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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 321

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

LIFE TOGETHER
Resolved, That the Synod direct the ONM and OIM to not grant
or renew RSO status to any organization supporting, uplifting,
celebrating, or otherwise promoting LGBTQIA+ groups, agendas,
thoughts, ideas, ideals, etc., including organizations seeking RSO
status that are partnered with an organization supporting, uplifting,
celebrating, or otherwise promoting LGBTQIA+ groups, agendas,
thoughts, ideas, ideals, etc.; and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaw 6.2.3 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
6.2.3
Program administration shall be carried out by the Offices
of National and International Mission according to these bylaws, and
according to policies and criteria developed by the Synod Board of
Directors, mission boards, and mission offices.
(a) The Board of Directors of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod shall adopt common policies and criteria for granting of
recognized service organization status by Synod’s mission
offices, such polices relating to expectations for the corporate
structure and governance of the organizations, statements
regarding their legal and corporate independence from the Synod,
and the necessary relation of their work to the mission and
ministry of the Synod as generally expressed in its Constitution
and Bylaws. These policies shall include an agreement with the
recognized service organization stating that they adopt and will
uphold the biblical definition of manhood, womanhood, and
marriage, as adopted by the Synod and that they will not endorse,
support the work of, nor enter into partnerships with other
organizations who either undermine or do not uphold the same.
The Board of Directors shall approve the standard form of
agreement to be entered into by the Synod and each recognized
service organization.
…

and be it finally
Resolved, That Bylaw 6.2.4 be amended as follows:
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING
6.2.4
Subject to policies adopted by the Synod’s Board of
Directors and the respective mission board, recognized service
organization status may be granted and revoked by the Office of
National Mission or the Office of International Mission to a service
organization (other than an auxiliary) that extends the mission and
ministry of the Synod but is not part of the Synod as defined by its
Constitution and Bylaws.
(a) Applications for recognized service organization status shall
be made to the Office of the Secretary of the Synod, which will
facilitate the application as follows:
…
(4) To be declined are all applications for RSO status from
organizations currently supporting, uplifting, celebrating, or
otherwise promoting groups, agendas, thoughts, ideas, ideals,
etc., contrary to God’s design for man and woman as well as
applications from organizations seeking RSO status that are
partnered with the same.
(b) Within the area of its responsibility and in accordance with
policies and criteria developed by the Synod Board of Directors,
the respective mission board and office, each mission office shall
determine to which organizations recognized service
organization status will be granted and revoked.
…

Mid-South District

321

Ov. 4-35

To Request Action and Closer Examination of
Recognized Service Organization Status
regarding Matters of Human Sexuality,
and To Amend Bylaws 6.2.3–4
WHEREAS, Since before the fall into sin, God created human
beings male and female (Gen. 1:27); and
WHEREAS, Since before the fall into sin, God gave man and
woman to be husband and wife (Gen. 2:24); and
WHEREAS, After the fall into sin, God reiterates that he still gives
man and woman to be husband and wife in marriage (Matt. 19:5;
Mark 10:7; Eph. 5:31); and
WHEREAS, Sin is anything that goes contrary to God’s purpose
and design (1 John 5:17); and
WHEREAS, Our country has adopted policies and practices that
uphold, promote, and uplift LGBTQIA+ positions on gender,
sexuality, and marriage that are contrary to God’s design and are
therefore sinful according to God’s Word (e.g. ruling that marriage
is no longer exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one
woman); and
WHEREAS, The LGBTQIA+ community is supported, uplifted,
and celebrated at many times and places (e.g. Pride month, Pride
parades, etc.); and
WHEREAS, The Christian is called to not follow in the deeds of
darkness, but rather, is to lead a holy and God-pleasing life (Eph.
5:11; 1 Peter 2:9); and
WHEREAS, Such a God-pleasing life does not seek to remain in
sin nor to celebrate it, but repents of it, receives forgiveness for it,
and strives to sin no more (Rom. 6:1–2; Psalm 32:5; John 8:11); and
WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations
(CTCR) published a report on marriage and sexuality entitled, A
Chaste and Decent Life: An Update to Human Sexuality 1981,
which concludes that, “attitudes towards gender identity and
dysphoria, homosexuality and homosexual marriage, and societal
pressures regarding sexuality, among others, have changed
markedly in the last four decades,” yet still maintaining that “God’s
intention for human sexuality does not change” (LCMS CTCR,
[adopted 2022], 37); and
WHEREAS, The Synod has upheld and reaffirmed such positions
regarding marriage and sexuality, as recently as the 2023 Synod
convention (Resolution 5-11, “To Reaffirm Synod’s Biblical
Positions on Marriage and Sexuality”); and
WHEREAS, The granting of recognized service organization
(RSO) status by the Synod “signifies that a service organization,
while independent of the Synod, fosters the mission and ministry of
the church, engages in program activity that extends the mission and
ministry of the Synod, is in harmony with the programs of the
Synod, and respects and does not act contrary to the doctrine and
practice of the Synod” (Bylaw 6.2.1); and
WHEREAS, Many resources from the Synod and its partners
(Lutheran Church Extension Fund, Concordia Plan Services, etc.)
are made available to the RSOs of the Synod to support their work;
and
WHEREAS, The Office of the Secretary of the Synod is tasked
with receiving and facilitating applications for RSO status (Bylaw
6.2.4 [a]); and

2026 Convention Workbook