To Admonish and Review Fellowship with Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church

Ov. 5-04

To Admonish and Review Fellowship with Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church

WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures enjoin us to maintain the unity of the faith in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3, 13); and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions state : “The church is the assembly of saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly. And it is enough for the true unity of the church to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments. It is not necessary that human traditions, rites, or ceremonies instituted by hu man beings be alike everywhere” (AC VII 1–3, Kolb/Wengert); and

WHEREAS, “Apostolicity” in the Church is found not in a fleshand-blood lineage of men, but rather, in the apostolicity of doctrine, which consists of continuing steadfast in the apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42), as the Lutheran theologian Hermann Sasse confesses:

“Authentic apostolic succession, then, is always and only the succession of doctrine” (Hermann Sasse, “Successio Apostolica” in Letters to Lutheran Pastors, ed. Matthew C. Harrison [CPH, 2014]:

2:437); and

WHEREAS, The bishop of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELC), a church in altar and pulpit fellowship with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod since 2013, has taught that socalled “apostolic succession,” which he defines as a succession of duly consecrated bishops, is necessary for a church to have a valid ministry; and

WHEREAS, By promoting this teaching and interjecting itself in the life of another sister church body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB), by asserting the claim of apostolic succession, by ordaining deacons, and by establishing congregations outsid e of Siberia, the SELC has created scandal, confusion, and disharmony in the confession of the one true and saving Gospel; and

WHEREAS, The bishop of the SELC is also identified as the “guiding bishop” of the Independent Anglican Congregation in Thailand (IACT), a church that according to its website (inachurchthailand.com/weddings-blessings) allows for the blessing of LGBTQ unions; therefore be it

Resolved, That the President of the Synod admonish the bishop of the SELC to immediately cease and desist in these unwanted intrusions into the life of the IELB; and be it further

Resolved, That the President of the Synod, in consultation with the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR), engage in conversation with the leadership of the SELC to assist them in embracing a genuinely biblical, Lutheran confession of the one Office Christ Jesus has instituted for the pure preaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments; and be it further

Resolved, That the President of the Synod, in consultation with the CTCR, admonish the bishop of the SELC to withdraw immediately from the unionistic relationship with the IACT; and be it finally

Resolved, That the President of the Synod report the outcome of these efforts to the 2029 Synod convention with a recommendation as to whether the conditions for altar and pulpit fellowship with the SELC still obtain.

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