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LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 266
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2026 Convention Workbook 231
THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS —COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
Way Forward Detailed Framework Page 50 of 50 5. We believe that the formal and the material principles must not be brought into opposition to each other, for the Scriptures are the Word of Christ and they testify of Him.
Loyalty to Christ requires loyalty to His Word, and loyalty to the Scriptures requires loyalty to Christ, His person, His work, His means of grace. We dare not stress the material principle at the expense of the formal principle, or vice versa. Churches uniting should make their pledge of loyalty to both Christ and His Word (cf Eph 4:1–16).
6. We believe that it is a solemn obligation of the Church to teach the whole counsel of God, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, feeding milk or meat as the case may demand, but never compromising the truth of Scripture, never permitting reason or feeling to undermine the authority of the Word, or substituting for it any form of subjectivism.
7. In the application of these principles, particularly in the holding of such divergent views as are mentioned in Theses 4 (e), the material principle, agreement in which constitutes the fundamental unity in Christ, is not to be ignored contrary to the law of Christian love but is to be upheld and applied in full agreement with the formal principle.
APPENDIX B
Resources The Creator’s Tapestry: Scriptural Perspectives on Man-Woman Relationships in Marriage and the Church. A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2010.
Harrison Matthew C. and Pless John T, eds. Women Pastors? The Ordination of Women in Biblical Lutheran Perspective. A Collection of Essays, Third Edition, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2012.
Lehenbauer, Joel D. “Godly Women and the Way of the Cross. ” Chapter Four in Confessional Lutheran Leadership Under the Cross: Collection of Theological Presentations from the International Church Relations Conference, 2023. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2024.
The Order of Creation: Theology, History, Definition.A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2022.
Shaw, Jonathan, ed. Women’s Ordination through the Lens of the Apostles’ Creed. A Fraternal Theological Dialogue of the Lutheran Church in Korea and the Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod. Revised Edition. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2024.
https://resources.lcms.org/reading-study/lcms-church-relations-booklet-womensordination-through-the-lens-of-the-apostles-creed/ Women in the Church: Scriptural Principles and Ecclesial Practice. A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 1985.
