Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2026 · 69th Convention, Phoenix › Page 337
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 337

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

THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
pastors met to form a group called “Lutherans Confessing Christ,”
anticipating the likelihood that the LCA would soon formally
endorse women’s ordination, which would make it necessary for
some pastors, laity, and congregations to leave the LCA for reasons
of conscience. Anticipating this eventuality, LM—A was
established as a legal entity in May 2024. In June 2024, Rev. Anker
was called to serve as LM—A President. At the LCA’s October
2024 convention, the LCA officially changed its position to allow
for the ordination of women to the pastoral office. The next month,
LM—A was officially launched and President Anker was officially
installed as its President by Rev. Antonio Reyes of the Lutheran
Church in the Philippines (an LCMS sister church).
From July 2024 to the present, over 70 informational sessions have
been held around Australia to inform interested individuals and
congregations of the existence, purpose, and mission of the LM—
A. The first LM—A congregation was established on Dec. 1, 2024.
Currently, there are 19 LM—A congregations, together with around
a dozen congregations pursuing or contemplating membership. The
LM—A currently has 18 ordained pastors, with several others in the
process of colloquizing into the LM—A.
During the past triennium, both before and after the legal formation
of the LM—A, current LM—A leaders met formally and informally
with Synod leaders, including President Matthew Harrison,
Director of Church Relations—Assistant to the President the Rev.
Dr. Jonathan Shaw, Commission on Theology and Church
Relations (CTCR) Executive Director the Rev. Dr. Joel
Lehenbauer, both Synod seminary presidents, and others. These
meetings confirmed that, as is clearly stated in its Constitution and
Confessional Statement, the LM—A accepts “without reservation
the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as a whole and
in all their parts, as the divinely inspired, written and inerrant Word
of God, and as the only infallible source and norm for all matters of
faith, doctrine and life,” and that it “rejoices in the clear, biblical
and evangelical teachings of the Lutheran Confessions” because
(quia) they are in full agreement with the Word of God. In
December 2025, LM—A President Anker met with the CTCR and,
after thorough discussion and consideration, the CTCR
unanimously recommended recognition of altar and pulpit
fellowship with LM—A pursuant to Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2 (b)(2).
WHEREAS, The LM—A is a small but growing confessional
Lutheran church in Australia consisting of around 1,000 baptized
members in 19 congregations served by 18 ordained pastors; and
WHEREAS, LM—A leaders, pastors and congregations are to be
strongly commended and encouraged for their faithful and
courageous confession of the truth of God’s Word in response to
heterodox positions taken by the LCA due to erroneous views of the
authority and inerrancy of Holy Scripture; and
WHEREAS, Formal and informal discussions directed toward altar
and pulpit fellowship with LM—A leaders began in 2022 and
concluded in December 2025, when the CTCR unanimously
recommended recognition of fellowship with LM—A; and
WHEREAS, The LM—A 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

337

WHEREAS, The LM—A is actively pursuing altar and pulpit
fellowship with the Synod’s sister churches in Canada (LCC),
Finland (ELMDF), and the Philippines (LCP); and
WHEREAS, The LM—A has been a full, voting member of the
International Lutheran Council since September 2025; and
WHEREAS, LM—A leadership has expressed a hope for altar and
pulpit fellowship with the Synod; and
WHEREAS, At its December 2025 meeting the CTCR
unanimously recommended recognition of altar and pulpit
fellowship with LM—A pursuant to Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2 (b)(2), which
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 LM—A will hold its first churchwide convention
in August 2026, at which time it hopes to recognize altar and pulpit
fellowship with the LCMS; and
WHEREAS, President Matthew Harrison has expressed strong
support for recognition of fellowship with LM—A, and has
indicated his hope to be able to recognize fellowship at or after the
LM—A’s first convention; 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 commend and support the
CTCR’s recommendation to recognize altar and pulpit fellowship
with the LM—A and President Harrison’s hope to do the same at
the appropriate time; and be it further
Resolved, That we give thanks to God for the faithful Lutheran
witness the LM—A provides within its own country and beyond;
and be it further
Resolved, That we encourage and support the LM—A as they
proclaim the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world; and be it
finally
Resolved, That as a sign of encouragement and support of the
LM—A’s confession and witness and in joyful anticipation of our
mutual recognition of altar and pulpit fellowship in the near future,
the convention assembly rise and sing the common doxology.
Commission on Theology and Church Relations
Ov. 5-03

To Address Concerns with
Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church
WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures enjoin us to maintain the unity
of the faith in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3, 13); and
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions state: “The church is the
assembly of the saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the
sacraments are administered rightly. And it is enough for the true
unity of the church to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel
and the administration of the sacraments. It is not necessary that
human traditions, rites or ceremonies instituted by human beings be
alike everywhere” (AC VII 1–3, Kolb/Wengert); and
WHEREAS, “Apostolicity” in the Church is found not in a fleshand-blood lineage of men, but rather, in the apostolicity of doctrine,
2026 Convention Workbook