LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 409

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 409

ing force for all members, and in accord with Article XIII to deal
with those who refuse to honor such a resolution as “members who
act contrary to the Confessions laid down in Article IJ and to the
conditions of membership laid down in Article VI.” Mindful of the
objects for which it was organized, the Synod recognizes its oblig-
ation and declares its intent “to exercise supervision over pastors
and teachers as to doctrine” (Articles of Incorporation, II, C) by im-
plementing evangelically but firmly the provisions and procedures
contained in the Handbook.

With respect to the binding force of its resolutions the Synod has
established the general rule that “the Constitution, Bylaws, and all
other rules and regulations of the Synod apply to all members of the
Synod” (Bylaw 1.09 a) and accordingly requires that the constitu-
tion of every congregation be submitted for examination so that the
Synod may “ascertain whether its provisions are in harmony with
Scripture and the teachings and the practices of the Synod” (Bylaw
1.11 a). The Synod, in stating the circumstances under which a
member is not obligated to adhere to the general rule that “the Synod
expects every member congregation to respect its resolutions and
to consider them of binding force” (Bylaw 1.09 b), grants excep-
tions only with respect to such resolutions as may be accepted or
rejected as a matter of expediency depending upon a congregation’s
condition and locality, as well as such resolutions that affect a con-
gregation in the area of self-government (Constitution, Article VII).
That the Synod does not intend the exceptions to apply to doctrinal
resolutions is evident from the fact that doctrine does not properly
belong to the area of self-government, and from the fact that doc-
trine may not be accepted or rejected upon the basis of considera-
tions of expediency.

The provision that allows a member to reject a doctrinal resolution
of the Synod is that such a resolution is “not in accordance with the
Word of God” (Article VII of the Constitution). The Synod, there-
fore, holds that every member, by virtue of his agreement when he
voluntarily joined the Synod and freely placed himself under the
provisions of the Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws, is bound by the
Word of God expressed in the Synod’s resolutions until it can be
demonstrated that a resolution is in fact “not in accordance with the
Word of God.” Otherwise the Synod holds that its resolutions are
to be considered “‘of binding force if they are in accordance with the
Word of God” (Bylaw 1.09 b), and the Synod permits no member
to teach or practice in violation of a resolution simply on the grounds
that he does not agree with it or that it is in conflict with his private
persuasion.

The object of the Synod, as stated in Article III, 1, of the Con-
Stitution, is (1) to conserve and promote a unity in which all are
“united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor.1:10), and
(2) to avoid schism caused by contrary doctrine (Rom.16:17). This
purpose of the Synod is defeated when individuals are permitted to
teach in accordance with their private views, for then there can be
no such thing as a synodical position, and a meaningful corporate
confessional commitment is impossible. Formal commitment of the
Synod to a confessional base is pointless unless the Synod has the
right as a synod to apply its confessional base definitively to cur-
rent issues and thus conserve and promote unity and resist an indi-
vidualism which breeds schism.

The Synod holds that a member cannot justly charge the Synod
with “binding his conscience” when the Synod, in applying its con-
fessional base to current issues, adopts doctrinal statements which
it believes to be in harmony with the Word of God and requires that
such resolutions be considered normative for every member. A doc-
trine of Scripture remains a doctrine of Scripture despite the fact
that it is formulated in synodically adopted resolutions. If a mem-
ber cannot for conscience’ sake accept a doctrinal resolution of the
Synod, he has the obligation and opportunity through mutually ap-
proved procedure to challenge such a resolution with a view to ef-
fecting the changes he deems necessary. Failing in that, he is
completely free by reason of his wholly voluntary association with
the Synod to obey his conscience and disassociate himself from the
Synod. Meanwhile every member of the Synod is held to abide by,
act, and teach in accordance with the Synod’s resolutions.

WHEREAS, Doctrinal resolutions of the Synod which are soundly
Scriptural carry with them the authority of God’s Word itself and
do not set up “a power in the church beside the power of the Word”
(Walther’s Presidential Address); and

WHEREAS, The earnest warnings of Walther and Pieper against
permitting anything but God’s Word to rule in the church were not
intended to apply to resolutions of the Synod, which, when they are
in harmony with the Scriptures, do in fact permit God’s Word to
rule; and

WHEREAS, The Synod has indicated on the one hand that its res-
olutions are not to be regarded as equal to the Lutheran Symbols,
and has made provisions for challenging its resolutions, but on the
other hand the Synod has repeatedly declared that all members
should “honor and uphold” its resolutions (cf. 1962, 3-17; 1965, 2-
08; 1967, 2-04; 1969, 2-27); and

WHEREAS, To “honor and uphold” means not merely to exam-
ine and study them, but to support, act, and teach in accordance with
them until they have been shown to be contrary to God’s Word; and

WHEREAS, The Synod’s Constitution (Article XI, B, 4) provides
that ‘‘the President of the Synod shall see to it that the resolutions
of the Synod shall be carried out” and in no way indicates that doc-
trinal resolutions are excluded from this stipulation; therefore be it

Resolved, That we adopt the statement of the Council of Presi-
dents of February 27, 1970, as our own:

We, the Council of Presidents of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,

committed to the preservation and extension of our confessional truths and

to unity based on God’s infallible Word and the norm of the Lutheran Con-
fessions, believe that only the Holy Spirit, through the inspired and sanc-
tifying Word, will assure peace and harmony of our church. We are
especially mindful that “the continuing concem for preservation of pure
doctrine and Christian unity should be cultivated among the brethren in the
spirit of Christian love, since all disunity in the church is displeasing to our

Lord” and that our “synodically adopted statements reflect a synodical con-

sensus which speaks to the church in a contemporary manner and may be

regarded as attempts to clarify the faith for the current life of the church.”

(Denver Res. 2-06, Proceedings, pp. 85-86)

Therefore we commit ourselves to the Denver resolutions which request

“that by the grace and mercy of God the Synod abide by its doctrinal po-

sition as stated in its constitution (Art. IT)” and “uphold and honor the

doctrinal content of the synodically adopted statements under the norms
of Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions” (2-06); and that “the

Synod in humble gratitude thank God that He has blessed the Synod with

such doctrinal statements” and that the Synod continue “‘to urge its mem-

bers to honor and uphold the Synodically adopted statements as valid
interpretations of Christian doctrine and not to give them more or less

status than they deserve.” (227)

We also remind the Synod “that all who believe these synodi-
cally adopted doctrinal statements to be faulty in their formulation
of Scriptural doctrine, or to have other deficiencies, be asked to pre-
sent their concerns to the Commission on Theology and Church Re-
lations” (Cleveland Res. 317).

We therefore pledge that we will carry out our responsibilities
as set forth in Synod’s Handbook, and we pray that unity may be
restored and strengthened in our Synod on the basis of the Scrip-
tures and the Lutheran Confessions. We seek the Spirit’s guidance
that we may help all pastors, teachers, and congregations of Synod
to attain a greater measure of joy in service and mutual confidence
in fulfilling our mutual Gospel mission.

Action: Adopted as amended above (14). See also Res. 5-24.
Appendix B

CTCR Policy for Responding to Expressions of Dissent

When in accordance with Bylaw 1.8 expressions of dissent are
brought to the attention of the Commission on Theology and Church
Relations, the following steps shall be taken.

1. The staff of the CTCR shall respond promptly to the dissenter(s),
sharing the following information:

2007 Convention Workbook