LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 107

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THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 107

3:2-7: Heb. 13:17; Titus 1:5-9 (see section on Women in A Chris-
tian Handbook. pp. 336—352, available from Christian News.
Box 168, New Haven, Mo.): and

WHEREAS. The inspiration and verity of Holy Scripture is
denied by those who ordain women to the holy ministry; there-
fore be it

Resolved. That the LCMS refuse to continue in altar and pul-
pit fellowship with those who ordain women to the holy ministry:
and be it further

Resolved. That no professor or clergymen in The Lutheran
Church— Missouri Synod be allowed to teach that the Scriptures
permit and/or do not speak to the matter of the ordination of
women.

Trinity Lutheran Church
New Haven, Mo.
Orville Meyer, Secretary

Identical or similar:

3-145B

Trinity, Easthampton, Mass. Louis G. Elbert

3-146A

To Expand Role of Women in
Life of Church

WHEREAS, Christian women are full members of the body of
Christ who share with all believers the unity of the Spirit and
the ministry of the Gospel: and

WHEREAS, Fuller participation by women in the deliberative
and administrative life of parishes, particularly through the
exercise of the franchise, has been encouraged by the LCMS
(1969, Denver convention, Resolution 2-17):

WHEREAS, Women in the LCMS are presently excluded from
holding certain parish offices, specifically, president, vice-
president, and elder, on the grounds that their holding of such
offices would entail either the administration of the Office of the
Keys as pertains to the pastoral office or the exercising of
authority over man (‘‘Suggestions for Congregational Constitu-
tions or Bylaws Regarding the Privileges of Women,” an opinion
of the Commission on Constitutional Matters); and

WHEREAS, The holding of any office in the polity of the church
and the exercising of any authority must never be a lording
over but rather a practice of Christian love in the one bond of
faith which cuts through all differences among people, including
differences of sex: and

WHEREAS, We of Grace Lutheran Church, Eugene, Oreg.,
after prayer and careful study, are able to find no portions of
Holy Scripture which clearly prohibit women from holding
offices in the polity of the church at the parish or synodical level,
specifically, the offices of congregation president and vice-
president, offices which do not in most cases include or pertain
to the tasks or duties of the pastoral office: therefore be it

Resolved, That the LCMS in convention at Anaheim en-
courage its member parishes to continue to extend to women
the largest possible role in the mission and in the adminstrative
life of the parish; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod strive to make use of the talents
and gifts of women in the mission and administrative life of the
church at the synodical and District levels: and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod instruct its Commission on Con-
stitutional Matters to alter its “Suggestions for Congregational
Constitutions or Bylaws Regarding the Privileges of Women”
to allow congregations who are so inclined the right to elect
women to the offices of president and vice-president: and be it
finally

Resolved, That the Synod continue its encouragement of the
appropriate commissions to prayerfully study the role of women
in the church, with particular reference to their eligibility or
ineligibility for the office of elder and the pastoral office.

Grace Lutheran Church
Eugene, Oreg.

Arthur Erickson, President
Shirley Bublitz, Secretary

Identical or similar:

3-146B

University, Los Angeles, Calif. Roger Timm

3-147

To Repudiate CTCR Document
“A Lutheran Stance Toward
Ecumenism”

WHEREAS. The Commission on Theology and Church Rela-
tions has recently adopted the document *‘A Lutheran Stance
Toward Ecumenism,” which according to the news release of
The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod Department of Public
Relations (Dec. 6, 1974) seriously disturbs our fervent efforts to
fulfill our Lord's desire ‘‘that they may all be one: even as Thou,
Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in
Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the
glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them that they may
be one even as We are one, I in them and Thou in Me, that they
may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that
Thou hast sent Me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me”’
(John 17:21-23) by:

1) asserting a ‘‘oneness with all Christians in the ‘Una Sancta’
(one holy Christian Church)” in such a way as to imply that our
Lord’s desire for unity is already accomplished, thus evading
God's judgment against our divisions, removing the call to
repent, and distorting if not removing the impetus for our
ecumenical endeavor;

2) demanding “confessional agreement . . . that extends to all
the articles of faith revealed in the Sacred Scriptures and
comprised in the Lutheran Symbols” which requires more than
our confessions themselves (‘‘For it is sufficient for the true
unity of the Christian church that the Gospel be preached in
conformity with a pure understanding of it and that the sacra-
ments be administered in accordance with the divine Word,”
Augsburg Confession, Art. VII), demands a uniformity in the
interpretation and understanding of Holy Scripture that is
humanly impossible, and would seem ultimately to require that
every Christian walk alone:

3) falsely assuming that a proper understanding of “‘all the
articles of faith’ is necessary before ‘the Gospel [can] be
preached in conformity with a pure understanding of it”;

4) asserting that we are to seek concord “by exposing and
refuting error and by confessing the truth,” giving the impres-
sion that The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has arrived
at all truth and has no error, thus effectively eliminating the
possibility of any real dialog with other Christians: therefore
be it

Resolved. That the Commission on Theology and Church
Relations document ‘‘A Lutheran Stance Toward Ecumenism”
be repudiated and withdrawn: and be it further

Resolved. That the Commission on Theology and Church
Relations be directed to produce a document on ecumenism
that reflects our confessional desire for unity among Christians
based alone on a “pure understanding of the Gospel” and
administration of the sacraments “in accordance with the divine
Word”; and be it further

Resolved. That our ecumenical priorities be thus ordered:

1. Internal relationships in The Lutheran Church— Missouri
Synod:

2. Preserving and strengthening relationships with sister
churches and other Lutheran bodies in fellowship with
the Synod:

3. Seeking pulpit and altar fellowship with the Lutheran
Church in America:

4. Seeking to resolve disagreements with former sister
synods:

5. Conversations and dialogs with other church bodies.

Eastern Pastoral Conference
English District
Amandus J. Derr, Secretary