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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 314

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

LIFE TOGETHER

314
Ov. 4-22

To Reject Racial Quotas and Idolatry
of Human Characteristics
WHEREAS, God’s Word calls us to unity in Christ: “Now I
beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you;
but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the
same judgment … Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:10, 13 KJV); and
WHEREAS, The world and Satan seek not unity, but division by
urging some to fall into sinful pride (Prov. 11:2) based upon the
human attributes with which God has created us (Matt. 3:9), and by
burdening the consciences of others with “sins” they have not
committed and for which there can be no absolution; and
WHEREAS, The Synod has condemned (2019 Res. 7-02) such
harmful ideologies, which embrace the Marxist concepts of victim
and oppressor by appealing to our sinful nature to lord it over one
another (Mark 10:42); and
WHEREAS, The Church must reject false teachings that war
against God’s unchanging truth and His order of creation; that
would make us our own gods and deny the fact of His creation of
male and female (Gen. 1:27); that would assign merit or guilt based
upon worldly demographic or socioeconomic characteristics; or that
would define and measure the success or failure of our own
churches and institutions based upon the superficial appearance of
our brothers and sisters therein; and
WHEREAS, It should disturb us that any educational institution of
the Synod would, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America’s 1993 social statement, Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity,
and Culture, adopt explicit numerical racial quotas or “goals” for
students or faculty in the carrying out of its mission, as though a
sister or brother is more or less welcome based on (God-given) skin
color, and that we have met our “goal” and can declare victory based
on achieving some minimum or token number of a particular skin
color or ethnicity, when the Lord of the harvest calls us to reach all
nations; and
WHEREAS, The Church must faithfully proclaim the Word of
God, which is living and active (Heb. 4:12), to all nations and trust
the Lord of the harvest to provide the increase, rather than go
beyond what God says and into the realm of worldly sociological
discourses (see 1995 Appendix R3-01A, Cameron A. MacKenzie,
Ken Schurb, James W. Voelz, and Norman Nagel, “Racism and the
Church: A Dissenting Opinion,” Workbook, 62–64; 1995 Res. 205A, “To Commend for Study the CTCR Document Racism and the
Church,” Proceedings, 112); therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod reject and condemn disturbing
ideologies of race and ethnicity-based goals and quotas (cf. Rev. Dr.
Matthew Harrison, “President Harrison denounces disturbing
ideologies,”
Reporter
Online,
Feb.
21,
2023,
reporter.lcms.org/2023/president-harrison-denounces-disturbingideologies), and direct its institutions not to teach, advocate, or
adopt any such policies; and be it further
Resolved, That this resolution not be construed to limit outreach
to or the production of resources for language groups, which is a
non-racial characteristic; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Synod affirms that God has created all the
nations and all of our varied attributes, of which no one should be
ashamed, rejoices in His good gifts of creation given to each of us,
and calls upon all people to glory only in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:2–11)
2026 Convention Workbook

and their baptismal identity in Christ as redeemed children of God
(Rev. 7:9–17).
St. Paul
Brookfield, IL
Ov. 4-23

To Amend Bylaws to Reinstate
Commission on Worship
Rationale
The Word of God and the Sacraments are the means by which God
has promised to deal with us (SA III VIII 10). It is by these means
that justifying faith is obtained (AC V). In order to obtain this faith,
the ministry of purely teaching the Gospel and rightly administering
the Sacraments was established and continues in the Church,
serving as the marks of the true Christian Church and its unity (AC
V; VII).
The public teaching of God’s Word and administration of the
Sacraments in Christian congregations is commonly referred to as
“worship.” Such worship is the essential and necessary public
activity for every Christian congregation. In faithful public worship
the following common purposes of the members of the Synod
(congregations and individual ministers) are enacted: to conserve
and promote the unity of the true faith (Const. Art. III 1), to
strengthen one another in giving bold witness by word and deed to
the love and work of God (Const. Art. III 2), to educate and nourish
Christians of all ages (Const. Art. III 5) and to recognize, promote,
express, conserve, and defend confessional unity in the true faith
(Const. Art. III 6). “Worship” necessarily encompasses a variety of
faithful church practices and customs. Holy Scripture does not
require precise uniformity in these. Neither is the true unity of the
Church to be found by outward uniformity (AC VII 2).
Nevertheless, the Synod from inception has consistently affirmed
that a recognizable uniformity of order and church practice is
desirable and worthy of pursuit (Const. Art. III 7).
In fact, the Synod has found this pursuit of recognizable uniformity
and faithfulness of such importance that it has conditioned
membership in the Synod concerning the prayers and rites, songs
and hymns used in worship. The Synod requires (based on the
confessional basis of Const. Art. II) that its members “exclusive[ly]
use … doctrinally pure agenda, hymnbooks, and catechisms in
church and school” (Const. Art. VI 4).
Furthermore, we have the clear teaching of Holy Scripture
regarding being united by God’s Word in worship. For example,
Scripture teaches that we are to “let the word of Christ dwell in [us]
richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in
[our] hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). The unity we have in God’s Word
(John 17:20–21; Eph. 4:11–13) finds expression in our worship.
To assist its members in these things, the Synod adopts official
hymnbooks and agenda and gives attention to the conduct of rites,
preaching, administration of the Sacraments, and music by her
members (e.g., 2016 Resolution 4-04A). Recognizing the vital
importance of worship, the Synod maintained a Commission on
Worship from the 1930s until 1981, although it was first
acknowledged in Synod bylaws in 1960. After a brief hiatus, the
Commission on Worship was reinstated in 1983 and continued until
the Synod’s restructuring in 2010. The Commission on Worship