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LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 374

2026 Convention Workbook
339THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
Ov. 5-05 
To Admonish and Converse with  
Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church 
WHEREAS, The Holy Scriptures enjoin us to maintain the unity 
of the faith in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3, 13); and 
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions state , “The church is the 
assembly of saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the 
sacraments are administered rightly.  And it is enough for the true 
unity of the church to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel 
and the administration of the sacraments.  It is not necessary that 
human traditions, rites, or ceremonies instituted by human beings 
be alike everywhere” (AC VII 1–3, Kolb/Wengert); and 
WHEREAS, The bishop of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran 
Church (SELC), a church in altar and pulpit fellowship with The 
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod since 2013, has taught that so-
called “apostolic succession” is necessary for a church to have a 
valid ministry; and 
WHEREAS, By promoting this teaching and interjecting itself in 
the life of another sister church body, the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of Brazil  (IELB), by asserting the claim of a postolic 
succession, by ordaining deacons, and by establishing 
congregations outside of Siberia, the SELC  has created scandal, 
confusion, and disharmony in the confession of the one true and 
saving Gospel; and 
W
HEREAS, The b ishop of the SELC is also identified as the 
“guiding bishop” of the Independent Anglican Congregation in 
Thailand (IACT), a church that according to its website 
(inachurchthailand.com/weddings-blessings) allows for the 
blessing of LGBTQ unions; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the President of the Synod admonish the b ishop 
of our Siberian sister church to immediately cease and desist in 
these unwanted intrusions into the life of the IELB; and be it further 
Resolved, That the President of the Synod in consultation with 
the Commission on Theology and Church Relations  (CTCR) 
engage in conversation with the leadership of the SELC to assist 
them in embracing a genuinely biblical, Lutheran confession of the 
one Office our Christ Jesus has instituted for the pure preaching of 
the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That the President of the Synod in consultation with 
the C TCR admonish the b ishop of the SELC  to withdraw 
immediately from the unionistic relationship with the IACT; and be 
it finally 
Resolved, That the President of the Synod report the outcome of 
these efforts to the 2029 Synod convention with a recommendation 
as to whether the conditions for altar and pulpit fellowship with the 
SELC still obtain. 
Elm Grove, Elm Grove, WI ; Immanuel, Eagle, NE 
Ov. 5-06 
To Address Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
Kenya Membership in Lutheran World Federation 
WHEREAS, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK) 
is a partner church body of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 
in full altar and pulpit fellowship with the same; and 
WHEREAS, The ELCK is also a member church of the Lutheran 
World Federation (LWF) as indicated by the LWF website 
(lutheranworld.org/member-churches); and 
WHEREAS, The LWF includes member churches such as the 
heterodox Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that engage in 
anti-biblical teachings and practices, including the ordination of 
women and the performance of same-sex “marriages”; and 
WHEREAS, Membership in the LWF establishes altar and pulpit 
fellowship with these member churches and implies agreement with 
their anti-biblical teachings and practices; and 
WHEREAS, Constitution Article VI 2 states as one of the 
conditions of membership in the Synod the “renunciation of 
unionism and syncretism of every description”; and 
WHEREAS, The North Dakota District currently supports the 
ELCK through Project 24; and 
WHEREAS, This support of a church body in fellowship with the 
LWF suggests fellowship on the part of the district with the LWF; 
and 
WHEREAS, The President of the Synod (Bylaw 3.3.1.1.2) and 
Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR, Bylaw 
3.9.5.2.2) are assigned responsibility for evaluating existing 
fellowship relations with other church bodies; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the district in convention direct the district 
president to monitor the progress of the President of the Synod and 
CTCR regarding ELCK and LWF fellowship; and be it further 
Resolved, That the district president report to the spring pastors’ 
conferences in 2025, 2026, and 2027 and through district media; 
and be it finally 
Resolved, That the Synod in convention be memorialized to 
reevaluate the partner church body status of the ELCK in view of 
the ELCK’s membership in the LWF. 
North Dakota District 
Ov. 5-07 
To Declare State of “Fellowship in Protest” with 
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia 
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has 
confessed that “All Christians are required by God … to have 
church-fellowship only with orthodox church- bodies,” (LCMS, A 
Brief Statemen t of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod  
[adopted 1932], 28) in accordance with the Divine Command to 
avoid those who “cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to 
the doctrine that you have been taught,” (Rom. 16:17); and 
WHEREAS, The Formula of Concord, in line with this Biblical 
truth, confesses that external fellowship in the church is to be based 
upon agreement “in the doctrine and all its articles,” as well as “in 
the right use of the holy Sacraments,” (FC SD X 31); and 
WHEREAS, For this reason, the basis for the establishment of 
church fellowship between the LCMS and the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of Latvia (ELCL or LELB) was “doctrinal agreement 
between our two churches,” (2001 Res. 3-05); and 
WHEREAS, The LCMS repudiates “unionism, that is, church-
fellowship with the adherents of false doctrine, as disobedience to 
God's command, as causing divisions in the church, Rom. 16:17; 2 
John 9, 10, and involving the constant danger of losing the Word of 
God entirely, 2 Tim. 2:17–21,” (A Brief Statement, 28); and