LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 167

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THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 167

fectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment
(1 Cor. 1:10); and

WHEREAS, The Scriptures clearly teach that those who come to
the Lord’s Supper divided come together not for the better but for
the worse, for if anyone receives the Lord’s Supper unworthily,
they eat and drink judgment on themselves, and if one suffers, we
all suffer (1 Cor. 11:17-18, 29, 31-34; 12:26); and

WHEREAS, Few denominations recognize the need for true unity
of doctrine or acknowledge that serious differences of doctrine and
practice exist (such that visitors might well consider themselves to
be one in the faith with the LCMS simply by virtue of the title
“Lutheran”); and

WHEREAS, By its very nature, the scriptural practice of close(d)
Communion involves the visitor and is our witness that there are
differences of doctrine and practice as well as being an invitation to
resolve these differences; and

WHEREAS, An evangelical practice of close(d) Communion nec-
essarily includes some form of communication, either written or
verbal, instructing the visitor concerning our practice, its scriptural
basis, its loving intention of not allowing anyone to receive the
Lord’s body and blood to their harm, and its evangelical purpose of
calling those who are divided in the faith to reconcile whatever dif-
ferences might exist; and

WHEREAS, Many of our churches have no such statement, either
verbal or written, whenever the Supper is offered; and

. WHEREAS, Such omission leads to great confusion and harm
both to our visitors and to our members by giving a false witness to
the true unity of the Church; and

WHEREAS, A Communion statement that only says, “Please
speak with our pastor” doesn’t encourage the unity of faith, nor
does it teach the importance of coming together as one in the faith,
and can even become a “grandfather clause” to commune those
who are not one with us in the faith but who have communed in
our churches before, thereby giving the false impression that the
congregation is practicing close(d) Communion when they are not;
therefore be it

Resolved, That all our congregations be urged in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ to make either a verbal or written statement
of our Synod’s practice at each and every Communion service that
clearly refers to the Lord’s desires that we all come to the unity of
faith and specifies that all who are not members of the LCMS need
to speak with the pastor before communing, so that our witness to
the Gospel might be pure and that we might be blessed in following
the true faith and practice taught in the Scriptures; and be it further

Resolved, That we submit this as an overture to our next Synod
convention.

Minnesota North District

3-42

To Request Supervision and Discipline
in Practice of Close(d) Communion

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has main-
tained and still maintains, in continuity with the ancient church, the
historic practice of closed or close Communion (see W. Elert); and

WHEREAS, The Holy Supper expresses the participants’ deep
union, through Christ’s body and blood, with God and with each
other (1 Cor. 10:16—17); and

WHEREAS, Joint participation in the Supper of the Lord ex-
presses agreement in the apostolic faith and doctrine, including, of
course, the confession that the body and blood are present in, with,
and under the bread and the wine (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 10:16—17); and

WHEREAS, The ancient church and the church of the Lutheran
Reformation saw the promiscuous observance of the Holy Supper
with members of churches that opposed the full apostolic truth of
the Gospel, in any article, as a desecration of this most holy Sacra-
ment (see Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 10:18; 11:26—29; Gal. 1:6-9; Heb.
13:10); and

WHEREAS, To receive the Sacrament at the altar of another con-
fession, or to give it to communicants of another confession, is to
deny or compromise one’s own confession; and

WHEREAS, The practice in many congregations of regularly
communing those of another confession is a violation of Scripture
and our confessional integrity and does not serve the unity of the
church; therefore be it

Resolved, That Iowa District West in convention 2006 memori-
alize the 2007 LCMS convention to reaffirm its biblical practice of
closed or close Communion; and be it further

Resolved, That Iowa District West request our Synod President,
district presidents, circuit counselors, pastors, and other officials to
carry out their responsibilities of supervision and discipline as de-
lineated in our current Handbook in regard to the practice of closed
or close Communion.

Iowa District West; Central Illinois District

3-43

To Require Supervision and Discipline
in the Practice of Close(d) Communion

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has main-
tained and still maintains,' in continuity with the ancient church,?
the historic practice of closed or close Communion; and

WHEREAS, The Holy Supper expresses the participants’ deep
union, through Christ’s body and blood, with God and with each
other (1 Cor. 10:16-17); and

WHEREAS, Joint participation in the Supper of the Lord ex-
presses agreement in the apostolic faith and doctrine, including the
confession that in, with, and under the bread and wine in this Sup-
per are the actual body and blood of the Lord (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor.
10:16—17); and

WHEREAS, The ancient church and the church of the Lutheran
Reformation saw the observance of the Holy Supper with members
of churches that opposed the full apostolic truth of the Gospel, in
any article, as a desecration of this most holy Sacrament (see Rom.
16:17; 1 Cor. 10:18-22; 11:26-29; Gal. 1:6—9; Heb. 13:10); and

WHEREAS, To receive the Sacrament at the altar of another con-
fession, or to give it to communicants of another confession, is to
deny or compromise one’s own confession; and

WHEREAS, The practice in some LCMS congregations of regu-
larly communing those of another confession is a violation of
Scripture and our confessional integrity, and does not serve the
unity of the church; therefore be it

Resolved, That we commend those ecclesiastical supervisors?
who do carry out their responsibilities for supervision and disci-
pline in regard to the practice of closed or close Communion; and
be it further

Resolved, That Minnesota North District convention memorial-
ize the 2007 LCMS convention to require all of its ecclesiastical
supervisors to carry out their responsibilities of supervision and dis-
cipline in regard to the practice of closed or close Communion
(Constitution, Art. XI B and Art. XII 6-9 a).

Notes

1. 1986 Synod convention Res. 3-08; 1995 Synod convention Res. 3-
08; and 1998 Synod convention Res. 3-05.

2. “The Mass is preserved among us in its proper use, the use which
was formerly observed in the church and which can be proved by St.
Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 11:20ff, and by many statements of the
Fathers. For Chrysostom reports how the priest stood every day,
inviting some to Communion and forbidding others to approach”
(AC XXIV 36).

3. Ecclesiastical supervisors include the Synod’s President, district
presidents, circuit counselors, and other officials.

Minnesota North District; South Dakota District