LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 147

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and be it further
Resolved, That the task force begin work immediately following this convention, and that the members of this task force be the
Secretary of the Synod, the Chief Mission Officer, the Chief Administrative Officer, the executive director of the Office of National
Mission, the director of the RSO program, a representative from
the Office of the President, a representative of the Council of Presidents appointed by its chairman, and the chief executive officers
of two or more RSOs selected by the task force; and be it further
Resolved, That the task force engage with Concordia Plan Services and the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, as well as other
entities and RSOs from each of the five regions of the Synod; and
be it finally
Resolved, That the task force make its first report and recommendations to the Synod Board of Directors and the President of
the Synod by August 1, 2018, with a final report, recommendations,
and possible bylaw changes to be presented to the 2019 LCMS convention.
Action: Adopted (9)
(During discussion, a motion to amend the resolution by adding
a clinical pastoral educated chaplain to the membership of the proposed task force was, after response by the committee, withdrawn.
When the assembly indicated it was ready to vote, Res. 4-03B was
adopted as presented [Yes: 742; No: 57].)

To Appeal to the LCMS Congregations,
Workers, and Institutions within Christian
Freedom and for Love’s Sake to Retain a
Common Order of Service for the Lord’s Supper
RESOLUTION 4-04A
Overtures 4-14–15 (CW, pp. 333–334)
Whereas, The Lutheran Church has long heeded the Apostle’s
injunction that all things be done decently and in order (1 Cor.
14) by joyfully and freely receiving the Church’s historic order of
Divine Service (service of Holy Communion) as a precious gift from
previous generations of Christians by which the Word of God is
not bound but given free course that it may be proclaimed to the
joy and edifying of Christ’s holy people; and
Whereas, The Lutheran Church confesses that it suffices for
the true unity of the Christian Church that the Gospel be preached
in conformity with a pure understanding of it and the sacraments
administered in accordance with the divine Word (see AC VII 2);
and
Whereas, It is simply not necessary for the true unity of the
Christian Church that ceremonies instituted by human custom
should be observed uniformly in all places (see AC VII 3); and
Whereas, The Lutheran reformers nevertheless protested
ardently that they had by no means allowed the Mass, that is, the
Divine Service (service of Holy Communion), to be abolished, but
“4. Life Together”

rather observed it with the customary ceremonies with even greater
reverence than their opponents (see AC XXIV 1 and Ap XXIV 1);
and
Whereas, The Lutheran reformers could insist that those
church usages that have been established by human authority ought
to be observed, provided they could be observed without sin and
without the erroneous opinion that they justified (see AC XV) for
the sake of training the unlearned in the faith (see AC XXIV 3); and
Whereas, The reformers rejected the notion that humanly
instituted ceremonies are in and of themselves divine worship or
a part of it (see FC Ep X 3); and
Whereas, The Lutheran reformers confess that the churches
of God in every locality and age have authority to order such ceremonies in ways that are fitting and profitable for the building up
of the community in the faith (FC Ep X 4); and
Whereas, All frivolity and offense are to be carefully avoided
in this regard so that the weak in faith are not scandalized (FC Ep
X 5); and
Whereas, That no church should condemn another because
one has less or more external ceremonies not commanded by God
(FC Ep X 7 and Negative Theses); and
Whereas, The reformers also authored church orders, such as
the Church Order for Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, recently published in English by CPH (2015), which show how evangelical
freedom may fruitfully be joined with a grateful reception and
creative appropriation of the Church’s living liturgical and hymnological heritage; and
Whereas, The church orders evidenced variation in the details
of the humanly established ceremonies from place to place, yet all
within the order received from previous generations; and
Whereas, This received order provides in a remarkable way
for the whole counsel of God to be set before the congregation in
a weekly and yearly pattern that delivers the riches of Christ to
His Bride, balancing both what changes weekly or seasonally (the
“Propers”) with the stability of a framework that remains largely
constant (the “Ordinary”); and
Whereas, The LCMS Constitution Art. III 7 states, “The Synod,
under Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions shall— … Encourage congregations to strive for uniformity in church practice, but
also to develop an appreciation of a variety of responsible practices
and customs which are in harmony with our common confession
of faith”; therefore be it
Resolved, That the LCMS in convention appeal to the congregations of the Synod for love’s sake (Philemon 9), when celebrating
the Lord’s Supper, to regularly use these basic components of the
Order of Service (Ordo): to gather in the triune name, confess our
sins and receive Absolution, praise the blessed Trinity, attend to
the reading and the proclamation of God’s Holy Word, confess our
faith using the historic creeds, offer prayers for all people according to their needs including praying the Lord’s Prayer, celebrate
the Lord’s Supper with Christ’s own words, and then depart with
God’s blessing to send us forth as His forgiven children and witnesses to His grace; and be it further
U P O N T H I S R O C K • Resolutions

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