The LCMS: "To Be Or Not To Be"
According To Resolution 7-17
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

The primary focus of attention at the 2001 LCMS Convention is on who will be the next president of Synod. This will be an important election and may determine the future of the Synod. However, far more important will be Resolution 7-17 "To Affirm Synod's Official Position on Church and Ministry."

Elections are about personalities, but Resolution 7-17 is about the very doctrine that defines, describes, and identifies the Missouri Synod as unique among all other Lutheran Church bodies. All Lutherans have the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions, but only the Missouri Synod has Walther' s "Church and Ministry" as the very basis of its congregational polity and voters' assemblies.

At the moment, the Synod is being torn in the different directions of "Church Growth," "Leadership Training," or hyper-euro-Lutheranism and pre-Walther, European Lutheran Hierarchy. Yet, the Synod's original and supposedly official position is only Walther's "Church and Ministry"

Does the Synod still agree with the doctrine that supports its congregational polity and voter run and operated churches? In other words, does the Synod know what it is? Does it plan to keep its congregational structure or does it plan to reorganize its congregations around the principles of corporate or Episcopal hierarchy?

Platitudes and accolades are heaped on Walther, yet the Council of District Presidents has supported revamping congregational structure according to Dr. Norbert Oesch's "Pastoral Leadership Institute." At the Rockwell Meeting, Oesch stated that PLI did not teach Walther.

At the same time, the Seminaries are not teaching Walther's "Church and Ministry." A new seminary graduate can go out into the pastoral ministry without ever having read the book because it is not required reading.

Without a clearly stated and agreed-upon structure, the LCMS will not be able to maintain itself simply because no one will know what they are supposed to do and why, when it comes to organizing congregations. What was once Missouri's hallmark has now become its confusion

Resolution 7-17 is asking the most fundamental question about the LCMS. Does the LCMS still want to be the LCMS?

Do we agree with our doctrine of "Church and Ministry?" Will it be required that all the pastors, Seminary Professors, and Synodical officials agree with Walther's "Church and Ministry?"

If Resolution 7-17 is too controversial, doesn't come out of Committee, or the resolution is tabled, sent back for further study, or voted down, we know that the Synod will no longer continue as it was founded. It will no longer be the LCMS even if it keeps the name.

However, if it passes, Missouri will have gone back to its roots and reaffirmed its own existence and its future. It will continue to chart its course according to the Biblical doctrine of "Church and Ministry" that gave it birth, that organized its growth, and that sets the direction for future generations. May God grant this.


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.

July 2, 2001