LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 151

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5. THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
time, it became clear that the JLC’s official interpretation of
the result of the official face-to-face meetings in 2009–2010
had been that as long as no women were placed into the office
of “pastor,” they were keeping their promise to the LCMS not
to ordain women into the pastoral office. Their apparent
understanding was that the LCMS would not object to female
clergy in the JLC as long as the nomenclature of “pastor” was
not applied. (As noted above, they first ordained a female
deacon in 2006.)

by amending its bylaws to remove the word “male” from the
section on the qualifications for called and ordained pastors.
By contradicting the clear teaching of Scripture that women
may not be called and ordained into the pastoral office, the
JLC’s 2021 convention thus endorsed false doctrine. Calling
and ordaining women into the pastoral office is not an
adiaphoron, a matter on which the Scriptures are silent.
Rather, it is a doctrinal matter which, where clear
disagreement exists, is divisive of fellowship.

Throughout the time between 2010 and 2021, the JLC
continued to pursue the goal of allowing women to serve in
the pastoral office proper. They also maintained the practice
of open communion and did not question their altar and
pulpit fellowship with the JELC.

In a letter dated July 9, 2021, President Harrison responded
with a “heavy heart,” indicating that “the JLC’s changed
confession of faith … has broken the God-given unity of the
faith once celebrated by our church bodies.” “I pray for your
repentance and your return to fellowship in Christ in the truth
of His Word,” wrote President Harrison. Should this not occur,
stated President Harrison, “I will inform the members of the
Synod and the Synod’s partner churches of … the need to place
this matter before the Synod in convention.” Sadly,
subsequent correspondence from President Yoshida, as well
as a face-to-face meeting between President Yoshida and the
LCMS Director of Church Relations—Assistant to the
President at an International Lutheran Council (ILC) meeting
in Kisumu, Kenya on Sept. 16, 2022, have made it clear that the
JLC has no intention of changing its current position on this
issue or amending its current practice of allowing women to
be ordained as pastors and to carry out the duties of the
pastoral office. Sadly, this assessment is confirmed by the fact
that the JLC ordained a second woman into the office of
deacon in 2021, as well as by official records of the JLC’s April
29, 2021, convention which indicate that there was
overwhelming support among convention delegates for
approving the ordination of women pastors.

LCMS Church Relations was fully aware of the JLC’s position
and practice in these matters. Recognizing how difficult it
would be for the JLC to change its official position on this
issue, LCMS Church Relations focused its attempt during
2014–2019 on assisting the JLC leadership in obtaining further
resources for understanding the problem theologically. As in
many Lutheran churches around the world, a lack of sound
and substantive theological teaching and understanding in
the JLC was a major challenge. Efforts were made to obtain
opportunities for the teachings of Scripture and the Lutheran
Confessions on this and other issues to be presented and
heard.
No less than four meetings took place in Japan from 2017 to
2019 between LCMS and JLC leaders in an effort to continue
theological discussions (August 2017, January 2018, October
2018, and June 2019). During these meetings, plans were
contemplated, and it was proposed to hold a series of
discussions on foundational theological issues such as the
authority and interpretation of Scripture, Christology and
justification, questions related to the doctrines of church and
ministry, the Lutheran understanding of church fellowship
(including fellowship at the Lord’s Table), scriptural
approaches to missions and evangelism, and faithful worship
and liturgical practices. The list above reflects the fact that the
meetings and discussions that took place between 2009 and
2019 revealed other differences in doctrine and practice
between the LCMS and the JLC, such as the JLC practice of
open communion, differing understandings and practices of
church fellowship, and differing understandings of proper
principles for interpreting Holy Scripture that had
implications for the understanding of the authority of
Scripture. Although many of these issues had been discussed
previously, it was hoped that careful and fraternal
examination and discussion of Scripture and the Lutheran
Confessions on foundational and intersectional issues such as
these might lead to increasing consensus on the issue of
women’s service in the Church.
Unfortunately, plans for these discussions did not fully
materialize, and little or no further progress was made in this
regard following the last effort of LCMS Church Relations in
June 2019. On June 4, 2021, President Harrison received a letter
from newly elected JLC President Tatsuomi Yoshida
informing that at its April 2021 national convention the JLC
had officially changed its position on the ordination of women
Resolutions

WHEREAS, Holy Scripture clearly teaches that women are
not to be called and ordained into, nor carry out the public
functions of, the pastoral office (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34); and
WHEREAS, The JLC officially approves of and practices the
calling and ordaining of women into the pastoral office; and
WHEREAS, The LCMS recognizes with deep sadness and
regret that differences in doctrine and practice exist between
the LCMS and the JLC, not only on the issue of the ordination
of women to the pastoral office but also on other issues
identified in the foregoing preamble (e.g., differing
hermeneutical principles and approaches that have
ramifications for scriptural authority; the scriptural
understanding of church fellowship; the doctrine and practice
of close[d] communion); and
WHEREAS, Ten years of formal and informal doctrinal
discussions between the LCMS and the JLC have neither
resolved the existing doctrinal differences nor offered any
basis for assuming that they will be resolved in the foreseeable
future; and
WHEREAS, The LCMS understands altar and pulpit
fellowship to be a gift of God that exists by His grace on the
basis of complete agreement in doctrine and practice;
therefore be it

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 151