LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — June 13–14, 2014, Page 1

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MINUTES
COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, St. Louis
June 13–14, 2014

36. Call to Order / Opening Devotion
Chairman George Gude called the meeting to order, provided the opening devotion, and reviewed the
agenda for the meeting. All members of the commission were present for the meeting.
37. Constitutional Questions re Advocacy of Doctrinal Positions Contrary to the Synod’s Stated
Positions (13-2694)
In an email dated December 6, 2013, the President of the Synod asked the commission if open and
repeated advocacy of theological positions contrary to the Synod’s stated positions were violations of
Article II and Article VI 1 of the Synod’s Constitution. He also posed specific questions about the public
rejection of “A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles” (1973) and about the filing of formal
dissent from such theological positions.
Response of the Commission
Unity of doctrine and practice were primary reasons for the formation of the Synod and are key to its
continued existence. This unity is expressed internally as we walk together and externally in witness to
those outside the Synod. Subscription to the stated confessional position of the Synod is both a
precondition for acquiring membership in the Synod and a requirement of those who wish to continue to
hold membership in the Synod (individuals and congregations) (Constitution Art. II; III 1; XIII 1; Bylaw
1.6.1).
The object of the Synod, as stated in Article III 1 of the Constitution, is (1) to conserve and promote a unity in
which all are “united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10), and (2) to avoid schism caused by
contrary doctrine (Rom. 16:17). This purpose of the Synod is defeated when individuals are permitted to teach
in accordance with their private views, for then there can be no such thing as a synodical position, and a
meaningful corporate confessional commitment is impossible. Formal commitment of the Synod to a
confessional base is pointless unless the Synod has the right as a synod to apply its confessional base
definitively to current issues and thus conserve and promote unity and resist an individualism which breeds
schism. [1971 Res. 2-21]

The confessional position of the Synod is set forth in Article II of the Constitution:
The Synod, and every member of the Synod, accepts without reservation:
1. The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm of
faith and of practice;
2. All the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement and
exposition of the Word of God, to wit: the three Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the
Athanasian Creed), the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald
Articles, the Large Catechism of Luther, the Small Catechism of Luther, and the Formula of Concord.

The Synod, while acknowledging the unique status of the Scriptures (norma normans, “the norming
norm”) and the Lutheran Confessions (norma normata, “normed norm”), also acknowledges that the