LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 81

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SYNOD REPORTS
a dominically-mandated polity, but rather reflect the practice of the
church in a particular place and time.
In the United States, where Lutheranism established itself independent of the state, the historical circumstances demanded a different
mode of application/polity. Lacking pastors in many cases, the priesthood of all believers was forced at times to exercise church discipline
on its own apart from a pastor. For example, Hopeful Church in Boone
County, Kentucky (founded 1806), sought to articulate a biblical manner of applying church discipline in a context where a pastor might
only be present briefly over the course of a year or not be present at all.
It shall be the duty of each one belonging to this congregation to
lead an orderly, Christian, and virtuous life; to abstain from all gross
sins; such as cursing, swearing, card-playing, drunkenness, and all such
ungodly actions.
Should anyone be guilty of either of the above sins, which, may God
in his mercy prevent, then the remaining brethren shall have the power,
and it shall be their duty to deal with him according to the directions of
our Savior; Mat. 18:15–17.4

In so doing, the members of Hopeful Church simply carried out
their responsibilities as baptized priests.
When the Saxon immigrants who later helped form the Missouri
Synod came to the United States (1838/39), they first established the
office of bishop, which they believed was the biblically mandated
polity. To the bishop they promised to “submit with Christian willingness” in respect to “the ordinances, decrees, and measures of His
Reverence in respect to both ecclesiastical and community affairs and
not to regard them as an irksome yoke, but as the means of promoting our temporal and eternal welfare.”5 Excommunication would be
carried out solely by the bishop. After the bishop’s deposal for immorality, calls were made for a form of radical congregationalism, which
largely disestablished the office of the public ministry. Only at the
Altenburg Debate in 1841 did C. F. W. Walther restore a biblical and
confessional balance to the community.6 When the LCMS was formed
in 1847, it affirmed the biblical and confessional position of Walther.
For example, at the first convention of the LCMS (Chicago, 1847),
one of the orders of business was the question of false doctrine on
the part of Pastor L. F. E. Krause. Among the many charges against
him—most of which centered in an arbitrary exercise of ministerial
authority apart from the congregation and of which he was found
guilty—was the following:
Concerning excommunication, he has revealed false doctrine; for he
imposed the ban upon a man named M. Krücher because that man did
not immediately believe a report of Pastor Grabau, which was called
“Church Acts,” and has refused the Lord’s Supper to those who had not
consented to the ninety dollars for him, which he absolutely demanded,
without considering otherwise cheap suggestions, for the acquisition of
a horse. In addition in every case he put the ban into effect without the
pronouncement of judgment by the congregation;—he also excommunicated people who did not even belong to his congregation.7

From its inception the LCMS has seen excommunication as
an act of the entire church, carried out in the context of the local
congregation.
In the United States, “the church” specifically takes the form of the
local congregation independent from the state. When C. F. W. Walther
expanded on his earlier Altenburg Theses at the request of the Synod,
he produced a series of theses that affirmed both the church as the
priesthood of all believers and the divine establishment of the office
of the public ministry. How church discipline is practiced in this setting was part of Walther’s burden in Church and Ministry. In Thesis
IX Walther writes: “To the ministry there is due respect as well as
unconditional obedience when the pastor uses God’s Word. But the
minister must not tyrannize the church. … He has no right to inflict
and carry out excommunication without his having first informed
the whole congregation.” Walther expands on this thesis as follows:

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It is certain that the office of the keys in a more narrow sense, namely, the power publicly to loose and bind, is also entrusted to the incumbents of the ministry of the Word. Nevertheless, it does not lie within the
power of the minister to excommunicate a sinner without his having first
informed the congregation. Otherwise the congregation would have to
obey the minister blindly, even in matters pertaining to salvation. Here
he deals not merely with a clear doctrine of the divine Word but with
a judgment of a person’s spiritual condition. And this judgment is of
such a nature that it closes heaven to the person in question and forbids
him brotherly fellowship with Christians, and vice versa. Therefore, although the public enforcement of excommunication belongs to and must
remain with the incumbents of the ministry of the Word, according to
the Lord’s command and sacred institution, nevertheless, it must be carried out according to the Lord’s express command and order only after
the whole congregation (that is the minister and the hearer) has considered and made the final judicial decision on the matter.

Walther concludes, “Here Christ gives the supreme jurisdiction to
the church or congregations.” Thus it is the responsibility of the holder
of the office of the public ministry to ensure that church discipline is
carried out on behalf of the congregation, but any excommunication
“is valid and legitimate if only it is accomplished with the knowledge
and consent of the church members.”8
On the basis of the biblical and confessional witness, the CTCR
has affirmed Walther’s articulation of the question of whether a pastor
may “unilaterally” excommunicate. While it recognizes that in some
cases the congregation may delegate the responsibility of excommunication to a Board of Elders and/or pastor to act in its behalf, it
cautions against such a practice.9 Excommunication, therefore, is not
a power conferred upon the individual pastor to exercise apart from
“the church.” Rather, the called servant of the Word will announce
the judgment of the church on its behalf only after the matter has
been brought to and adjudicated by the church (Matthew 18:15–18).
The opinion, therefore, of the CTCR remains this: “We ought not
interpret these confessional statements regarding the power of bishops
and pastors as teaching that those who have been given authority over
the churches thereby have the right to excommunicate unilaterally.”10
Adopted by the CTCR
April 23, 2010
2. Response to Question Regarding Augsburg Confession Article XIV

In a letter dated August 26, 2010, the CTCR was asked to assist
the South Wisconsin District president in answering two questions
(quoted verbatim with original emphasis):
1. In light of our Lutheran understanding of Church and Ministry
would you please address the appropriateness of a lay man regularly
carrying out the functions of the pastoral office, viz. the public proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments?
2. In light of Holy Scripture and the Confessions would you please address the appropriateness of a lay man or a lay woman proclaiming
the Word and/or administering the Sacraments in a house church,
small group, or cell group setting?
Response

With respect to the first question, the commission’s answer is
that “regular” public preaching and public administration of the
Sacraments by a lay man is not appropriate.11 Article XIV of the
Augsburg Confession (which is grounded in the teaching of Holy
Scripture) forbids such a practice, because it would deny the necessity of a rightly ordered public ministry. Based on this understanding,
a 1981 CTCR report addressed the question: “Are certain functions in
the church limited to the office of the public ministry?” In its answer
the commission stated the following:
Functions that are essentially exercises of the ministry of Word and
Sacrament should be performed by those who hold the office of the public ministry. Thus, preaching in the worship service, leading in public
prayer, celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar, Baptisms, weddings

2013 Convention Workbook