Official Workbook PDF page source text

2026 Convention Workbook 103

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

This void is now filled by the growing and expanding voice of the LCRL for the betterment of the country and in opposition to any movements, views, or legislation that would harm the right of religious freedom in the public square.

The LCRL office offers advantages.

• It maintains a direct presence of the LCMS and like-minded Lutherans in the nation’s capital.

• It enables the LCMS to monitor and communicate impend - ing legislation, infringement on religious liberty, and other matters of concern to LCMS members, congregations, recognized service organizations, and other LCMS institutions.

• It provides a venue and a process through the Champions for Liberty Religious Network to engage, encourage, and equip Lutherans of all ages to exercise their vocations as part of God’s preserving work through government or political engagement.

• It offers proximity to a growing list of partner organizations and offices to help build coalitions, thus strengthening our First Amendment voice in Washington, D.C.

Four Primary Tasks 1. Advocacy and Encouragement on Capitol Hill: Through our active presence on Capitol Hill—including advocacy meetings (Values Action Team meetings with Senate and House), direct engagement with members of Congress and the Executive Branch (personal as well as via radio), and our expanding broadcast outreach through The Liberty Action Alert—we work to ensure that the concerns of LCMS churches, schools, and universities are faithfully represented before civil authorities. We also encourage and support those who labor in public office to uphold religious liberty and the God-given rights of the Church.

2.

Education and Assistance a. Through its expanding body of r esources, the LCRL equips Synod laity with a faithful understanding of major cultural and legal challenges, the Lutheran doctrine of vocation (especially Christian citizenship), and the theology of the two kingdoms. In this way, believers are prepared to serve their neighbors in the civil realm while supporting and preserving the Church’s Gospel mission.

b.

Through trusted partnerships (with Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF], First Liberty Institute, Liberty Counsel, and the Becket Fund), the LCRL assists Christians and congregations in securing legal support and critical resources when they face opposition, litigation, or government action for confessing and living according to Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

3.

Advocacy, Training, and Support: Through our Champions for Liberty Network, the LCRL provides advocacy training, strategic coaching, and ongoing support for Synod congregations, schools, and universities. This work equips laity to live out their Christian vocation in God’s left-hand kingdom with clarity, courage, and confessional faithfulness.

4.

Publication and Communication: In partnership with like-minded organizations and public leaders, the LCRL communicates an orthodox Lutheran, two-kingdom perspective on cultural, legal, and public policy matters to governing authorities, ensuring that a clear and faithful Lutheran witness is maintained in the public square. Resources in this The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) two-kingdom, First Amendment organization in Washington, D.C., is to ignite and advance a distinctly Lutheran response to increasing government intrusions into the life of the Church, while educating, encouraging, and equipping LCMS members and organizations to take informed action in defense of religious freedom for the sake of the Gospel ministries of our churches, schools, and universities.

Purpose and Services The Synod, through the LCRL, monitors and protects the church’s First Amendment rights—guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—in the public square so that our churches, schools, and universities can continue to boldly preach Christ crucified as the power of God for salvation without government coercion or interference. The LCRL will equip Lutherans and Lutheran organiza - tions to 1.

engage federal and state officials through advocacy and defensive legal strategies;

2. educate future generations about serving God through vocations in government, law, and public policy; and 3. connect with Lutherans involved in government affairs.

Where the government, the culture, and faith conflict, Lutherans can and must speak up and out in support of religious liberty.

Why This Matters We are living in a time when Christian values and morals are under attack culturally, legally, and politically, with cultural and political forces throughout society committed to • aggressively chipping away at Americans’ most basic religious liberties, despite the protections guaranteed by the First Amendment;

• rapidly deconstructing and redefining, through law and liti - gation, the biblical understanding of marriage and the family, the foundational building block of our culture;

• discarding as inconsequential, despite the defeat of Roe v.

Wade, the lives of more than 67 million preborn Americans;

• politically and legally targeting Christian schools and preschools, in defiance of constitutional protections, because of their biblical teachings on marriage and sexuality; and • politicizing and demonizing the public expression of the Christian faith, including its central proclamation of “Christ alone crucified,” in an effort to silence any faithful public witness to the whole counsel of God—the very heartbeat of our Lutheran identity and calling.

An evaluation of current faith-based entities and think tanks in Washington, D.C., indicates a plethora of groups and institutions that support the protection of religious liberty. However, none offer the distinctly confessional Lutheran understanding of Luther’s two-kingdom theology:

One is the kingdom of this world. Into it we are born; in it we sustain our bodies and do our work. The other is the Christian Church, in which we have become members by faith. In it we do our spiritual tasks; in it we pray, serve the Church, and do mission-work. This is the purpose for which we have been placed on earth. (Dr. Theodore Graebner, “Christian Citizenship,” essay for the 1937 English District convention)