LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 85

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SYNOD REPORTS
2. Lutheran World Federation

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is not a member of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The LCMS is regularly invited
to bring greetings to the LWF at its assemblies. Dr. Albert Collver
joined Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt (SELK) and Ralph Mayan (LCC) representing the ILC in a meeting with LWF leadership March 27–29,
2012. Another meeting between leaders of the ILC and the LWF is
planned for the fall of 2013.
3. Lutheran Churches in North America
a. American Association of Lutheran Churches

The 2007 conventions of both The Association of American
Lutheran Churches (AALC) and The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod (LCMS) declared the two church bodies to be in altar and
pulpit fellowship on the basis of agreement in doctrine and practice.
The protocol document signed by the leaders of the church bodies
called for a Commission on AALC-LCMS Fellowship “for the purpose of monitoring relationships between our two church bodies.” The
commission met regularly over the next several years and developed
several operating agreements pertaining to movement of pastors and
congregations between church bodies and other matters.
Candidates for the holy ministry from the AALC now receive
training at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The church’s national office is also housed on the campus of the seminary in Fort Wayne. During the past triennium, representatives of the
AALC and LCMS have met and communicated as necessary in order
to continue to facilitate day-to-day relationships and cooperation
between the two church bodies relating to issues such as ecclesiastical supervision and temporary pastoral service.
b. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

In past years, the Executive Director of the CTCR has served as
one of the representatives from the LCMS meeting together regularly
with representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) on the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation (CLC). The purpose of CLC meetings was to share and discuss matters of mutual
interest and concern, to monitor areas where common work was taking place, and to engage in some level of theological dialogue.
Much of the focus at these meetings in recent years has been on
the increasing theological divergence between the LCMS and the
ELCA. The LCMS continues to seek to uphold biblical and confessional doctrine and moral norms, while the ELCA has publicly
affirmed doctrinal positions and moral perspectives that the LCMS
finds to be contrary to Scripture and the Confessions. During the past
triennium, meetings between the LCMS and ELCA have proven to
be increasingly unfruitful in terms of identifying common ground for
meaningful theological dialogue or carrying out cooperative endeavors with theological integrity. 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
decisions opening the ministry to non-celibate homosexual pastors
and allowing congregations to recognize and support same-gender
sexual relationships led the LCMS in 2010 to adopt resolutions that
reaffirmed the biblical tradition that such same-sex relationships are
contrary to God’s kind and gracious will for humanity and that called
the Synod to re-examine its cooperative endeavors with the ELCA
(see I A 1 above with regard to 2010 Res. 3-01A and 2010 Res. 3-03).
The growing separation between the churches has led to questions
among LCMS leadership about the purpose and value of the CLC. At
the present time, no definite plan has been developed for the continuation of meetings between LCMS and ELCA leaders.
c. North American Lutheran Church

Representatives of the LCMS and the North American Lutheran
Church (NALC) have met three times in this triennium. Preliminary

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meetings occurred December 15–16, 2011, and July 19–20, 2012.
Formal conversations began with a discussion of Gospel and
Scripture, December 13–14, 2012. LCMS representatives include
President Matthew Harrison, Dr. Albert Collver, Dr. Joel Lehenbauer,
Rev. John Pless, and Rev. Larry Vogel, while the NALC was represented by Bp. John Bradosky, Em. Bp. Paull Spring, Dr. James
Nestingen, Rev. Mark Chavez, and Dr. David Wendel. Dr. Robert
Bugbee (LCC) also participates in the meetings because of NALC
presence in Canada. The discussions have been extremely cordial and
mutually beneficial. Subsequent discussions planned for 2012–2014
will address the relationship of the Gospel to God’s Law, church fellowship, the church’s mission and ministry, and the church’s witness
in the public square.
d. Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Evangelical Lutheran
Synod

Fifteen leaders from the LCMS, WELS, and ELS met for informal dialogue on December 4–7, 2012. The group consisted of seven
men from the WELS, seven from the LCMS, and one from the ELS.
While none of the participants anticipate impending formal doctrinal
discussions toward fellowship, the meetings were viewed as helpful in dispelling certain caricatures, learning of challenges faced by
each synod, and taking a look at what currently unites/divides the
church bodies of the former Synodical Conference in their respective efforts to pursue confessional Lutheranism. A similar meeting
is planned for 2013.
4. International Sister/Partner Lutheran Churches

The LCMS has sister or partner church arrangements involving
altar-pulpit fellowship with many churches throughout the world
(see ILC, section II A 1 above). The Director of Church Relations,
Dr. Albert Collver, visited no less than thirty-five churches in the
2010–2013 triennium. Relationships with only two of these churches
are specifically reported below due to particularly noteworthy
circumstances.
a. Japan Lutheran Church

The Missouri Synod’s partner church in Japan, the Japan Lutheran
Church (JLC), grew out of LCMS mission work in Japan beginning in
1948. It was organized as an autonomous church in 1968 and became
an LCMS partner church in 1971. The JLC received a proposal at its
14th General Convention in May 2008 to ordain women to the pastoral office. LCMS leaders asked for meeting between the two churches
to discuss this issue, “since a decision to ordain women would have
serious implications for a relationship which our two churches have
enjoyed for so many years.” In response, the JLC Convention resolved
to discuss the issue with the LCMS before making a decision. Since
that time, representatives of the Synod and the JLC have met on
four occasions, in February and September 2009 and in February
and August of 2010. To date, the JLC has not changed its practice of
ordaining only qualified men to the pastoral office.
On March 11, 2011, northern Japan was devastated by a massive
earthquake and tsunami. LCMS churches and individuals responded
through LCMS World Relief. Significant aid from the LCMS was provided to victims of the devastation working in cooperation with the
JLC. Since the earthquake, much of the focus on relations between
the LCMS and JLC has been on needs in the area of human care. The
JLC has requested further conversations with the LCMS.
b. Lutheran Church–Canada

The LCMS and the Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC) enjoy a
vibrant, multi-faceted relationship. Representatives of the LCMS and
LCC meet a minimum of one time each year to discuss areas of mutual
interest and cooperation as partner churches and neighbors in North
2013 Convention Workbook