LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 241

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HIGHER EDUCATION 241

WHEREAS, The university has been blessed with an enrollment
growth from 300 to over 1,250 in the past 20 years; and

WHEREAS, The university has been blessed by the continuity of
a Christ-centered leader in President Charles Schlimpert for the
past 20 years; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod, in convention, give thanks to God
for the gift that Concordia University, Portland, Oregon has been to
the Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod, in convention, commend the univer-
sity for its continuing efforts in mission outreach and for its part-
nership with the Northwest District in support of its mission goals;
and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod encourage the university to carry out
its calling in faithfulness to our Lord and to continue to creatively
face the challenges and fulfill the opportunities set before it by the
Lord of the Church.

Board of Directors
Northwest District

5-56

To Support Proper Procedure
for Addressing Complaints at Concordia, Portland

WHEREAS, The Synod-rostered faculty members of Concordia
University, Portland, unconditionally hold to the doctrinal basis of
our Synod, as given in Art. IT of the Synod’s Constitution; and

WHEREAS, The Synod-rostered faculty members of Concordia
University, Portland, publicly confess that the actual and explicit
doctrinal articles of the various symbolical books of the Evangeli-
cal Lutheran Church [The Lutheran Confessions] are “a true and
unadulterated statement and exposition” of the doctrinal content of
the Holy Scriptures; and

WHEREAS, The Synod-rostered faculty members of Concordia
University, Portland, teach in accordance with this evangelical pat-
tern of doctrine; and

Whereas, Concordia University, Portland, as an institution, af-
firms the need to follow fraternal principles when interpreting a
person’s words and public teaching; and

WuereaS, for 100 years Concordia University, Portland, has
served the Synod in its mission and ministry of theological educa-
tion in the Northwest region of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Concordia University, Portland, as an institution, holds
to the principle of the supervision of doctrine and practice and to the
proper procedures by which such supervision is to occur; and

Whereas, Concordia University, Portland, as an institution, ad-
heres to and supports all of the objectives of the Synod, including the
Synod’s commitment “to provide protection for congregations, pas-
tors, teachers, and other church workers in the performance of their
official duties and the maintenance of their rights” (Art. II 9); and

WuereaS, The members of the Synod are called to bear with one
another in love, with all humility and gentleness, and with patience; and

WHEREAS, When questions arise, there is the need for fraternal,
private, and ongoing communication that makes every effort to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; and

WHEREAS, The procedures for supervision of doctrine ensure
that fairness and due process are observed so that the integrity and
reputation of the individual faculty member(s) and the integrity and
reputation of the institution are maintained; and

WHEREAS, The Synod’s institutions in the United States ought to
abide by the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty;
therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod continue to be guided in the area of
accusations and complaints by 1 Tim. 5:19; Deut. 19:15-19; Ex.
20:16; and Matt. 18:15-20; and be it further

Resolved, That the President of the Synod, in his responsibility
to promote and supervise doctrine and practice of the Synod, be
encouraged to carry out this responsibility in a way that would pro-
tect pastors and teachers in the performance of their duties and the

maintenance of their rights as stipulated in Art. [II 9 of the Consti-
tution and Bylaw 6.47; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod reaffirm its constitutional procedure
for addressing official accusations and complaints (Bylaw 6.47);
and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod encourage its officers and members to

. fulfill a faithful ministry to all who initiate or persist in bringing

false accusations against their brothers and sisters in the Synod (cf.
Deut. 19:15—19; Matt. 18:15-20).

Concordia University
Portland, OR

5-57
To Keep Our Colleges in Synod

Rationale

In an 888-page study of the gradual metamorphosis of what
were once denominational schools of higher learning but which
now have become secular universities and colleges, Father James
T. Burtchaell (a former professor at the University of Notre Dame),
documents the remarkably similar paths that such American insti-
tutions of higher education have followed in their journeys from an
earnest commitment to the doctrines and practices of their Christian
denominational founders to institutions which have now become
separated—nearly or completely—from their original denomina-
tions in fact, even if not in official status.

In The Dying of the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and
Universities from Their Christian Churches (published in 1998),
the retired professor studied seventeen schools which came out of
seven different denominations and he found that there was a clear
pattern in the steps that led to the gradual separation of these
schools from their religious roots with the result that, at present, in
most cases, those colleges and universities have reached the point
where the majority of the regents, benefactors, students, professors,
and administrators seldom give serious thought to the original reli-
gious commitments of their own schools. By 1998 these seventeen
schools either had already begun to view themselves as fully secu-
lar institutions, or had taken long strides, intentionally or uninten-
tionally, in that direction. Among those schools were several that
arose from once-loyal Lutheran roots, including our own Concordia
University, River Forest.

Burtchaell chose CURF as a sample of the Missouri Synod’s
system of higher education, and he clearly pointed out that this, the
oldest, non-pastoral educational institution in our Synod, had al-
ready taken significant steps toward secularization. Driven by fi-
nancial, societal, philosophical, changing theological, administra-
tive, and enrollment pressures, it appears that at least several other
LCMS colleges and universities may also be starting to slide down
that slippery slope, and that our Concordia University System
(CUS) may well be heading in the same sad direction.

Convinced that a number of our universities and colleges may
inadvertently be drawn into this kind of future and may thus be los-
ing their true Lutheran identity, the authors of this overture here-
with plead with the Indiana District of The Lutheran Church—Mis-
souri Synod to adopt the following overture and to present it to the
2004 convention of the Synod for serious preventative action.

Whereas, All of our Synod’s current colleges and seminaries
were founded with the deeply held intention and purpose of train-
ing future pastors, professors, parochial schoo] teachers, and other
church workers, who could ground our LCMS congregations and
their members firmly in the pure doctrine and practice of Christ
and His Holy Scriptures; and

Wrereas, In our day our colleges and universities (and often
our seminaries also) are tempted by financial, societal, prevailing
philosophical, changing theological, administrative, and enrollment
pressures to conform our biblical and Confessional doctrine and
practice to fit more easily and successfully into the goals and meth-
ods of this anti-Christian world; and