To Amend Bylaws to Reinstate Commission on Worship

Official Workbook overture source text

4-23 
To Amend Bylaws to Reinstate  
Commission on Worship 
Rationale 
The Word of God and the Sacraments are the means by which God 
has promised to deal with us ( SA III VIII 10). It is by these means 
that justifying faith is obtained (AC V). In order to obtain this faith, 
the ministry of purely teaching the Gospel and rightly administering 
the Sacraments was established and continues in the Church, 
serving as the marks of the true Christian Church and its unity (AC 
V; VII). 
The public teaching of God’s Word and administration of the 
Sacraments in Christian congregations is commonly referred to as 
“worship.” Such worship is the essential and necessary public 
activity for every Christian congregation. In faithful public worship 
the following common purposes of the members of the Synod 
(congregations and individual ministers) are enacted: to conserve 
and promote the unity of the true faith ( Const. Art. III 1), to 
strengthen one another in giving bold witness by word and deed to 
the love and work of God (Const. Art. III 2), to educate and nourish 
Christians of all ages (Const. Art. III 5) and to recognize, promote, 
express, conserve, and defend confessional unity in the true faith 
(Const. Art. III 6). “Worship” necessarily encompasses a variety of 
faithful church practices and customs. Holy Scripture does not 
require precise uniformity in these. Neither is the true unity of the 
Church to be found by outward uniformity (AC VII 2). 
Nevertheless, the S ynod from inception has consistent ly affirmed 
that a recognizable uniformity of order and church practice is 
desirable and worthy of pursuit (Const. Art. III 7). 
In fact, the Synod has found this pursuit of recognizable uniformity 
and faithfulness of such importance that it has conditioned 
membership in the Synod concerning the prayers and rites, songs 
and hymns used in worship. The Synod requires (based on the 
confessional basis of Const. Art. II) that its members “exclusive[ly] 
use … doctrinally pure agenda, hymnbooks, and catechisms in 
church and school” (Const. Art. VI 4). 
Furthermore, we have the clear teaching of Holy Scripture 
regarding being united by God’s Word in worship. For example, 
Scripture teaches that we are to “let the word of Christ dwell in [us] 
richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, 
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in 
[our] hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). The unity we have in God’s Word 
(John 17:20–21; Eph. 4:11–13) finds expression in our worship. 
To assist its members in these things, the Synod adopts official 
hymnbooks and agenda and gives attention to the conduct of rites, 
preaching, administration of the Sacraments , and music by her 
members (e.g. , 2016 Res olution 4- 04A). Recognizing the vital 
importance of worship, the Synod maintained a Commission on 
Worship from the 1930s until 1981, although it  was first 
acknowledged in Synod bylaws in 1960. After a brief hiatus, the 
Commission on Worship was reinstated in 1983 and continued until 
the Synod’s restructuring in 2010. The Commission on Worship