Version History
Current published version
Today's Business, Issue 1. pp. 101-102. Original floor committee resolution.
No later published versions have been added.
Official Resolution Source Text
Resolution: 5-05
Canonical number: 5-05
Committee: Theology and Church Relations
Source: Today's Business, Issue 1
Printed pages: pp. 101-102
PDF pages: 101-102
Version: original, current-published-proposal
Source reference: Issue 1, pp. 101-102
Line numbers follow Today's Business, Issue 1, with numbering reset on each printed page, so delegates can compare this page with the official PDF.
Page 101
- To Address Open Communion and Pastoral Exceptions in Extraordinary Circumstances
- RESOLUTION 5-05
- Overtures 5-16–18 (CW, 345–347)
- WHEREAS, Holy Scripture teaches clearly that the Lord’s Supper is the true body and blood of Christ (Matt. 26:26–
- 29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:15–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–26), and that those who receive the body and blood of Christ are to
- examine themselves, lest they eat and drink the Lord’s Supper unworthily and bring judgment upon themselves (1
- Cor.11:27–32); and
- WHEREAS, According to the Lutheran Confessions, “The people are instructed more regularly and with the greatest
- diligence concerning the holy sacrament, to what purpose it was instituted, and how it is to be used, namely, as a comfort
- to terrified consciences. In this way, the people are drawn to Communion and to the Mass. At the same time, they are also
- instructed about other, false teaching concerning the sacrament” (AC XXIV [Kolb-Wengert]), and “the custom has been
- retained among us of not administering the sacrament to those who have not previously been examined and absolved” (AC
- XXV [Tappert, German]); and
- WHEREAS, Synod in convention has repeatedly and consistently affirmed the teaching and practice of closed
- Communion, which entails that “except in situations of emergency or in special cases of pastoral care” we “commune
- individuals of only those synods which are now in fellowship with us” (1969 Res. 2-12, “To Give Further Study to
- Communion Practices”; 1986 Res. 3-08, “To Maintain Practice of Close Communion”;1995 Res. 3-08, “To Reaffirm the
- Practice of Close[d] Communion”; 1998 Res. 3-05, “To Reaffirm Our Practice of Admission to the Lord’s Supper”; 2013
- Res. 4-10, “To Encourage Proper Oversight in Administration of Lord’s Supper by Visitation from Ecclesiastical
- Supervisors”; 2016 Res. 5-15, “To Address Questions re the Sacrament of the Altar”; 2019 Res. 4-11A, “To Encourage
- the Study of the Doctrine of Close[d] Communion and Faithful Practice in All Congregations”; 2023 Res. 5-09, “To
- Review Guidance on Admission to the Lord’s Supper”); and
- WHEREAS, There has been conversation within Synod over the distinction between “close Communion” and “closed
- Communion,” implying that they are different teachings or practices; and
- WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) in its 1983 report, Theology and Practice of
- the Lord’s Supper, has affirmed that the two terms refer to the same teaching and practice: “While the term ‘Closed
- Communion’ has a longer history ... and is regarded by some as theologically more proper than ‘Close Communion,’ the
- latter term, which has been used in more recent history by writers in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, may also
- properly be employed as a way of saying that confessional agreement must precede the fellowship of Christians at the
- Lord’s Table. Whatever term is used, it is clear that the LCMS’s official practice is consistent with the historic practice of
- the church, which has regarded unity of doctrine as a prerequisite for admission to the sacrament” (20); and
- WHEREAS, There has also been conversation within Synod, especially among the Council of Presidents (COP) and
- the seminaries, over “the language of earlier Communion resolutions regarding extraordinary circumstances” and requests
- for “case studies and examples” that lend clarity to such circumstances (2023 Res. 5-09); and
- WHEREAS, The CTCR in its 1999 report, Admission to the Lord’s Supper: Basics of Biblical and Confessional
- Teaching, has acknowledged that there can be “rare and genuinely difficult situations of unusual personal need and pastoral
- care” (47), yet that “it will never be possible to compile a list of ‘acceptable exceptions,’” (48); and
- WHEREAS, At the same time, the report states that, while “the Synod has always recognized this ... we must engage
- one another in respectful mutual conversation over the controverted specifics of the ‘situations of emergency, and special
- cases of pastoral care, or extraordinary situations and circumstances which call for the necessity of exercising responsible
- pastoral care’” (48); and
- WHEREAS, In those rare cases of pastoral exception, the pastor takes on the grave burden of pastoral care toward those
- whom he communes, assuming responsibility before God for their worthy reception of the body and blood of Christ and
- for the confession of their lips; and
Page 102
- WHEREAS, The practice commonly referred to as “functionally open Communion” 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); therefore be it
- Resolved, That the Synod in convention again affirm its longstanding commitment to the biblical and confessional
- teaching concerning closed Communion; and be it further
- Resolved, That the Synod clarify that the terms “close Communion” and “closed Communion,” as used in documents
- of the Synod, are synonymous and pertain to the same aforementioned teaching and practice; and be it further
- Resolved, That the pastors of our Synod, as stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1), who are charged to watch
- over souls as those who must give an account (Heb. 13:17) and commanded to warn, instruct, examine, and withhold the
- Sacrament when necessary for the good of souls (1 Cor. 11:27–29; Titus 1:7–9), be urged pastorally and through sound
- catechesis to teach, exhort, practice, and defend closed Communion; and be it further
- Resolved, That the pastors of our Synod, as members of the ministerium of the Church, be urged to act charitably,
- seeking to put the best construction on everything as they observe and discuss Communion practice with each other and
- in their various contexts; and be it further
- Resolved, That the President of Synod and the COP, as ecclesiastical supervisors, continue to be faithful in upholding
- the existing constitutional and bylaw provisions concerning unionism and sacramental practice and the Synod’s position
- on closed Communion as articulated in numerous doctrinal resolutions; and be it further
- Resolved, That vacancy pastors, intentional interim pastors, circuit visitors, and district presidents be urged to assist
- congregations in improving communion practices, where necessary, prior to the issuance of calls; and be it finally
- Resolved, That our pastors be encouraged to receive with joy the guidance and admonition provided by their
- ecclesiastical supervisors, especially in cases where congregations or pastors have been indiscriminate in their Communion
- practice; and be it finally
- Resolved, That the CTCR provide the Synod with a study document that addresses extraordinary circumstances and
- pastoral exceptions to closed Communion, including case studies and study questions.
- The Chief Financial Officer and LCMS Accounting and Financial Services staff, in consultation with the Finance
- Committee, anticipate no significant incremental costs as the activity is understood to be within the existing scope and
- budget of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (estimate required by Bylaw 3.1.7 [g]).
