LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 168

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168

Theology and Church Relations

Resolved, That the Montana District memorialize Synod in convention to direct the President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod to initiate contact with other historically Christian denominations in order to verify that the congregations of those church
bodies do, in fact, administer a Christian Baptism; that is, specifically a Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, as given us in Holy Scripture as the true confession of
the name of the triune God.
Montana District
4-13

To Encourage Confession and Absolution
for Pastors
Whereas, At the 2010 LCMS convention, newly elected President
Matthew Harrison declared, “I wish to inform you that you have kept
your perfect record of electing sinners as presidents of the Missouri
Synod. I guarantee you I will sin and fail. I will fall short. I will sin
against you. I wish also to say, that right now I forgive all who have
in any way sinned against me or anybody else and plead your forgiveness for anything that I said or did that offended you”; and
Whereas, In confession, “it is not the voice or word of the man
who speaks, but it is the Word of God, who forgives sin, for it is spoken in God’s stead and by God’s command” (AC XXV, Tappert, pp.
61–62); and
Whereas, Martin Luther gave pastoral reflection on this statement in answer to a question about whether he would reveal a sin if
a woman confessed to killing her child: “By no means, for the forum
of conscience is to be distinguished from the forum of the civil government. The woman didn’t confess anything to me; she confessed
to Christ. But if Christ keeps it hidden, I should conceal it and simply deny I heard anything” (AE 54:395); and
Whereas, While no one should be forced to go to confession
(“no one should be compelled to recount sins in detail,” Tappert, p.
62), it is also true that confession should be made available for those
whose conscience is troubled (“The preachers on our side diligently
teach that confession is to be retained for the sake of absolution, for
the sake of terrified consciences” [Tappert, p. 63]); and
Whereas, Pastors may also become aware of sins that they themselves have committed and desire to confess them to another pastor,
as Luther describes in the Small Catechism, and so receive absolution; and
Whereas, Pastors may be unsure regarding persons to whom
they can confess, since they themselves have no specified pastor; and
Whereas, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod was formed in
part to “provide evangelical [i.e., Gospel] supervision, counsel, and
care for pastors” (Constitution, Art. III 8); and
Whereas, Our confessions call private absolution “the voice of
the Gospel”; and
Whereas, The Synod in 2007 “resolved, that both laity and pastors be encouraged to make greater use of individual confession and
absolution” (Res. 2-07A); and
Whereas, District presidents, in addition to their ordination vows
to remain faithful to the Word of God and never to reveal sins confessed to them, are also responsible for the ecclesiastical supervision
of the pastors in their districts, which includes “presenting, interpreting, and applying of the collective will of the Synod’s congregations”
(Bylaw 1.2.1 [g]); and

2013 Convention Workbook

Whereas, The Synod in convention has stated that private absolution should be made available to pastors as well as laity so that they
may make use of it; and
Whereas, While the practice of private confession and absolution might bring one into conflict with the kingdom of the left (I.e.,
the temporal authorities, as noted in the CTCR report “The Pastor
Penitent Relationship,” p. 9), it is impossible that the practice of private confession and absolution could come into conflict with the
kingdom of the right (i.e., the realm of spiritual authority), since it is
“the voice of the Gospel” itself; and
Whereas, While pastors may occasionally have duties related to
the kingdom of the left (e.g., serving as ex officio members of a board
of trustees), pastors are given to the church to preach the Gospel and
administer the Sacraments; similarly, while district presidents may
have some certain left-hand kingdom duties (e.g., serving on a district
board of directors), they are elected from among the clergy because
they are primarily servants of the Gospel; and
Whereas, The responsibility to “interpret the collective will of the
Synod’s congregations” has led, in some cases, to confusion regarding the role that district presidents (and, by extension, their assistants
the circuit counselors) should play in hearing the confessions of other
pastors and speaking the absolution to them; and
Whereas, This confusion has led to serious reflection on the part
of district presidents as to whether they are able to offer individual
confession and absolution to other pastors, and also on the part of circuit counselors as to their proper role, with some saying that they can
hear the confessions of pastors and others saying that they should not,
lest it cause conflict between their ordination vow never to reveal sins
confessed and their Synod bylaw duty that requires a district president
to act if “he becomes aware of information or allegations that could
lead to expulsion of a member from the Synod” (Bylaw 2.14.4); and
Whereas, This confusion is not good: “For God is not a God of
confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33); and
Whereas, The Synod in convention has an opportunity to express
the collective will of the congregations of Synod and thereby offer
guidance in this matter; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention state its commitment that
in all activities, officers, and agencies of the Synod, the goal is that
all might “hear the Word of the Gospel” (Acts 15:7, as referenced in
the Preamble of the LCMS Constitution);
and be it further
Resolved, That the work of the Gospel is never to be considered
in conflict with the Constitution, Bylaws, or Articles of Incorporation
of the Synod but rather the very reason for their existence, as Luther
clearly states in the Large Catechism: “Therefore everything in the
Christian church is so ordered that we may daily obtain full forgiveness of sins through the Word and signs” (LC II:55, Tappert, p. 418);
and be it further
Resolved, That all Synod officials are reminded of their ordination vow to “never reveal sins confessed to them” and that the Synod
in convention considers any bylaw provisions regarding knowledge
of specific sins to be understood only as referring to knowledge that
is gained outside of the confessional and that the seal of the confessional is to be kept, as Luther advised: “But if Christ keeps it hidden, I
should conceal it and simply deny I heard anything”; and be it further
Resolved, That the pastors of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod be reassured that the Synod takes very seriously the spiritual welfare of her pastors and encourages them that when they feel
a need to avail themselves of private absolution, they should do so;
and be it further