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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 336

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
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336

THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

in St. Louis. At this meeting, the CTCR unanimously recommended
recognition of altar and pulpit fellowship with ICEL pursuant to
Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2 (b)(2), which authorizes the LCMS President to
declare recognition of fellowship after consultation with the
Praesidium “subject to the endorsement of the subsequent Synod
convention.” In a letter to President Fernández dated May 4, 2025,
President Harrison officially declared recognition of fellowship
with ICEL. On May 24, 2025, a divine service celebrating the
official recognition of fellowship was held in the chapel of
Concordia the Reformer Seminary in the Dominican Republic. This
service included representatives from the LCMS, its sister churches
in Latin America, and faculty, students and staff of CMSCR.
WHEREAS, The ICEL is a confessional Lutheran church in
Bolivia consisting of around 1000 baptized members in 15
congregations served by 12 ordained pastors; and
WHEREAS, Formal discussions directed toward altar and pulpit
fellowship with the ICEL began in 2022 and concluded in February
2025, when the CTCR unanimously recommended recognition of
fellowship with ICEL; and
WHEREAS, The ICEL accepts all the canonical books of the
Sacred Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testaments as the
written Word of God and the only rule and norm of faith and
practice and the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,
compiled in the Book of Concord of 1580, as a correct exposition
of Holy Scripture; and
WHEREAS, The ICEL is in altar and pulpit fellowship with the
LCMS’s sister church in Brazil (IELB); and
WHEREAS, The ICEL has requested altar and pulpit fellowship
with the LCMS; and
WHEREAS, Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2 (b)(2) says: “Formal recognition of
altar and pulpit fellowship between the Synod and a small,
formative, emerging confessional Lutheran church body (identified
as such by the President of the Synod as chief ecumenical officer)
may be declared by the Synod President only after the approval of
the commission and consultation with the Praesidium. Such
recognition shall be subject to the endorsement of the subsequent
Synod convention”; and
WHEREAS, The CTCR has unanimously recommended the
recognition of fellowship with the ICEL as a faithful Lutheran
church body, after having carefully and thoroughly considered this
matter by means of extensive correspondence, reports on meetings
with ICEL representatives, and the examination of pertinent
documents that describe the doctrine and practice of the ICEL; and
WHEREAS, President Matthew C. Harrison, by virtue of the
authority vested in him according to Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2, wrote to
President Limberth Fernández on May 4, 2025, stating: “I declare
the recognition of altar and pulpit fellowship between our two
churches. Praise God!”; therefore be it
Resolved, That we acknowledge with gratitude the unity of
confession that has been given to our church bodies under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit; and be it further
Resolved, That this convention formally endorse the recognition
of altar and pulpit fellowship between the ICEL and the LCMS; and
be it further
Resolved, That we give thanks to God for the faithful Lutheran
witness ICEL provides within its own country, and beyond; and be
it further

2026 Convention Workbook

Resolved, That we encourage and walk with ICEL as they
proclaim the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world; and be it
further
Resolved, That we pray for God’s blessings in the coming years
on this agreement in the confession of the Gospel that we enjoy as
sister church bodies; and be it finally
Resolved, That in thanksgiving for this partnership in the Gospel,
the convention assembly celebrate its approval by rising and singing
the common doxology.
Commission on Theology and Church Relations
Ov. 5-02

To Support and Encourage Recognition
of Altar and Pulpit Fellowship
with Lutheran Mission—Australia
Preamble
By its own acknowledgement, the Lutheran Church of Australia and
New Zealand (LCANZ; hereafter LCA) has struggled with deep
theological divisions for decades. One of the most public areas of
disagreement has been the question of what the Scriptures teach
regarding the ordination of women to the pastoral office. In a
document published in July 2024 the LCA stated: “Despite more
than three decades of theological study and debate within the
Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ), we
remain divided on whether or not the Scriptures permit the
ordination of women” (Lutheran Church of Australia, Way Forward
Detailed Framework, 2024, 3).
As this statement illustrates, the longstanding division in the LCA
over women’s ordination has been rooted in fundamentally
differing understandings of the authority and interpretation of
Scripture itself. Lutheran Mission-Australia (LM—A) President
Matthew Anker has stated: “The key issue that led to the
establishment of LM—A was the undermining of the authority of
the Word of God in the LCA’s theology and life together. Even
before women’s ordination was introduced, we no longer shared the
same confession and needed to be unyoked from heterodoxy, which
constantly demands sacrifice through compromise.” In addition to
the question of the ordination of women, other troubling theological
developments evident in the LCA (as articulated by LM—A
leaders) include the ambiguous commitment of many LCA leaders
and pastors to the Lutheran Confessions, Gospel reductionism,
antinomianism, the unscriptural theology of many of those teaching
church workers, the devolving theological agenda and trajectory of
the LCA college and seminary, a lack of faithful adherence to clear
and orthodox LCA public statements such as its own constitution
and the LCA’s Theses of Agreement (including the Theses of
Agreement’s teaching on church fellowship), lack of church
discipline, etc.
For many years, pastors and laity in the LCA fully committed to the
authority of Scripture and to the truth of the Lutheran Confessions
remained in the LCA, hopeful of a return to its foundational
confession and commitments. Those hopes were severely
undermined at the LCA’s 2021 convention, when then-Bishop John
Henderson publicly stated: “We are not going to solve this issue
[women’s ordination] with further truth claims, even about
Scripture.”
(“Agenda
3.1”,
lca.app.box.com/s/disizprdt6mrps427dqw5yfyrkte1twv, accessed
March 19, 2026) Soon thereafter, in early 2022, several LCA