LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 5, 1999, Page 8

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charges filed against workers must consider charges filed by any person, including individuals who are not
members of congregations of the LCMS, so long as the requirements of Bylaw 2.27, a, are met.
Do Article VI of the Constitution and Article 3.929 of the Bylaws indicate that The
Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Worship are the only hymnals to be used in worship
service of LCMS congregations?”
The answer to this question is “no.” The Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod do not require that The
Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Worship be the only hymnals used in worship services of LCMS
congregations. Resolution 3-01 of the 1979 synodical convention, “To Adopt Lutheran Worship as an
Official Hymnal of the LCMS,” for example, encourages but does not require the use of the new hymnal:
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) in convention adopt
Lutheran Worship as an official hymnal of the LCMS (the general contents of the book are
appended to this resolution); and be it further
Resolved, That the congregations of the LCMS be encouraged to use Lutheran Worship as
their service book and hymnal.
It is also clear from the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod, however, that great care must be taken in the
selection and use of worship materials in LCMS congregations. Article VI, 4, stipulates that one condition
for acquiring and holding membership in the Synod is the “exclusive use of doctrinally pure agenda,
hymnbooks, and catechisms in church and school,” making it the responsibility of every church worker and
congregation to carefully review the doctrinal content of all worship materials before their public use.
To assist church workers and congregations, Bylaw 3.928, c, assigns to the Commission on Worship the
function and duty to “recommend worship materials to the church and advise and warn against the use of
worship materials that are unworthy of use in the corporate worship of the church.” Bylaw 3.929, by
providing a careful process for accepting official service books and hymnals of the Synod, also underscores
the importance of this responsibility.
To further assist church workers and congregations, our Synod has established Concordia Publishing House
(CPH) for the purpose of “developing, producing, marketing, and distributing products for use by members
of the Synod” that are “approved through the Synod’s prescribed procedure for doctrinal review before
publication” (Bylaw 3.301, b). Such doctrinal review, prescribed by Bylaw 11.07, not only provides to
church workers and congregations important assurance that CPH worship materials have been carefully
reviewed, but it also demonstrates the care that is to be taken in reviewing materials for use in public
worship:
The reviewer shall make a careful evaluation of the doctrinal content of all items submitted
to him.
The reviewer’s primary concern is that items submitted to him be in agreement in their
doctrinal content with the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.
The reviewer shall also be concerned that the items submitted to him do not contain
statements that are inadequate, misleading, ambiguous, or lacking in doctrinal clarity.
40. Adjournment
With all current business having been addressed by the Commission, Chairman Tesch called on
Alan Barber to close the meeting with a prayer.