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.