LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 485

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CONSTITUTIONAL OPINIONS 487

act in accordance with the Bylaws of the Synod.

3. “All officers of the Districts have the same rights and
duties as those outlined in this Constitution for the officers of
the Synod but only insofar as these apply to the District and
only within the boundaries of their Districts.’’ (Article XII 6)

4. Therefore a District President also has the duty to see
to it that:

a. all officers of the District,

b. all such as are employed by the District,
and

c. the individual District for which the District President
has been elected to be its president

act in accordance with the Bylaws of the Synod.

5. Article XIII of the Synod’s Constitution provides that the
members of the Synod (which includes District Presidents)
“who... persist in an offensive conduct shall, after previous
futile admonition, be expelled from the Synod.”

6. The first object of the Synod is the conservation and
promotion of the unity of the true faith and a united defense
against schism and sectarianism (Constitution Article III 1;
emphasis supplied).

7. A District President who deliberately acts contrary to
the Bylaws may have the effect of creating an unrest and a
schism in the Synod.

8. Any member of the Synod (which includes District Presi-
dents) whose deliberate acts have the effect of creating a schism
in the Synod may be guilty of an offensive conduct (Rom. 16:

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2. The commission rules that a District President is not
simply an officer of a District but also an officer of the Synod
and therefore comes under the provisions of this article.

3. “If circumstances require it’’ is a rather broad statement
involving a considerable degree of judgment on the part of the
Synod and those acting in its behalf. Included in the “circum-
stances” is certainly the cause(s) for initiating action leading
to censure or in extreme cases to removal from office. The com-
mission holds that the following, while not necessarily requiring
expulsion from membership, could qualify as proper grounds
for censure or removal from office: maladministration, loss of
confidence, refusal to cooperate in carrying out the decisions
and objectives of the Synod, incompetency, incapacity because
of physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.

4. “Christian procedure” would require the citing of convinc-
ing proof for the allegation. Where such proof is lacking or where
the charges on the surface seem to be nothing more than a form
of harassment, the charges should not be entertained by those
qualified to censure or to remove a District President from
office.

5. On the basis of the powers conferred in each of the follow-
ing instances the Commission on Constitutional Matters is.of
the opinion that a District President can be removed directly
from office (without such removal being the result of expulsion
from membership in the Synod) only:

a. by a convention of the Synod, or

b. by a convention of that District which had elected him as
President, or

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THE MISSION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE WORLD 477

In declaring that man is a being consisting of body,
soul, and mind, these affirmations do not intend thereby
to imply that man is an indivisible unit and that when he
dies his body and mind and soul go into the grave as a
unit, there to await the resurrection. According to
Biblical teaching, death consists in the unnatural separa-
tion of body and spirit after which “‘the dust returns to
the earth as it was and the spirit returns to God who gave
it” (Eccl. 12:7). In 1967 the convention at New York

adopted Resolution 2-20, which states:

The affirmations, in emphasizing the ‘“Church’s Mission to
the Whole Man,” do not thereby imply any improper con-
clusions regarding man’s state of existence between death
and resurrection ... the affirmations rather stress that our
loving concern for man be that of Christ: a love not only for
a man’s soul but also for his body and mind, which God has
created and redeemed (Matt. 4:23). (Convention Proceedings.
1967, p. 93)

VI. The Whole Church Is Christ's Mission

We affirm also that every Christian is a missionary
through Holy Baptism. By water and the Word we have
not only been baptized into Christ’s death and His resur-
rection but also into His body, which is the church, and
into His mission. Through faith we are united with our
Lord and with all Christians everywhere in the one, holy,
Christian church.

As members of the body of Christ we regret that the
institutional church has not attained to the oneness in
faith and profession which expresses itself in acts of
Christian fellowship. We, in accord with the affirmations,
deplore any kind of clericalism that ‘‘views a congrega-
tion primarily as God’s instrument to sustain the ordained
ministry,” thus undervaluing the variety of gifts which
the Holy Spirit has given His people to serve the body of
Christ. ‘‘We deplore the laicism that chafes under the
shepherding by which a loving God seeks to equip His
children for His mission” (Mission Affirmations, VI). We
deplore all forms of racism both in society and in the

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Especially in an age like ours when universalism and
syncretism are so dominant, this goal should guide and
govern The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as it
evaluates its methodologies and institutions and plans
and administers programs for the proclamation of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ in all the world.

In a day when there is much doctrinal uncertainty,
when theological novelties are being substituted for the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is essential for a mission-
minded church to be able to discern the spirits that have
gone out into the world in order to determine whether
they are of God or not. The church must clearly recognize
that such religious systems as Mohammedanism, Hindu-
ism, and Buddhism are not valid substitutes for the
message of the cross, since there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved
except the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:12)

At the same time we give thanks to God who in His
grace continues to preserve His church on earth and
grants to. sinful mankind the Word and sacraments by
which His kingdom is extended and His church is built.

We acknowledge with gratitude His love in making
us members of His kingdom and sincerely trust in His
mercy to preserve us in the faith.

We recognize God’s purpose for His church as it is
expressed in Ephesians 5:25-27:

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he

might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of

water with the word, that he might present the church to

himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such
thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

To that end we pray constantly for a full measure of
God’s Holy Spirit, for a clear understanding of His Word
as it is set forth in the Holy Scriptures, for a genuine love
for lost mankind everywhere, and for zeal to bring them
the saving Gospel.