To Publicly Acknowledge Theological and Ecclesial Errors in Church’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

Official Workbook overture source text

5-25 
To Publicly Acknowledge Theological  
and Ecclesial Errors in Church’s  
Response to COVID-19 Pandemic 
WHEREAS, God commands, “Remember the Sabbath day, to 
keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8); and 
WHEREAS, Our Lord and Savior proclaims, “Man shall not live 
by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of 
God” (Matt. 4:4); and 
WHEREAS, The apostle Peter declares, “We must obey God 
rather than men” (Acts 5:29); and 
WHEREAS, The Scriptures admonish Christians to “consider how 
to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet 
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and 
all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24–25); and 
WHEREAS, One’s Christian liberty should not be determined by 
someone else’s conscience (1 Cor. 10:29); and 
WHEREAS, Regarding the Sacrament of the Altar, the Large 
Catechism (LC) teaches that “some allow themselves to be hindered 
and held up by the excuse that we have taught that no one should 
approach the Sacrament except those who feel hunger and thirst, 
which drive them to it. Some pretend that it is a matter of liberty 
and not necessary. They pretend it is enough to believe without it. 
For the most part, they go so far astray that they become quite 
brutish, and finally despise both the Sacrament and God’s Word.” 
(LC V 41); and 
WHEREAS, During the years 2020, 2021, and 2022, responses to 
the COVID- 19 pandemic by congregations, pastors, Synod 
leadership, and affiliated educational institutions included the 
cancellation of communal, in -person worship, the erroneous 
administration of the Sacrament of the Altar virtually or online, the 
urging of experimental and controversially- sourced vaccinations, 
and submission to overreaching governmental mandates; and 
WHEREAS, These responses inculcated in God’s flock and the 
world at large the ideas that communal, in -person worship is 
nonessential, that worship of God should give way to earthly fear, 
and that public opinion or government demand can supersede the 
command of God; and 
WHEREAS, These responses undoubtedly led to a burdening of 
Christian consciences and false accusations of not loving one’s 
neighbor as oneself; and 
WHEREAS, The alarming extent of closures was documented in 
the December 2020 issue of Reporter, stating, “Only 15% of LCMS 
congregations held in- person church services on Easter Sunday” 
(Stacy Eising, “BNM business includes church worker recruitment, 
COVID-19, race,” Reporter Online , December 3, 2020, 
reporter.lcms.org/2020/bnm-business-includes-church-worker-
recruitment-covid-19-race); and 
WHEREAS, The great societal distress over the COVID -19 
pandemic ought to have compelled the Church to keep her doors 
open; and 
WHEREAS, The examples of Daniel, Nehemiah, and the 
Ninevites (Dan. 9:1 –19; Neh. 1:4 –11; Jonah 3:6– 10) show 
corporate repentance to be God-pleasing and salutary; therefore be 
it 
Resolved, 
That we commend the desires of faithful pastors to 
care for their flocks in a time of pandemic, granting charity due to 
the nature of the situation confronting the Church because “the 
blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7); 
and be it further 
Resolved, That in such future crises, the Church with her pastors 
would be encouraged to neither prohibit nor suspend the 
opportunity for communal, in-person worship, but allow the sheep 
who desire the comfort and strength of the G ospel to accompany 
their pastors; and be it further 
Resolved, That those who are hindered from receiving the 
Sacrament be encouraged to reject the online or virtual