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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 426

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

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

426
Ov. 7-11

To Strengthen Our Process
for Supporting Our Concordias
WHEREAS, At the 2022 Michigan District convention, Resolution
2-05a was considered, reading (as amended before it was voted on):
WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities have long been
beloved and treasured by the members and member
congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and a
vital part of the communities in which they are located; and
WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities have historically been
at the very heart of our Synod’s stated identity and purpose
(Synodical Constitution, Article III Objectives (3) Recruit and
train pastors, teachers and other professional church workers and
provide opportunity for their continued growth; and (5) Aid
congregations to develop processes of thorough Christian
education and nurture and to establish agencies of Christian
education such as elementary and secondary schools and to
support synodical colleges, universities, and seminaries); and
WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities not only exist to train
professional church workers but also to train Christian laymen
and laywomen who will be godly and influential leaders in their
workplaces, communities, churches, and families; and
WHEREAS, Our Lord Jesus Christ calls His followers to be salt
and light in the world at large and not only in safe, homogeneous
communities (Matthew 5:13–16); and
WHEREAS, Our six remaining Concordia Universities (on
seven residential campuses) give our Synod a valuable foothold
in increasingly diverse, multicultural, and urban settings where
the Church’s presence is in many cases not especially prominent
in the 21st century; and
WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities, by their very
existence, have the potential to bring the mission field to our
Synod’s doorstep and to provide safe places for difficult
theological and cultural issues to be openly and honestly
engaged; and
WHEREAS, Three of our Concordia Colleges and Universities
have unfortunately closed their doors in recent years (Selma in
2018, Portland in 2020, and Bronxville in 2021); and
WHEREAS, Our Synod is filled with many generous givers and
donors with the means and/or the desire to lend needed financial
support to our Concordia Universities if called upon to do so;
and
WHEREAS, Our God Himself is “able to do far more
abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20), even
though we may not always be immediately able to identify a
viable solution; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Michigan District investigate opportunities
for how it can provide support (prayer, church worker and other
student recruitment, financial, etc.) to help ensure the
continuation of the residential campus of Concordia University
Ann Arbor (CUAA) located within its own District; and be it
finally
Resolved, That the Michigan District memorialize to the 2023
Synodical Convention the previous Whereases and the following
resolves:
Resolved, To affirm our commitment, as far as humanly
possible, not to allow any more of our remaining Concordia
2026 Convention Workbook

Universities to close their doors before first exploring all
possible avenues to assist them to remain open and to
continue to fulfill their missions; and be it further
Resolved, To instruct synodical leadership to refuse to take
any future action(s) with respect to our six remaining
Concordia Universities without being fully transparent with
the professional church workers and the lay membership of
the entire Synod’s congregations, namely, regarding any
course of action being considered, prior to any such course of
action being carried out, and without first giving the members
and member congregations of the Synod every opportunity to
respond to such a potential course of action in generosity
and/or with creativity; and be it finally
Resolved, To be encouraged to further unite behind a
renewed commitment to keep the doors of our six remaining
Concordia Universities open as long as our gracious God sees
fit, to His glory, honor, and praise.
(2022 Michigan District Proc., Res. 2-05a)
and
WHEREAS, District Res. 2-05a was addressed by the Synod
President as “canned, it has been going around to a number of
districts ... is false, contains material error” (Ibid., 43); and
WHEREAS, District Res. 2-05a was subsequently defeated by the
convention; then, sadly, eighteen months later, the majority of the
Concordia University Wisconsin Ann Arbor (CUWAA) Board of
Regents (BOR) undertook the “reimagining” of CUWAA; therefore
be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention recognize that the
actions of the majority of the CUWAA BOR showed the need for
district Res. 2-05a; and be it further
Resolved, That the whereas statements listed in district Res. 205a be memorialized to the 2026 Synod convention; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention direct Synod leadership,
the Concordia University System (CUS), and each university’s
board of regents to be fully transparent with the professional church
workers and the lay membership of the entire Synod’s
congregations regarding any course of action being considered prior
to any such course of action being carried out; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention affirm our commitment,
as far as humanly possible, not to allow any more of our remaining
Concordia universities to close their doors or significantly reduce
operations on a campus before first exploring all possible avenues
with members and member congregations of the Synod to assist
them to remain open and to continue to fulfill their missions; and be
it finally
Resolved, That the Synod in convention instruct the
administrations of CUS schools not to ask newly elected board of
regents members to undertake significant actions—such as we saw
the CUWAA administration undertake in regards to CUWAA—
until the regents have been trained as required under Bylaw
3.10.6.2.l (d).
Michigan District