LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — October 20, 1999, Page 3

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engaging in altar and pulpit fellowship with one another in accordance with a congregational-based
fellowship agreement. Both congregations share one pastor and one name in the community.
The facts underlying the second question are somewhat similar. An LCMS congregation, Our Redeemer
Lutheran Church, and an ELCA congregation, Faith Lutheran Church, are each incorporated separately
under the laws of the State of California. Each congregation has its own corporate articles and bylaws.
Together, they do business as The Lutheran Church of Arcata, sharing pastors and property. The people
who share the parish building are members of either the LCMS congregation or the ELCA congregation,
but not both. No person of either congregation holds dual membership in the other. Our Redeemer has
never held membership in the ELCA. The deed to the church property is held in the names of "Our
Redeemer's Lutheran Church (LCMS) and Faith Lutheran Church (ELCA), as tenants in common." This
arrangement was formed in 1971 when Our Redeemer's property was taken by eminent domain for
freeway construction. Over the years the combined congregations were served by two pastors, one
belonging to the LCMS, and the other to the ELCA. Currently the congregations are being served by an
LCMS pastor.
Do these fact situations create dual memberships under the language of 1998 synodical Resolution 7-12?
The Commission's interpretation is that they do not. Neither LCMS congregation holds, or has ever held,
membership in the ELCA or its predecessors.
The Commission is well aware, however, that the substance of these congregational agreements raises a
number of troubling issues. In the instant cases involving Pacific Palisades and The Lutheran Church of
Arcata, the effects are virtually identical to a dual membership scenario. Only the technical requirements
of formal dual membership remain absent.
Members of Synod are bound together by a common confession of faith. Article 11 of the Constitution of
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is unalterable. 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 practice; 2. All the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a
true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God...." In Article 111, "the Synod, under
Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, shall-- 1. Conserve and promote the unity of the true faith (Eph.
4:3-6; 1 Cor. 1:10), work through its official structure toward fellowship with other Christian church
bodies, and provide a united defense against schism, sectarianism (Rom. 16:17), and heresy."
Article VI of the Constitution stipulates Conditions of Membership. It provides conditions for acquiring
and holding membership in the Synod. Such conditions include inter alia:
•
•

Acceptance of the confessional basis of Article 11.
Renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every description, such as:
a. Serving congregations of mixed confession, as such, by ministers of the church;
b. Taking part in the services and sacramental rites of heterodox congregations or of
congregations of mixed confession;...

A congregation attempting to create or maintain unilateral altar and pulpit fellowship with a non-member
congregation will inevitably open itself to doctrinal scrutiny. Every member of the Synod has a right to
challenge such an arrangement if it is found wanting in light of the Scriptures, the Confessions, the
Constitution, the Bylaws, or the resolutions of Synod. Those charged with doctrinal oversight bear special
responsibility to carefully investigate the theological implications of each situation and take appropriate
action.
Three additional questions were submitted by the Lutheran Church of Arcata.

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