In the summer of 1787 representatives from the various states met in Philadelphia to write the constitution of the United States. After weeks of heated debate there was little or no progress. The smaller states distrusted the larger states. The larger states feared a coalition of the smaller states. Projected plans for harmony and union were rapidly failing. At this juncture when the situation seemed beyond all possible resolution, Benjamin Franklin arose to address the fragmented convention which was about to adjourn in defeat. He spoke these memorable words: "In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers were heard and they were graciously answered. ...Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? I have lived a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, it is probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this ... "I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning."

Franklin’s proposal was unanimously approved, and under God’s direction those men gave us a constitutional republic - "one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

There had been governments in the past that called themselves a republic. But this one was different; different in origin and different in structure.

Four fences were erected around the government to keep it in bounds: THE EXECUTIVE, THE LEGISLATIVE, THE JUDICIAL, AND THE INDIVIDUAL. And above them all was Almighty God. It was a constitutional republic with elected representatives and limited government. After God, the individual came first. Only by his consent could the government govern, and then only to protect his rights and the rights of all others - equally. Note well, it was not a democracy where majority vote rules. Our founding fathers could never accept such tyranny. They recognized only ONE rightful Ruler over men and nations - not the state, not the majority, but Almighty God. The founding fathers of this nation understood the inherent sinful nature of man described in the Scriptures. Therefore, they gave the government just enough power to serve, and no more. Even then, with all the checks and balances and fences around the CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENT the states refused to ratify and join the union until the BILL OF RIGHTS was added.

Finally, when the work was completed a woman asked Benjamin Franklin: "Well Doctor, what have you given us. He responded: "You have a republic, Madame, if you can keep it."

Franklin’s words of warning should not only be seared with a hot iron in our brain whenever we consider the need to defend our United States republic, but they should also be "graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever" when we consider the urgent need to defend the historic congregational polity of our Missouri Synod which in our day is being trampled under foot by the tyranny of an expanding and voracious district and synodical bureaucracy.

It was the creation of a constitutional republic that under God permitted C.F.W.Walther to accomplish what Martin Luther was unable to do in Germany. The church polity adopted by the Missouri Synod is unique among American denominations. John Drickamer characterized Walther’s understanding of polity in this way:

"Walther’s views on church polity cannot be fitted into any common American version of ecclesiastical organization. He was not an Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Congregationalist. He strongly favored the Synodical form of polity, which was significantly different from the other forms."

57 years after the constitutional convention, another foundation for a great work in America was laid. The exact date was September 7, 1844. Carl Ferdinand Walther, pastor of Trinity Evangelical Church in St. Louis, published the first edition of "Der Lutheraner", a church paper printed in the German language in which he publicly taught and defended the "reine lehre", the pure doctrine of the true Lutheran church. Under the title Walther inscribed the following clarion call to arms: "Gottes Wort Und Luther’s Lehr Vergeht Nun Und Nimmermehr." (God’s Word and Luther’s doctrine shall now and never pass away), or to use a less literal but more familiar translation, "God’s Word and Luther’s Doctrine Pure to All Eternity Shall Endure."

Through "Der Lutheraner" Walther made contact with other faithful Lutheran pastors around the country. Several preliminary meetings were held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri for the purpose of organizing an orthodox (right-teaching) Lutheran synod. God blessed these efforts. On April 25, 1847, twenty-four Lutheran pastors gathered at First St. Pauls in Chicago to organize the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. The sessions lasted for 11 days and the time was spent in laying the foundation for an effective and God-pleasing church polity. By the grace and guidance of Almighty God, Walther’s dream of a scriptural congregational form of church government in which God’s Word alone would rule was adopted.

The founders of the Missouri Synod had ample reason to fear any hierarchical form of church government. They knew what had happened with the consistories of Germany which Luther intended to have no authority other than the Word of God. They also learned from their own experience how power corrupts and total power corrupts totally. Luther himself was aware of the problems that can and do arise in church government. Shortly before his death Luther said, "We must tear the consistories apart because, in short, we don’t want the jurists and the pope in them." (Tabletalk) The founders of the Missouri synod were devastated by the evil that ensued when they gave Martin Stephan the title of bishop and pledged to obey him unconditionally. From their study of Scripture and the Lutheran confessions, Luther’s Works, and their own experience, they understood that only the Word of God MUST rule in the church. The danger in any church polity that tries to control the purity of the Gospel by placing power in the hands of sinful human beings is inevitably doomed to failure. The story of Israel in the Old Testament, as well as the history of the Church from the days of the apostles down to the present, and especially the history of our own Missouri Synod over the last 65 years is ample evidence of the tragic consequences that inevitably follow when we turn our confidence away from the authority of the Word of God to human authority and power.

The governing means for the Christian Church must never be external power nor any form of coercion, but only the Word of God. Christ Himself settled the whole issue of church government when He said, "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren." (Matthew 23:8) Clearly these words indicate that among Christians there is no higher or lower rank, but all are equal. As Jesus puts it, "The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them, but it shall not be so among you." (Matthew 21:25,26) Once we grasp this truth, that Christians are to be governed SOLELY by the Word of God, then all hierarchical systems crumble and fade away. As Peter reminds us, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." ( I Peter 4:11) This not only knocks the crown off of the Roman pontiff’s head, but it also unseats and discredits the pompous district and synodical officials who seek a scepter and authority that belongs SOLELY to Christ.

Many today would have us believe that our Lutheran Confessions have left the question of church government open and that all ecclesiastical systems of government must be considered adiaphora (a matter of indifference). Those who hold such views fail to recognize the dangers of this view. It opens the door to usurpation of power that belongs only to God, which inevitably follows where men rule.

In his first presidential address to the synod in 1848, Walther affirms the truth of the sole authority of the Word. He points out that in the church where Christ alone rules there can be no other power than the Word of God. Listen to his words: "What then are men doing who claim a power in the church beside the power of the Word? They are robbing the church of Christ of the liberty which He has purchased with a price, with His divine blood, and are degrading this free Jerusalem, in which there are only kings, priests, and prophets, this kingdom of God, this heavenly kingdom of truth, into an organization under strict police rule, in which everybody is compelled to be obedient to every human ordinance... they are deposing Christ, the only true Master from His chair and setting themselves up as master in His church...We can, however, hope for altogether different results if we ask nothing unconditionally of our congregations except submission to the Word, if we then leave it to them to govern themselves and assist them only with our advice."

Thirty-one years later Walther was still proclaiming these same truths. In an address he presented to the first Iowa District Convention, he repeatedly underscores the STRICTLY advisory position of the synod. He says: "The congregation is divinely instituted. The synod is a human arrangement. Any form of church polity which subordinates the people of Christ to human authority NOT ONLY denies them the freedom Christ has purchased for them with His cleansing blood, but ultimately will also result in the loss of the Gospel. Historically, the church has never been preserved from a corruption of its doctrine by placing its trust in external structures with power to control.

The Formula of Concord grants to every local congregation in every place and at every time the right, authority, and power to change, to reduce, or to increase adiaphora according to its circumstances as long as it does so without frivolity and offense but in an orderly and appropriate way, as at any time may seem to be most profitable, beneficial, and salutary for good order, Christian discipline, evangelical decorum, and the edification of the church." (Solid Declaration, Art. X (Tappert, p. 612)

O dear brothers of the laity, note this passage for yourselves! With it our beloved church has, from its best days, passed a treasure into your hands. You must hang on to it; for what good are all rights, if one doesn’t know or use them? When the Word of God has neither commanded nor prohibited something, then the congregation must decide, no synod, no pastor, no presbytery, no consistory. That is the position of our church. That is a free church. That is not a community under clerical control (pfaffenherrschaftliche), but a community of members of Christ, united by an evangelical, gentle bond of love." ...

After answering the issue of clerical control Walther goes on to ask - "What about a synodical convention? Can a synodical convention give orders to a congregation? A synodical convention you know, consists not only of pastors but also of delegates authorized by the congregations--therefore also of laypeople (Laien). A synodical convention is therefore a representative of the church. Should it not therefore be empowered to make demands of a congregation, make rules for it that it must obey for the Lord’s sake? No! Just as little as a pastor can make rules and regulations for a congregation so little can an whole assembly of pastors together with as many lay people do that.

Therefore, except for the commandments that God has given, any other obligation resting on an individual Christian or on a congregation must be one that the congregation has voluntarily adopted. I can, of course, impose on myself what I wish. But, you see, our congregation members are not assembled here. Therefore if we here would make a rule, draw up a regulation, it would not have been drawn up by a congregation, it would not have been voluntarily assumed by a congregation. And if we would bring it to our congregations, it would have no validity whatsoever. It would be valid only when the congregation would study it and say, "Yes, it would be nice if we would do that," and would then resolve to adopt it as its own practice. Then it would have validity. However, a congregation would also have the right to say, "We do not accept that." But if the Synod would say, "We have decided it; we are the highest court; you must obey us, or we shall excommunicate you" -- then the congregation would have to say, "Farewell Synod! It was nice knowing you (wir haben uns gesehen). You see, you are assuming the role of Christ; you are an assembly of outright popes. We want to be and remain free." That is what it means to be Lutheran... The right to prescribe rules for others belongs to Christ alone. No synod, no state church, in fact, no church in the whole world has this right. It can make rules only for itself; but no one else, no creature, and no angel or archangel, let alone a pastor or a synodical convention can make such rules.

The Constitution of the Missouri Synod says: "In its relation to its members the Synod ... is but an advisory body. Accordingly, no resolution of the Synod imposing anything upon the individual congregation is of binding force...." --Such a synodical resolution can have binding force only if the individual congregation itself has voluntarily adopted and approved it by a formal congregational resolution. --If a congregation finds the resolution "not in accordance with the Word of God or if it appears to be inexpedient as far as the condition of a congregation is concerned," it has the right to disregard the resolution and respectively to reject it.

Notice that with respect to the individual congregation’s self-government the Synod is but an advisory body, i.e., the Synod can impose nothing on the congregation.

In its self-government the congregation is free to do anything that it can defend before God, and the Synod has no say in the matter. But (the Synod) has the duty to give advice when asked. Therefore the Synod can establish no rules, no ceremonies, nor any kind of regulations; it cannot impose taxes, not even a penny. If our Synod would ever say, "Every congregation must contribute one cent every year," then the congregations should say, "Not even (half a cent). You must beg; yes, we’ll gladly give to a beggar, but if you try to give us orders, our friendship is over. Because--whether much or little--if we have conceded you a penny this year, you can demand a dollar next year, and even more in two years; for we would have then given you the right, the power, to tell us what to do."

The proverb that Luther used precisely in reference to this power is well known: "Dogs on a leash learn to eat leather" (Am Riemen lernen die Hunde Leder fressen). One should give no one any power that God has not given, so that he can say, "You must," be it ever so little. the point at issue here is the great freedom that we have as Christians, which Christ, the Son of God, won for us with His precious divine blood. That is why no one should become a slave of men. According to our constitution, no synodical resolution is binding on the individual congregations. No resolution. Mark that well! What we resolve here in convention the pastors and lay delegates must report to the home congregations and say, "This is what the convention resolved." But they cannot say, "Now you must also observe this." No; on the contrary the congregation can say, "As soon as it is a matter that has been left free for us as Christians, we can disregard the resolution of the convention," and the Synod can say nothing against that." ...

According to the Constitution the congregations have also this right, that they can reject and disregard all resolutions that are not in harmony with the Word of God or that they find inexpedient for their circumstances. Note well! It does not merely say: those that are "not in harmony with the Word of God" --that is self-evident and is granted even by the papists--but it says: "or are inexpedient for their circumstances." Therefore as soon as a congregation sees that a resolution presented and recommended to it is unsuited to it, it can say, "We do not adopt it."

Somewhere along the line our Missouri Synod congregations have lost sight of their God-given duty and right to supervise synodical resolutions by either accepting or rejecting them at regular Voters meeting of the local congregations. To this day the Missouri Synod still has an article in its constitution which says: "No resolution of the synod imposing anything on the individual congregation is of binding force if it is not in accordance with the Word of God, or if it appears to be inexpedient as far as the condition of the congregation is concerned." Now that’s a very strong statement, but the mechanics that made this statement work in the original constitution have been removed. Synod’s original constitution made provision for the synod’s congregations either to adopt or reject resolutions passed by the synod. Listen carefully to the original wording:

---Such a synodical resolution has binding force only when the individual congregation through a formal congregational resolution has voluntarily adopted and confirmed it. --Should a congregation find a synodical resolution not in conformity with the Word of God or unsuited for its circumstances, it has the right to disregard, that is, to reject it.

Clearly the congregations of the Missouri Synod have been remiss in their God-given duty to closely supervise their "servant", the synodical convention, and safeguard both DOCTRINE and practice.

Even as late as l942 in a paper presented by Missouri Synod president, Dr. John Behnken to the Council of Presidents of Synod, this central focus on the authority and sovereignty of the local congregation as "THE ONLY EXTERNAL COMMUNION INSTITUTED BY GOD" was unequivocally defended. Dr. Behnken said: "We must remember, of course, that Synod in Article VIII recognized the sovereignty of the Christian congregation and that NO OFFICIAL OF SYNOD, yes, NOT EVEN SYNOD ITSELF, can dictate to any congregation.

Synod is not an ecclesiastical government exercising legislative or coercive powers. No official of Synod dares to attempt any autocratic or tyrannical or legalistic enforcement of any resolution of Synod or interfere with the congregation’s right of self government.

Synod, in its relation to the several congregations, is only an advisory body as far as the internal affairs of the congregation are concerned.

Synod has only such authority as the congregations forming Synod have delegated unto it. This in turn means that officials of Synod have no authority beyond that which the congregations conferred upon them in Synod’s Constitution."

But in the 1950’s the desire to preserve these doctrinal truths began to wane. Working behind the scene in their own sessions, changes were wrought by the synod’s beaureauracy, specifically the Council of Presidents, effecting doctrine. In the course of time some of these changes were approved at the synodical conventions.

Paul’s warning to the elders at Ephesus immediately comes to mind. "Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them." (Acts 20:30) And also the Apostle John’s warning against DIATROPHES, "who loves to have the preeminence among them." (3 John 9)

One of these changes of major importance was the change in the synod’s practice of ordination.

C.F.W.Walther taught both the divine institution of the church and of the ministry. The public office of the ministry was always identified with the pastoral office in a local congregation. Walther taught that all believers are royal priests and have been given the Office of the Keys; namely, the peculiar church power to preach the Word, forgive sins, and administer the sacraments. However, not everyone is called to exercise this authority and power publicly. The Christians in a local congregation transfer or confer their God-given authority and power to a pastor through their call. Ordination is treated as Scripture treats it. It is a human rite instituted by the apostles without any direct command from God. It simply publicly recognizes and affirms that the congregation has conferred on this man the office of the public ministry in their midst. He has been called to be their pastor.

The first time anyone in the Missouri Synod officially suggested a change in this Scriptural practice was on May 1, 1952 when the Council of President’s Committee on Ordination proposed: "that also those be ordained who have qualified for the full ministry of the Word but are assigned by the Church as instructors at synodical institutions or are assigned to any other position created by Synod.

The Council of Presidents rejected their committee’s proposal but unfortunately it didn’t go away. Eight years later, on November 29, 1960. "The Guidelines for District Presidents Regarding Ordination and Related Questions" were adopted by the College of Presidents. Those guidelines included this statement: "Ordain those who are qualified for the functions of the pastoral office upon their acceptance of their first call issued by a congregation or by an agency of a church. Among those qualified for ordination are the following: pastors, assistant pastors, associate pastors, some PROFESSORS, some INSTRUCTORS, MISSIONARIES, CHAPLAINS, and EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF DISTRICT OR SYNOD." What an incredible change of doctrine! Prior to this time only men called to serve as pastors in a Word and Sacrament Ministry of a local congregation were ordained. In just eight years the College of Presidents had redefined Missouri Synod’s understanding of ordination, the doctrine of the church and the doctrine of the pastoral office. NOTE WELL - These guidelines were adopted WITHOUT convention approval. When these guidelines were presented to the Cleveland convention in 1962 ONLY certain points of the guidelines were included in the resolutions. In addition, instead of dealing with these critical changes through the committee on doctrine, the resolutions were set forth under constitutional changes. By changing the synod’s understanding of ORDINATION the pastoral office was no longer associated ONLY with the call to a local congregation! Furthermore, it was now no longer the local congregation who identified the pastoral office by means of the call and ordination, but it was the Synod. Suddenly, an organization devised by human arrangement (the Synod) had replaced the divinely instituted local church. The Synod now had taken on the characteristic of Church. Everyone needs to understand that once a position is adopted which makes ordination anything other than a human rite by means of which a divine call to the public ministry in a local congregation is publicly confirmed - congregational polity no longer exists - except in name only. Hierarchical, bureaucratic control rules instead of God’s Word! At the Cleveland Convention, by adopting these resolutions, the Missouri Synod abandoned congregational polity and since that time the situation has only worsened.

In 1981 the CTCR came out with its report on "The Ministry." This report boldly asserts that the Synod is every bit as much a church as a local congregation, and has the right to establish an office of the ministry and call persons to that Office of Word and Sacrament (p.29). It also says: "Service in a congregation is NOT the benchmark in determining who is in the office of the ministry (p.41). As a result of this change in doctrine The Lutheran Annual now lists twenty-three categories on its clergy roster. Only 7 of those categories are pastors of congregations. How quickly the leaven of false doctrine spreads! For over 100 years the constitution of Synod said that only candidates with calls to local congregations were eligible for ordination. Now, the constitution has been amended to read that candidates hired to fill positions in the synodical corporate structure are now eligible for ordination. In the light of these changes, the Missouri Synod now teaches and practices that it is no longer the call to a local congregation that confers the power and authority to administer the Office of the Keys, but instead it is the human rite of ordination (controlled by the Synod) that confers the power and authority of the Keys. No wonder we find a baptismal font in the chapel at the Synod’s international headquarters. No wonder many communion services are no longer limited to the administration of a pastor in his local congregation, but are commonly held at youth rallies, LLL and LWML conventions, district and synodical conventions, and even Lutheran high schools.

We need to remember what ORDINATION is all about. It is the divine call of a local congregation, NOT ORDINATION that confers the office of the ministry and the authority to forgive sins. This power and office was originally given by Christ ONLY to believers gathered in local congregations who in turn confer this office to their called pastor. By this blasphemous action of the 1962 Cleveland Convention, orchestrated and prepared by the Council of DISTRICT Presidents, the Missouri Synod, by convention action has usurped the power of the universal priesthood of believers and appropriated to itself a divine power that God has not given to it and to which it has absolutely NO CLAIM. And it was all accomplished by the abuse of the human rite of ordination! Since synod was now acting as if it were really a church it seemed logical to make it official. Therefore, at the 1965 synodical convention in Detroit a resolution was adopted changing the name of the Synod. It is highly significant to remember that the original name of synod did not contain the word, "church." We were, "The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States." Now we are called, "The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod." The synod has now become a "pretending church."

Now, that the way was cleared for Synod to act as a church, further "churchly" actions quickly followed. At the same convention for the first time in the history of the Missouri Synod, the right of laymen to speak on the floor of the synodical convention was removed. It was not done by official convention resolution, but (incredibly) it was accomplished by a ruling from the chair on the first day of the convention. Later in the convention an official resolution was passed which also removed the right of laymen to submit resolutions for consideration at future conventions. The desire for preeminence in the Church, which Diotrophes so loved in the early church, and Martin Stephan so abused in his rule of the Saxon immigrants was now given an open door in the Missouri Synod, and the sole rule of God’s Word, once firmly established and upheld, was in essence effectively undermined.

We need to remember the way it was! Conventions of the Missouri Synod were originally planned to assure equal representation of clergy and laity. How drastically this has changed in recent years! For example, at the 1965 convention of synod 417 pastoral delegates and 410 lay delegates were registered. In addition 367 members of synodical boards and committees were registered. Most of them were seasoned professionals who knew the ropes that run the machinery of the convention. The Synod also registered 163 advisors and 112 observers. The majority of these people were officials of Synod who made their presence known and heard! Prior to this convention pastors and lay-members from congregations of Synod, who were not delegates, were permitted to speak at the mikes from the floor of the convention. This was now changed. It came to pass on the first day of the convention that a decree went out from the convention chairman that all non-delegates should be taxed with silence. And so it was that 460 non-delegate laymen who were registered for the convention, and who had came from afar at considerable personal expense, and out of love for God and the preservation of pure doctrine in the Church, were disenfranchised by imperial decree without prior notice.

As Missouri’s hierarchical bureaucracy and pretending church arrogance grows we can expect more of these arbitrary rulings. As a matter of fact, since the initial changes put in place at the Detroit Convention in 1965, the bylaws of Synod on this subject have been further amended. Bylaw 3.19 under Convention Reports and Overtures now reads in the 1998 Handbook: "Overtures to a convention of the Synod may be submitted only by a member congregation of the Synod, a convention or Board of Directors of a District, an official District conference of ordained and/or commissioned ministers, the faculty of an educational institution of the Synod, a board or commission of the Synod listed in sections 3.55 and 3.57, a committee established by a prior convention, or a forum of a Circuit."

Restrictions on time will not allow me to further delineate the tragic decline of congregational polity in the Missouri Synod. Permit me to close with these words of Charles Porterfield Krauth, a leader of the old General Council of the Lutheran Church written in 1871 –

"When error is admitted into the Church, it will be found that the stages of its progress are always three. It begins by asking toleration. Its friends say to the majority: You need not be afraid of us; we are few, and weak; only let us alone; we shall not disturb the faith of others. The Church has her standards of doctrine; of course we shall never interfere with them; we only ask for ourselves to be spared interference with our private opinions. Indulged in this for a time, error goes on to assert equal rights. Truth and error are two balancing forces. The Church shall do nothing which looks like deciding between them; that would be partiality. It is bigotry to assert any superior right for the truth. We are to agree to differ, and any favoring of the truth, because it is truth, is partisanship. What the friends of truth and error hold in common is fundamental. Anything on which they differ is ipso facto non-essential. Anybody who makes account of such a thing is a disturber of the peace of the church. Truth and error are two co-ordinate powers, and the great secret of church-statesmanship is to preserve the balance between them. From this point error soon goes on to its natural end, which is to assert supremacy. Truth started with tolerating; it comes to be merely tolerated, and that only for a time. Error claims a preference for its judgment on all disputed points. It puts men into positions, not as at first in spite of their departure from the Church’s faith, but in consequence of it. Their recommendation is that they repudiate that faith, and position is given them to teach others to repudiate it, and to make them skillful in combating it."

Finally, we need to remember this - In spite of all these efforts of pride-filled ambitious men, God still rules in His church. God still has his 7,000 elect in Israel. And God’s Word and Luther’s doctrine pure -- to all eternity shall endure!