Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 382

2026 Convention Workbook
347THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
Resolved, That the Synod direct the President of the Synod and 
the COP to come to the aid of any pastor who is opposed, 
disciplined, threatened, harassed, removed, or otherwise mistreated 
by his congregation for faithfully administering the Lord’s Supper 
according to Holy Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, and the 
Synod’s doctrine and practice of closed communion; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That where a congregation persists in resisting, 
punishing, or mistreating a pastor for insisting upon faithful 
Eucharistic practice after admonition and instruction, the Synod 
require the appropriate district president, under the supervision of 
the President of the Synod, to exercise ecclesiastical supervision 
and discipline toward that congregation, up to and including 
suspension or expulsion from Synod membership, in accordance 
with the Constitution and Bylaws; and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod instruct the COP, in cooperation with 
the Commission on Theology and Church Relations and other 
appropriate synodical entities, to develop and disseminate clear 
guidance and catechetical resources to assist congregations and 
pastors in res toring faithful Eucharistic practice, including 
instruction, examination, confession, absolution, and pastoral care 
of communicants as confessed in the Lutheran Symbols; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That such resources emphasize the pastoral 
responsibility for admission to the Sacrament, the proper distinction 
between worthiness and unity of confession, and the evangelical 
purpose of church discipline as care for souls and preservation of 
the Gospel; and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod call upon all congregations and pastors 
to repent of practices that contradict our confession, to receive 
correction in humility, and to labor together toward genuine unity 
of doctrine and practice for the sake of Christ’s Church and the 
salvation of souls; and be it finally 
Resolved, That the Synod remind all member congregations and 
individual members that according to Bylaw 1.3.4.1, “ Members 
agree to uphold the confessional position of the Synod (Constitution 
Art. II) and to assist in carrying out the objectives of the Synod 
(Constitution Art. III), which are objectives of the members 
themselves. While congregations of the Synod are self -governing 
(Constitution Art. VII), they, and also individual members, commit 
themselves as members of the Synod to act in accordance with the 
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod under which they have 
agreed to live and work together and which the congregations alone 
have the authority to adopt or amend through conventions.” 
 
St. Thomas 
Magnolia, TX 
Ov. 5-18 
To Request Commission on Theology and Church 
Relations to Produce Study Document  
to Further Understanding and Conversations  
on Pastoral Exceptions to Closed Communion 
WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations 
(CTCR) in its 1999 report, Admission to the Lord’s Supper: Basics 
of Biblical and Confessional Teaching states that the Lord’s Supper 
was given to us by God to maintain and preserve unity and that 
giving the Supper to those whose public confession is heterodoxy, 
“threatens and contradicts … the pure proclamation of the death of 
Christ for us” (46); and 
WHEREAS, The document also recognizes and embraces the 
reality that there can be “rare and genuinely difficult situations of 
unusual personal need and pastoral care” (47); and 
WHEREAS, The report admits that “it will never be possible to 
compile a list of ‘acceptable exceptions,’” explaining that “life in 
this present evil age will not allow for such simplicity and 
precision” (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 circumstance’ which call for ‘the 
necessity of exercising responsible pastoral care’” (48); and 
WHEREAS, The report states that the Synod “must be willing to 
search for the balance between personal faith and need on the one 
hand, and the corporate dimensions and unity implied in and 
demanded by the Lord’s Supper on the other hand” (47); and 
WHEREAS, The report suggests that cases for these rare and 
difficult exceptions are likely “times of emergency, of war, of 
severe illness or intense personal crisis,” and “situations involving 
individuals who are in a state of confession,” (47) but gives no more 
examples or guidance; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the CTCR provide the Synod with a study 
document that: 
1. summarizes the 1999 report and gives clarification on what 
is meant and understood by rare, difficult, and unusual in 
the context of the document;  
2. provides guidance for the necessary follow-up pastoral care 
and on-going engagement with persons for whom 
exceptions have been made and how long such exceptions 
might persist;  
3. gives a number of case studies that include examples of 
when such an exception might be made, examples of when 
it might seem that it could be made but should not, 
controversial instances where it is unclear and men of 
goodwill and faith might disagree, and study questions; 
and be it further 
Resolved
, That this report be completed by the next Synod 
convention and made available to the Synod for use by 
congregations, circuits, and districts for engagement on these issues 
with the aim of promoting unity and faithful, evangelical practice. 
Circuit 13 (Indiana) 
English District 
Ov. 5-19 
To Reaffirm Sanctity of Human Life  
in Regard to Practice of In Vitro Fertilization 
WHEREAS, Holy Scripture teaches that human life is a sacred gift 
from God, who is the Creator of all life (Gen . 1:26–28; Psalm 
139:13–16); and 
WHEREAS, Scripture affirms that all human beings are created in 
the image of God and that this image is bestowed upon each person 
at conception (Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:41–44); and