,
Luke 18:10; Acts 5:34-35; and 2 Tim. 3:8) or to people in general
(e.g., Acts 22:15; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 2:11), and the English word
men can refer to males or to people in general and is therefore a
good translational equivalent for the Greek; and

WHEREAS, The proposed change is therefore unnecessary as
well as awkward; and

WuerEAS, The phrase “who for us men and for our salvation” is
echoed in the Nicene Creed by the phrase “was made man,” a the-
ologically important repetition found also in the Holy Scriptures
(e.g., Rom. 5:12ff, 1 Tim. 2:3—4); and

WHEREAS, A consistent confession of the faith is strongly urged
by Luther in the Small Catechism, where he writes,

The pastor should most carefully avoid teaching the Ten
Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, the sacraments,
etc., according to various texts and differing forms. Let him
adopt one version, stay with it, and from one year to the next
keep using it unchanged.... There should be no change, even
though one may wish to improve the text. The honored fathers
understood this well, and therefore they all consistently used one
form of the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Command-
ments. We should do as they did by teaching these materials to
the young and the common man without altering a single sylla-
ble and by never varying their wording when presenting or quot-
ing them year after year. So adopt whatever form you wish, and
then stick with it at all times. (Luther’s Small Catechism with
Explanation, CPH, 1986, pp. 244-5; Preface to the SC 7; Tap-
pert); and

WHEREAS, Luther’s appeal for consistent wording is even more
vital in our age of family mobility, and the proposed change would
yield yet another wording of the Creed in our churches; and

WHEREAS, The proposed change could add to current tensions
within the Synod; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Iowa District West urge the Commission on
Worship to withdraw the phrase “who for us humans and for our sal-
vation” from consideration for the next hymnal; and be it further

Resolved, That the Iowa District West request the Synod at its
next convention to mandate the Commission on Worship to retain,
in the next hymnal and all companion worship materials, the
Nicene Creed according to the wording, familiar to many, in
Lutheran Worship.

Iowa District West; Southern District; Southern Illinois
District; Wyoming District; Crookston Circuit Forum,
Minnesota North District

2-06

To Avoid Changes to Creeds

WHEREAS, St. Paul urges St. Timothy to “follow the pattern of
the sound words that you have heard from me” (2 Tim. 1:13 ESV);
and

Wuereas, Dr. Luther teaches: “The preacher should take the ut-
most care to avoid changes or variations in the text and wording of
the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the sacra-
ments, etc. On the contrary, he should adopt one form, adhere to
it, and use it repeatedly year after year” (Preface to the Small Cat-
echism, Tappert, 338-39); and

WHEREAS, The Commission on Worship has proposed certain
changes to the Nicene Creed, such as “we believe” instead of “I
believe” and “catholic ... church” instead of “Christian ... Church”;
and

Whereas, Dr. Luther used the German equivalents of “I be-
lieve” and “Christian ... Church” in the Nicene Creed and argued
that the term catholica “can have no better translation than ‘Chris-
tian’ ” (“The Three Symbols or Creeds of the Christian Faith,”
Luther’s Works 34:229; Weimar Ausgabe 50:283); and

WHEREAS, The Book of Concord of 1580 uses “I believe” (Ich
glaube) and “Christian ... Church” (christliche ... Kirche) in its
translation of the Nicene Creed (as likewise in the Apostles’
Creed); and

WHEREAS, The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed are con-
fessed in the liturgy as baptismal creeds; and

WHEREAS, Avoiding unnecessary confusion and controversy
promotes as broad an acceptance of the Synod’s liturgical materials
as possible; therefore be it

Resolved, That the new hymnal employ the forms of the Apos-
tles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed found in either The Lutheran
Hymnal (pp. 12 and 22) or Lutheran Worship (pp. 141-43).

Faculty

Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, IN

2-07

To Retain Current Wording of Nicene Creed

WHEREAS, The LCMS Commission on Worship is proposing
that the Nicene Creed be changed to read, “Who for us human be-
ings and for our salvation,” rather than the current wording, “Who
for us men and for our salvation”; and

WHEREAS, This raises all sorts of theological concerns; there-
fore be it

Resolved, That the 2004 Synod convention inform the LCMS
Commission on Worship to retain the present wording of the
Nicene Creed (i.e., “Who for us men and for our salvation”).

Salem
Taylorsville, NC