Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 355

2026 Convention Workbook
320 LIFE TOGETHER
Resolved, That the Board of Directors revise the current RSO 
agreement and policies to include: 
(a) a requirement that the RSO annually file a s tandardized 
annual financial report including audited or unaudited financials 
and governance disclosures, including executive compensation 
and conflict of interest policies, with the Synod and each district 
in which the RSO is operating; 
(b) stated criteria for the determination of alignment with the 
Synod by the RSO; 
(c) a requirement that a document demonstrating the RSO’s 
alignment with Synod doctrine and practice be made publicly 
available and updated at least every five years upon 
reaccreditation; 
(d) a requirement that all Board members be members in good 
standing of Synod or partner church congregations; 
(e) clarification that an educational institution (other than a 
seminary) whose board members are all members in good 
standing of Synod or partner church congregations is eligible for 
recognition as an educational service organization; and 
(f) a requirement that an RSO application be approved or denied 
within 90 days of completed submission, and if denied, that the 
applicant be given a specific written statement of the reasons for 
denial. 
St. Paul 
Brookfield, IL 
Ov. 4-34 
To Direct Offices of National and International 
Mission to Deny or Revoke Recognized Service 
Organization Status for Organizations Supporting, 
Advocating, or Otherwise Promoting  
LGBTQIA+ Agenda and Lifestyle,  
and To Amend Bylaws 6.2.3–4 
WHEREAS, Since before the fall into sin, God created human 
beings male and female (Gen. 1:27); and 
WHEREAS, Since before the fall into sin, God gave man and 
woman to be husband and wife (Gen. 2:24); and 
WHEREAS, After the fall into sin, God reiterates that he still gives 
man and woman to be husband and wife in marriage (Mat t. 19:5; 
Mark 10:7; Eph. 5:31); and 
WHEREAS, Sin is anything that goes contrary to God’s purpose 
and design (1 John 5:17); and 
WHEREAS, Our country has adopted policies and practices that 
uphold, promote, and uplift LGBTQIA+ positions on gender, 
sexuality, and marriage that are contrary to God’s design and are 
therefore sinful according to God’s Word (e.g. ruling that marriage 
is no longer exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one 
woman); and 
W
HEREAS, The LGBTQIA+ community is supported, uplifted, 
and celebrated at many times and places (e.g. Pride month, Pride 
parades, etc.); and 
W
HEREAS, The Christian is called to not follow in the deeds of 
darkness, but rather, is to lead a holy and God-pleasing life (Eph . 
5:11; 1 Peter 2:9); and 
WHEREAS, Such a God-pleasing life does not seek to remain in 
sin nor to celebrate it, but repents of it, receives forgiveness for it, 
and strives to sin no more (Rom. 6:1–2; Psalm 32:5; John 8:11); and 
WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations 
(CTCR) published a report on marriage and sexuality entitled, A 
Chaste and Decent Life: An Update to Human Sexuality 1981 , 
which concludes that, “attitudes towards gender identity and 
dysphoria, homosexuality and homosexual marriage, and societal 
pressures regarding sexuality, among others, have changed 
markedly in the last four decades,” yet still maintaining that “God’s 
intention for human sexuality does not change” ( LCMS CTCR, 
[adopted 2022], 37); and 
WHEREAS, The Synod has upheld and reaffirmed such positions 
regarding marriage and s exuality, as recently as the 2023 Synod 
convention (Resolution 5- 11, “To Reaffirm Synod’s Biblical 
Positions on Marriage and Sexuality”); and 
WHEREAS, The granting of recognized service organization 
(RSO) status by the Synod “signifies that a service organization, 
while independent of the Synod, fosters the mission and ministry of 
the church, engages in program activity that extends the mission and 
ministry of the Synod
, is in harmony with the programs of the 
Synod, and respects and does not act contrary to the doctrine and 
practice of the Synod” (Bylaw 6.2.1); and 
WHEREAS, Many resources from the Synod and its partners 
(Lutheran Church Extension Fund, Concordia Plan  Services, etc.) 
are made available to the RSOs of the Synod to support their work; 
and 
WHEREAS, The Office of National Mission (ONM) and the 
Office of International Mission (OIM) are tasked with the granting 
of RSO status (Bylaw 6.2.4); and 
W
HEREAS, Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW) 
and Lutheran Social Services of Northern California (LSSNorCA) 
have both been granted RSO status; and 
WHEREAS, LCSNW, as recently as June of 2024, participated in 
an annual Spokane Pride Parade “as they do every year” in an effort 
to make their communities “more healthy, just, hopeful and [sic] 
Prideful for all,” (“Pride is more than a month at LCSNW; it’s a 
mindset to serve LGBTQ clients ,” lcsnw.org/2024/06/pride-is-
more-than-a-month”, accessed Oct. 1, 2024); and 
WHEREAS, LSSNorCA stands with the LGBTQIA+ community 
and proudly supports them, as stated in a 2023 letter from the CEO 
of the LSSNorCA (“Statement on LGBTQIA+ Pride, ” 
lssnorcal.org/file_download/b8699925-8345-437f-8cda-
dad7d95d3d77, accessed Oct. 1, 2024); therefore be it 
Resolved, That the RSO status of 
LCSNW and LSSNorCA be 
terminated immediately; and be it further 
Resolved, That Synod members support and encourage their 
respective district presidents as they go about their task given them 
in Bylaw 6.2.1 (c) of overseeing the RSOs under their ecclesiastical 
supervision; and be it further 
Resolved
, That the Synod direct the ONM and OIM to decline 
any applications for RSO status received from any organization 
supporting, uplifting, celebrating, or otherwise promoting 
LGBTQIA+ groups, agendas, thoughts, ideas, ideals, etc., including 
organizations se eking RSO status that are partnered with an 
organization supporting, advocating, or otherwise promoting the 
same; and be it further