What's Right About The Church Growth Study Committee Report
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

The entire report can be found at:
http://www.lcms.org/president/statements/christcommission.asp

See the companion article on this topic, What's Wrong...

The Synod has waited 5 ½ years for the 1995 report of the Church Growth Study Committee commissioned by the 1995 Synodical Convention and published January, 2001.

In its report, the Committee seeks to define "Church Growth" and aims to address some of its effect on the public confession and worship life of the LC-MS over the past ten years.

The report sparkles with clarity in defining and enumerating the egregious distortions in doctrine and practice promoted by the Church Growth Movement. The Committee must be commended for its outstanding theological analysis.

The Committee was comprised of an excellent list of LC-MS pastors, scholars and officials: Drs. Robert Kuhn, Charles Manske, Dale Meyer, Gene Edward Veith, Richard Warneck, Professor Kurt Marquart, Pastors Phill Andresen, Jack Baumgarn, John Domsch, Harold Senkbeil and Kenneth Wietting. These men understand Lutheran theology and their expertise is indeed a blessing to our church. We thank God for their bold public confession.

They write: "The problems with the Church Growth Movement have to do with the assumption that God's Word is not sufficient, that it needs to be supplemented with 'contemporary social and behavioral sciences.' In practice, this means changing the church - its worship, its self-understanding, and its confession - so that it conforms to contemporary American culture."

The Committee divided up their report into two parts, theological and cultural issues. They listed six categories under theological issues including:

  1. The saving presence of God the Holy Trinity through the means of grace (Word and Sacrament) is the heart and center of the church's life, worship and growth.
  2. The mission of the church is God's mission.
  3. Pastors are shepherds of Christ's sheep called to feed them with His Word and Sacraments and thus to lead them in the mission of the church.
  4. Worship is the center of the church's life both in this world and in the next.
  5. The Lutheran church has a distinct confessional identity.
  6. The "theology of the cross" defines the mission and ministry of the church.

They give thorough, thoughtful and concise analysis of the Church Growth Movement's multi-faceted attack on the doctrine, practice and life of the congregation. They address the issues with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. We recommend this report to every pastor and layperson in the Synod.

The Committee's depth of theological insight is brilliant. Particularly gratifying was the Committee's endorsement of the name "Lutheran" on all LC-MS congregations. Keeping the name "Lutheran" was an Overture submitted by Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Clair Shores, Michigan and adopted by the Convention in 1995.

It was also gratifying to see the Committee endorse the use of the three Ecumenical Creeds, and only the three Ecumenical Creeds in all LC-MS worship services. Again, this was an Overture submitted by Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Clair Shores, Michigan and adopted by the Convention in 1998. This was also the primary concern of a book entitled "Reclaiming the Gospel in the LC-MS," by Rev. Jack Cascione and sent to every delegate of the 1998 LC-MS Convention.


Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

March 18, 2001