LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 35

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THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 35

American Lutheran Church to abide by its 1970 resolution to
permit the ordination of women to the pastoral office.

e. Instruct its representatires on the Commission on Fellow-
ship to intensify their efforts

1) To reach agreement at the denominational level on the
matter of ordaining women to the pastoral office.

2) To achiere and demonstrate a broadly based. multi-level
consensus in the doctrine of the authority of Holy Scripture and
the basis and nature of fellowship.

3) To arrive at a common position and practice on other
matters which have been referred to the Commission on Fellow-
ship. such as the lodge question and membership in ecumenical
organizations.

f. Continue to advise its “pastors. congregations. boards. and
commissions. because of doctrinal concerns still remaining be-
tween the two church bodies. to defer new implementation of
fellowship with the American Lutheran Church” (1971 Res. 3-21.
last “Resolved”) until our Synod’s concerns are resolved.

g. Implore the blessings and guidance of the Holy Spirit upon
the discussions between our two church bodies to the end that
our fellowship may be deepened and strengthened.

D. Lutheran Church in America

1971 Resolution 3-14 asked the President of the Synod in
conjunction with the CTCR “to assure the Lutheran Church
in America of our readiness to meet officially with a view
toward finding the agreement in doctrine necessary for the
establishing of altar and pulpit fellowship.” Since the traditional
position of the Lutheran Church in America is that formal
doctrinal discussions are unnecessary for church bodies sub-
scribing to the same Lutheran Confessions, the commission
endorsed the proposal of President Robert Marshall of the
Lutheran Church in America and President Preus to engage
the services of the Division of Theological Studies of the Lu-
theran Council in the U.S.A. for a discussion of relevant theo-
logical issues. For this purpose, the Division of Theological
Studies has convened a “Consultation on the Function of
Doctrine and Theology in Light of the Unity of the Church.”
The church body presidents of the Lutheran Church in America,
the American Lutheran Church, and The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod have each appointed four representatives to
this consultation. Our Synod’s representatives are Pastors
Roland Hopmann, Albert Marcis, Robert Preus, and Ralph
Bohlmann. In the two meetings of this consultation held to date,
the topics discussed include the basis of fellowship, the relation-
ship between the Gospel and Holy Scripture, the Gospel and the
Church, the Gospel and Doctrine, and a comparison of tradi-
tional and contemporary methods of Biblical interpretation.
Two additional meetings of this consultation have been planned
for 1973 and 1974. The commission recommends:

17. That the Synod

a. Express its appreciation for the discussions that hare been
held to date with representatires of the Lutheran Church in
America:

b. Encourage its President. in consultation with the CTCR.
to continue to seek additional opportunities for multi-level doc-
trinal discussions with the Lutheran Church in America:

c. Request the President and the CTCR to report the progress
and results of these discussions to the Synod.

E. Consultation on Lutheran Unity

In 1970, the Inter-Lutheran Consultation produced a state-
ment entitled “The Statement of the Participating Bodies in
the LCUSA Regarding Lutheran Unity” (ef. 1971 Workbook.
pp. 40—41). This statement makes proposals for the achievement
of a greater degree of Lutheran unity in America. including the
possibility of structural unity or merger. In connection with its
adoption of this statement in 1970, the American Lutheran
Church invited the Lutheran Church in America and The
Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod to participate in an imple-
mentation committee that would “develop and propose to the
participating churches as rapidly as possible common organiza-
tional structures and when this is not possible, structures that
will lend themselves most easily to joint activity.” In response

to these activities and proposals, the 1971 convention of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod noted the content of the
statement, stated our Synod’s procedure for working toward
Lutheran unity, indicated that our Synod is “primarily oriented
toward altar and pulpit fellowship and further cooperative
activities, rather than organic union,” authorized the President
of the Synod to appoint “four representatives to the discussions
of the committee.’ and asked the pastors and congregations of
the Synod to give careful consideration to the issues raised by
the proposals to achieve common organizational structures.
(Res. 3-26)

The committee referred to in the proposal of the American
Lutheran Church as well as in 1971 Resolution 3-26 held its
initial meeting after the 1972 conventions of the Lutheran
Church in America and the American Lutheran Church. It
chose as its name “Consultation on Lutheran Unity.” elected
officers, developed ground rules, and decided to meet five
times during the coming year. A second meeting of the consulta-
tion reviewed the history of Lutheran unity efforts by the three
Lutheran bodies, compared the differences in polity between
the three church bodies, and discussed possible models for
common organizational structures. In its next meeting, the
consultation proposes to give further examination to ways of
achieving structural unity. The representatives of The Lutheran
Church— Missouri Synod to this consultation are Drs. Roland
Wiederaenders, Herbert Mueller, Wilbert Griesse, and Ralph
Bohlmann. The commission recommends:

18 a. That the Synod’s participation in the work of this con-
sultation continue to be instructed by the principles set forth in
1971 Resolution 3-26.

b. That the President of the Synod be requested to keep the
Synod fully informed on the progress of this consultation.

F. Lutheran Council in the U. S.A.

The Commission continued to receive regular reports on the
activities of the Lutheran Council. particularly in connection
with the studies authorized by 1971 Resolution 3-18. as well as
the ongoing activities of the Council's Division of Theological
Studies. The Synod's three members on the standing committee
of that Division are also members of the CTCR. They are Drs.
Theodore Nickel, Richard Schultz, and Ralph Bohlmann. The
commission is particularly interested in the theological evalu-
ation called for in Section II of 1971 Resolution 3-18 and hopes
to devote attention to the results of that study during the next
biennium.

G. Lutheran World Federation

1971 Resolution 3-06 directed the commission to evaluate the
Fifth General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation held
in Evian, France, in 1970. As the basis for this evaluation, the
commission reviewed the official documents, minutes. and
reports of this assembly which were graciously supplied by the
officers of the Lutheran World Federation, or were otherwise
available in published form. It also took note of materials pub-
lished on the 1970 LWF assembly by two of our Synod’s official
representatives, Dr. William Buege and Dr. David Scaer. A
communication from Dr. Paul Empie. former head of the U.S. A.
national committee of the LWF, also received serious attention.
The commission’s evaluation, entitled ‘Evian in Retrospect.”
devotes particular attention to theological and fellowship
actions of the 1970 LWF assembly: it is submitted with this report
as Appendix E. The commission recommends:

19. That the Synod keep in contact with developments in the
program of the Lutheran World Federation by being represented
at its meetings in the role of observers and by other means. but
that the Synod respectfully decline to make application for mem-
bership in the Lutheran World Federation at this time.

H. NCC and WCC

Previous conventions of The Lutheran Church-— Missouri
Synod have asked the commission to prepare materials for
the Synod on the World Council of Churches and the National
Council of Churches in Christ. The commission reported to
the 1971 convention that it was delaying the preparation of
such guidelines and reports because of the structural changes
being discussed in both of those ecumenical organizations. The
commission recommended and the Synod adopted various