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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 58

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

The commission has met 12 times, so far, between the Synod’s
2023 and 2026 conventions, all via electronic means. It also took
two electronic actions without a meeting and plans to meet in person in conjunction with floor committee weekend and the convention. Its minutes are available at lcms.org/coh.
Ken Ray Schurb, Chairman
R12

Commission on Theology and Church
Relations
The Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR)
has three primary functions: (1) to “assist the President of the Synod at his request in discharging his constitutional responsibilities
for maintaining doctrinal unity within the Synod” and “for maintaining doctrinal integrity as he relates to other church bodies”;
(2) to “provide guidance to the Synod in matters of theology and
church relations”; and (3) to assist the members of the Synod in
their witness regarding “societies, lodges, cults, or any organizations of an unchristian or anti-Christian character” (Bylaws 3.9.5.2
to 3.9.5.4). Further CTCR responsibilities include responding to
expressions of dissent (Bylaw section 1.8) and approving church
body requests for altar and pulpit fellowship (Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2). It
also renders official theological opinions as requested or mandated
by Synod bylaws.
The CTCR consists of sixteen voting members and four advisory members. Voting members elected by the synodical convention
include two parish pastors, one parish teacher, and two laypersons.
Other voting members include four Council of Presidents (COP)
appointees, including two pastors (one of whom is a district president) and two laypersons; four seminary professors (two from each
seminary faculty); and three additional members (one of whom is
a Concordia University System professor) appointed by the President of the Synod, in consultation with the Synod vice-presidents.
The President and First Vice-President of the Synod and the presidents of the two seminaries are advisory members, with no term
limits on their service. CTCR members elected in convention serve
a six-year term and may be reelected once. Members appointed by
the president or elected by a seminary or the COP serve three-year
terms and may be reappointed twice.
For the sake of efficiency, the commission operates with an executive committee and three working committees. The executive
committee includes the CTCR’s officers, the chairmen of the three
committees, and the executive staff (see below). While not rigidly
defined, one of the working committees focuses on matters pertaining to church and ministry (including church relations matters), the
second on other doctrinal issues, and the third on social and ethical
matters of concern to Christians and the church. All official reports,
opinions, or documents of the CTCR are approved before their release or publication by the entire commission meeting in plenary.
CTCR officers during the past triennium were the Rev. Dr. Brian
Saunders, chairman; the Rev. Dr. Roland Ziegler, vice-chairman;
and the Rev. Dr. Gerhard Bode Jr., secretary. Chairs of the respective committees were the Rev. Dr. Naomichi Masaki (Committee
One), the Rev. Dr. Joel Biermann (Committee Two), and Dr. Andrea Pitkus (Committee Three). The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast began
the triennium as CTCR chairman but relinquished his position upon
retirement from the presidency of Concordia Theological Seminary,
Fort Wayne. His successor, the Rev. Dr. Jon Bruss, replaced him as
2026 Convention Workbook

ex officio member of the commission, while Saunders was elected
to succeed him as chair. All other members of the commission are as
noted in the Workbook directory.
The CTCR is currently served by three executive staff members, two full-time and one part-time. From 1991 through 2007, the
CTCR was served by three full-time executive staff members. Since
2008, however, one of those full-time executive staff positions had
been continuously vacant, primarily due to Synod budgetary limitations. The Rev. Dr. Joel Lehenbauer, who has served on the CTCR
executive staff since 1991, has been executive director since 2008.
At its April 2023 meeting, the commission took action to reappoint
Lehenbauer for a fourth five-year term (Bylaw 3.9.5.3.1[a][3–4]).
The Rev. Dr. Richard Serina Jr. is associate executive director
(2020–present) and the Rev. Dr. Larry Vogel is assistant to the executive director (2009–present; part-time deployed since 2020). In
addition to facilitating the work of the commission detailed below
in this report, the executive staff also responds to emails, letters, and
telephone calls requesting further information about or clarification
of the Synod’s view of various topics and teachings, and regularly
presents to members, agencies, and other groups and meetings of
the Synod on its responsibilities and work, past or present. Staff also
represented the CTCR on the Created Male and Female Task Force
and the Concordia University System Board of Directors this past
triennium, coordinated and contributed to numerous intra-church
and interchurch relations meetings, and served as theological advisors for the LCMS Youth Gathering.

I. Theology
A. Completed Assignments (Reports, Responses,
Special Studies, and Study Documents)
The CTCR organizes its work using a variety of categories, as
described in its duly adopted policy guidelines. The primary form
that the completion of assignments takes is in reports, which are
ordinarily convention-requested documents that set forth what the
commission regards as a soundly biblical and Lutheran exposition
of a particular issue of importance to the church. Study documents
include study guides of existing reports, Bible studies, or more
preliminary studies intended to stimulate discussion. Additionally,
special studies and responses to various theological, ethical, synodical, or ecumenical matters may be produced. In certain cases,
the commission receives requests for opinions which require more
explanation than a customary opinion and/or may be of broader relevance to the Synod, so those opinions would be included in this
section. Completed assignments are listed below in chronological
order of completion. Since 2014, due to budgetary constraints, the
commission has been unable to print and disseminate its documents
to the Synod, with limited exceptions. All completed assignments,
once published, are available online at lcms.org/ctcr.

1. Christian Decision-Making and the End of Life: An
Update and Supplement to 1993’s Christian Care at Life’s
End (1977 Res. 03-26)
In compliance with the standing assignment to provide direction
in matters of bioethics, the commission reviewed its 1993 report,
Christian Care at Life’s End, and concluded that an update to that
document was needed. The 1993 report had attempted to provide
more practical case studies that built on 1979’s Report on Euthanasia with Guiding Principles, which was appended to Christian
Care at Life’s End. In the intervening years, medical and legal developments, particularly physician-assisted suicide, have changed