To Reaffirm, Enforce, and Restore Faithful Eucharistic Practice and Synodical Discipline concerning Unionism and Open Communion

Official Workbook overture source text

5-17 
To Reaffirm, Enforce, and Restore Faithful 
Eucharistic Practice and Synodical Discipline 
concerning Unionism and Open Communion 
WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures teach that pastors are stewards 
of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1), charged to watch over souls as 
those who must give an account (Heb. 13:17), and are commanded 
to warn, instruct, examine, and withhold the Sacrament when 
necessary for the good of souls (1 Cor. 11:27– 29; Ezek. 3:17 –21; 
Titus 1:7–9); and 
W
HEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions explicitly teach and 
confess that the Sacrament of the Altar is to be given only to those 
who have been instructed, examined, and absolved, and that 
admission to the Sacrament belongs to the pastoral office and not to 
individual self-determination (AC XXIV; XXV; Ap XXIV; SA III 
VIII; LC V); and 
WHEREAS, The writers of the Lutheran Confessions understood 
instruction and examination for admission to the Lord’s Supper as 
concrete, pastoral acts involving personal request for the Sacrament, 
confession of faith, catechetical understanding, repentance, and 
inquiry into life and conduct, as articulated by Martin Luther, who 
taught that the Sacrament is not to be given indiscriminately, but 
only after prior examination regarding what the communicant has 
learned from the catechism and whether he intends to forsak e sin, 
lest Christ’s Church be treated as a common trough rather than 
guarded as the communion of saints (Martin Luther, “An Open 
Letter to Those in Frankfurt on the Main, 1533,” in Closed 
Communion?, John T. Pless and Matthew C. Harrison, eds. [CPH, 
2017], 14; Luther’s Works, 40:292–293; 53:32–34); and 
WHEREAS, The Constitution requires the renunciation of 
unionism and syncretism of every description as a condition of 
acquiring and holding membership in the Synod (Const. Art. VI), 
and mandates the removal of members who persistently violate 
these conditions after repeated admonition (Const. Art. XIII); and 
WHEREAS, The President of the Synod and the district presidents 
are constitutionally charged with ecclesiastical supervision, 
including the duty to admonish, reprove, and, when admonition 
fails, to report and initiate disciplinary action against those who 
depart from the Synod’s confession and conditions of membership 
(Const. Art. XI, XII; Bylaw section 2.14); and 
WHEREAS, The practice commonly referred to as “functionally 
open communion,” as defined by Rev. Dr. Joel  Biermann, professor 
of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary, occurs when “the 
determination of who is an appropriate recipient (and not merely a 
‘worthy’ recipient) of the Lord’s Supper is left exclusively in the 
hands of the individual contemplating eating and drinking, and 
when the church’s concern is limited to an individual’s worthiness 
without further consideration of that person’s confession,” such that 
professed adherence to closed communion is rendered meaningless 
by actual practice (Joel D. Biermann, “Step Up to the Altar: 
Thinking about the Theology and Practice of the Lord’s Supper,” 
Concordia Theological Quarterly 72 no. 2 [2008]: 153); and 
WHEREAS, A substantial number of congregations and pastors 
within the Synod currently practice open communion in its explicit 
or functional forms, thereby permitting participation in the 
Sacrament without pastoral determination of doctrinal unity, 
instruction, ex amination, confession, and absolution, in direct 
contradiction to the Synod’s confession and constitutional 
commitments; and 
WHEREAS, Such practices constitute a form of unionism in 
sacramental practice, place communicants in spiritual danger, 
undermine pastoral responsibility, erode doctrinal unity, and 
contradict the Synod’s stated confession while being widely 
tolerated in practice; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the Synod in convention reaffirm that the practice 
commonly known as open communion, including functionally open 
communion, is incompatible with Holy Scripture, the Lutheran 
Confessions, and the conditions of membership in the Synod; and 
be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod direct the President of the Synod and 
the Council of Presidents (COP) to enforce the existing 
constitutional and bylaw provisions concerning unionism and 
sacramental practice, particularly Constitution Articles VI and XIII 
and Bylaw sectio n 2.14, without exception or partiality; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That the Synod require the President of the Synod and 
the district presidents to initiate formal ecclesiastical supervision 
and admonition in cases where congregations or pastors persistently 
practice open communion in any form, following the procedures 
already established in the Bylaws; and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod direct that where such admonition is 
rejected and the offending congregation or pastor refuses to publicly 
renounce open communion, the appropriate disciplinary steps —
including suspension or expulsion from Synod membership—be 
carried out in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws; and be 
it further