LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — undated, Page 6

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Commission on Constitutional Matters ruled on this question already prior to the Denver
convention in response to a request from the President of the Synod and from the Commission on
Theology and Church Relations. At that time the Commission on Constitutional Matters ruled that there
was no necessity for the Commission on Theology and Church Relations to offer another
recommendation.
Whatever question there may be regarding the applicability of 16.03 the simple facts of the matter
are that the Commission on Theology and Church Relations did indeed make four substantially favorable
recoumendations regarding fellowship with The American Lutheran Church, that it made these
recommendations already to the New York convention of the Synod, and that the New York convention
incorporated these recommendations in substance in New York Resolution 3-23 (Workbook, p. 47;
Proceedings, pp. 102 and 103).
II.
The question has been raised in some quarters whether the action of the Denver convention which
decided, by majority vote, to declare fellowship with The ALC is "a matter of doctrine and of
conscience;" if so, was not the vote which was taken on Resolution 3-15 unconstitutional?
It is the opinion of the Commission on Constitutional Matters that it neither is nor can be "a matter
of doctrine and of conscience" in the sense that these words axe used in Article VIII, C.
Article VIII, C of the Synod's Constitution states: ''All matters of doctrine and of conscience shall
be decided only by the Word of God. All other matters shall be decided by a majority vote." The principle
is hereby safeguarded that doctrine is established only by the Word of God; not by the will of man.
Further, the principle that conscience is to be guided only by the Word of God, not by the consciences of
men, is also safeguarded.
Francis Pieper, in his Christian Dogmatics (III, 430), has written: "The only purpose of voting in
matters of doctrine is to see whether all now understand the teaching of the divine Word and agree to it;
the purpose of the vote is not to decide the correctness of a doctrine by majority vote or even by
unanimous vote. The orthodox Christian Church remains aware of the fact that it cannot by resolution
make or give birth to Christian doctrines, but must always merely set forth from Scripture and profess
over against the prevailing error the doctrines submitted and settled in Scripture."
If the Word of God expressly stated that we should or should not declare fellowship with a specific
church body, then the matter would be settled once and for all. In such case, any vote, whether majority or
unanimous, would be out of order.
But the sacred Scripture is not that explicit. It simply sets forth various principles of fellowship (cf.
The Theology of Fellowship). It remains for a church body contemplating a specific declaration of
fellowship to determine, on the basis of the pertinent Scriptural principles and the facts at its disposal,
whether or not it feels that sufficient consensus exists to warrant such specific declaration of fellowship.
Such determination, at least in The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, is arrived at by the majority
vote of a delegate convention. ("All other matters shall be decided by a majority vote," Article VIII, C).
Paragraph 1.21 of the Synod's Bylaws states: "The delegate convention of the Synod shall be the
Synod's chief legislative assembly. It shall establish policies, programs, and procedures to carry on the
Synod's work. Only a delegate convention of the Synod shall authorize affiliation or association of the