To Amend Bylaw Section 2.14 to Address How Public Sin Is Handled by Dispute Resolution Process

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10-12 
To Amend Bylaw Section 2.14  
to Address How Public Sin Is Handled  
by Dispute Resolution Process 
WHEREAS, Holy Scripture distinguishes between private sins that 
are first to be rebuked privately: “If your brother sins against you 
[εἰς σὲ (singular)], go and tell him his fault, between you and him 
alone [ μόνου] … ” (Matt. 18:15); and public sins that are to be 
rebuked publicly: “ Those [elders] who are sinning  rebuke in the 
presence of all [ ἐνώπιον πάντων], that the rest also may fear” (1 
Tim. 5:20 NKJV); and 
WHEREAS, The practice of publicly rebuking a public sin is 
demonstrated and confirmed by the example of our Lord Jesus 
Christ in Holy Scripture: “But when [Jesus] turned around and 
looked at His disciples [ τὸυς μαθητὰς (plural) αὐτοῦ], He rebuked 
Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of 
the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8:33 NKJV); and 
WHEREAS, The practice of publicly rebuking a public sin is also 
demonstrated and confirmed by apostolic example in Holy 
Scripture: “When I [Paul] saw that they [Peter and the Jews] were 
not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter 
before all  [ἐ μπροσθεν πάντων ], ‘If you, being a Jew, live in the 
manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel the 
Gentiles to live as Jews?’” (Gal. 2:14 NKJV); and 
WHEREAS, This distinction between private sin and public sin is 
also maintained in the Lutheran Confessions in the explanation of 
the eighth commandment in Martin Luther’s Large Catechism: “All 
this has been said about secret sins [heimlichen Sünden]. But where 
the sin is quite public [ öffentlich], so that the judge and everybody 
knows about it, you can without any sin shun the offender and let 
him go his own way, because he has brought himself into disgrace. 
You may also publicly testify [öffentlich … zeugen] abo ut him. For 
when a matter is public [ offenbar] in the daylight, there can be no 
slandering or false judging or testifying. … Where the sin is public 
[öffentlich], the rebuke also must be public [
soll auch billig 
öffentliche Strafe folgen], that everyone may learn to guard against 
it” (LC I [Eighth Commandment] 284); and 
WHEREAS, This distinction has also been mainta ined in the 
personal writings of orthodox Lutheran theologians such as C.F.W. 
Walther, who writes: “If the sin of a congregational member is so 
manifest that the entire congregation knows about it and the entire 
congregation is therefore also offended by i t, it is in principle not 
necessary to observe the stages of admonition given in Matthew 18, 
since in the case the congregation is precisely the person of whom 
the Lord says, ‘If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his 
fault, between you and him alone’ (Matt. 18:15). We therefore read 
that even Paul, after Peter had caused a public offense known to all, 
did not first rebuke him in stages, but ‘publicly before everyone’ 
immediately (Gal. 2:13–14). Paul also writes explicitly about such 
a case: ‘Whoever sins, rebuke in the presence, so that the others may 
also be afraid’ (1 Tim. 5:20).” (C.F.W. Walther, Walther’s Works: 
Pastoral Theology [Concordia Publishing House, 2017] 384); and 
W
HEREAS, Public sins not only require a public rebuke but also 
a public apology, as C.F.W. Walther writes: “A public fall into sin 
is also a sin against the entire congregation, just as according to 
2026 Convention Workbook
506 ECCLESIASTICAL SUPER VISION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION