LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 222

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222

Seminary and University Education

of theological and professional competency. All initial appointments
to college/university theological faculties shall require the prior approval of the Board of Directors of Concordia University System. (emphasis added)

The bylaw further entrusted the board of directors of Concordia
University System to “state standards of good practice that provide
uniform procedures for renewing faculty employment contracts”
and required each institution to “state policies regarding faculty
appointment, employment contracts, contract renewal, and contract
termination for all employees within Concordia University System
guidelines”; and
Whereas, The CCM, in its opinion 12-2643 (August 10–12,
2012) entitled “Prior Approval of Theological Faculty,” opined that
the above-italicized portion of Bylaw 3.10.5.6.3 should be “stricken”
from the bylaw; and
Whereas, The effect of the decision of the CCM undermines the
Article III Objectives of the Constitution of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod (“1. Conserve and promote the unity of the true faith
[Eph. 4:3–6; 1 Cor.1:10] … 3. Recruit and train pastors, teachers, and
other professional church workers and provide opportunity for their
continuing growth”) and creates opportunity for the loss of authentic Lutheran doctrine and practice in the theology departments of the
colleges and universities by permitting ten different schools of theological thought to develop at the risk of losing the proper proclamation
of the Gospel; therefore be it
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.6.6.5 be amended to add to the duties of
the board of directors of Concordia University System, the following:
“(l) grant approval for the initial appointments of theological faculty
to the Synod’s colleges and universities”;

and be it further
Resolved, That the language of Bylaw 3.10.5.6.3 appearing in
the 2010 Handbook that was stricken by CCM Opinion 12-2643 be
restored.
St. Paul
Fort Wayne, IN
5-13

To Establish Master’s Program in Creation
Apologetics
Whereas, Scripture urges us, “In your hearts regard Christ the
Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who
asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15–16); and
Whereas, Part of the hope that is in us is that the God who made
the world in six days and redeemed it with the blood of His Son will
one day restore creation (Rom. 8:20–22; 2 Pet. 3:13); and
Whereas, The scriptural teachings on creation, the fall, redemption, the resurrection of the body, and the new creation are all closely
connected; and
Whereas, Atheistic evolutionary teaching permeates our public schools and popular media, its challenges to Bible-believing
Christians often going unanswered; and
Whereas, Many of our own members and even some of our
Synod-trained church workers are ill-equipped to make a vigorous
defense of the Bible’s teaching about creation; and
Whereas, Many of our church members and many students at
our Lutheran schools can easily be misled by proponents of atheistic evolution, who often caricature and twist scriptural teaching and
creation science; and
2013 Convention Workbook

Whereas, The scriptural teaching of creation and the fall (including the first promise of the Savior [Gen. 3:14–15]) tells us who we
are, where we came from, to whom we are accountable, and what our
future is in Christ; and
Whereas, Though defense of a young earth and a powerful and
wise Creator God cannot work faith in a person’s heart—only the
Gospel of Jesus Christ can do that—yet a defense of scriptural teaching of creation can for some remove barriers to faith in Christ; and
Whereas, Many young Christians are mistakenly led to believe
that they cannot be good scientists and Bible-believing Christians at
the same time; therefore be it
Resolved, That the 2013 LCMS convention direct the Concordia
University System to establish a master’s program in Creation
Apologetics at one or more of the Concordia universities; and be
it further
Resolved, That this master’s program include but not be limited
to the following elements: thorough biblical teaching on the doctrines of creation, the fall, the redemption and restoration of creation;
evangelism training centered on the cross of Christ; scientific, logical, and philosophical critiques of evolutionary teaching; and sound
methods for evaluating and interpreting scientific data from various
disciplines in light of our confidence that God’s eyewitness account
of origins recorded in Genesis 1–11 (and elsewhere in Scripture) is
historical; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Southern Illinois District in convention submit
this resolution as an overture to the 2013 LCMS convention.
Southern Illinois District
5-14

To Require Investigation of Teaching of Evolution
in Synod Institutions of Higher Education
Whereas, In the Brief Statement of 1932, the Synod stated, “We
teach that God has created heaven and earth, and that in the manner
and in the space of time recorded in the Holy Scriptures, especially
Gen. 1 and 2, namely, by His almighty creative word, and in six days.
We reject every doctrine which denies or limits the work of creation
as taught in Scripture”; and
Whereas, The 2004 LCMS convention adopted Res. 2-08A “To
Commend Preaching and Teaching Creation,” which included the
resolve “That no educational agency or institution of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod tolerate any teaching that contradicts the
special, immediate, and miraculous creation by God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, as an explanation for the origin of the universe”; and
Whereas, The All Workers Conference of the Montana District
heard reports that the teaching of evolution as fact is taking place
within the Concordia University System schools; and
Whereas, Repeated calls for specific investigation have been
denied by floor committees of the Synod convention, with the reasoning that a system of ecclesiastical supervision is already in place; and
Whereas, The current system as yet has not brought comfort or
confidence to the Synod by laying to rest the concerns regarding the
teaching of evolution as fact in our schools; and
Whereas, The Synod owes our students an education that is congruent with the Word of God and our Lutheran Confessions, which
would include the ability to recognize and critically analyze the false
assumptions of the evolutionary theory; and
Whereas, Any failure in our Synod’s schools regarding the truth
of a six-day, young earth creation and the error of evolutionary theory