Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 394

2026 Convention Workbook
359THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
God being the head of Christ is not clearly and consistently 
distinguished as referring to God’s headship over Christ according 
to His assumed human nature and not referring to an eternal relation 
of the Father to the Son; and 
WHEREAS, It is not clear to what extent the false teaching of EFS 
may still have currency within the Synod, especially where 
language is used about being “ontologically equal and functionally 
subordinate”; and 
WHEREAS, In addition to EFS, there have arisen modern social 
trinitarian teachings that view God as an inherently relational being, 
emphasizing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three distinct, 
conscious persons in an eternal, perichoretic, loving communion 
who serve as a model for human relationships; and 
W
HEREAS, The Synod has entrusted the CTCR with the task of 
providing clear, confessional theological guidance for the church 
and her institutions; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the Synod in convention request the CTCR to 
prepare and publish a theological clarification reaffirming the 
Lutheran orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity, evaluating 
contemporary social Trinity teachings and explicitly rejecting EFS; 
and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod in convention respectfully request the 
CTCR to revisit and clarify its interpretation of 1 Cor inthians 11:3 
as presented in The Order of Creation; and be it finally 
Resolved, That the Synod encourage ongoing catechesis of 
pastors, church workers, and congregations in the classical 
trinitarian doctrine confessed by the one holy catholic and apostolic 
Church, for the sake of the Gospel and the right confession of the 
Triune God. 
Christ the King 
Kingwood, TX 
Ov. 5-38 
To Declare Center for Missional  
and Pastoral Leadership to be  
Heterodox Tract and Mission Society 
WHEREAS, It is a condition of membership in the Synod that 
members renounce unionism and syncretism of every description, 
including “participating in heterodox tract and missionary 
activities” (Const. Art. VI 2); and 
WHEREAS, The Center for Missional and Pastoral Leadership 
partners with the Institute for Lutheran Theology (ILT) and its 
Christ School of Theology (CST, cst.ilt.edu/cmpl), an accredited 
online seminary whose faculty and students are both members and 
non-members of the Synod, which seminary is also in partnership 
with The Center for Wesleyan Studies (cst.ilt.edu/cws); and 
W
HEREAS, The ILT states that it forms pastors for “LCMC, 
NALC, CALC and the Augsburg Lutheran Churches as suitably 
prepared for ministry” ( ilt.edu/faqs/#1645113466576-060f9d5f-
d6a1, accessed Feb. 12, 2026); and 
WHEREAS, The ILT also states that it is “the seminary for 
Canadian Association of Lutheran Churches (CALC), Augustana 
District of the LCMC, Augsburg Lutheran Churches and endorsed 
by the Lutheran Church of South Sudan” (ibid.), none of which is 
in fellowship with the LCMS; and 
W
HEREAS, The ILT and its CST states that they answer to no 
church denomination (ilt.edu/about-ilt/who-we-are); and 
WHEREAS, A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the 
Missouri Synod (adopted 1932), Article 28, “On Church-
Fellowship,” states:  
Since God ordained that His Word only, without the admixture 
of human doctrine, be taught and believed in the Christian 
Church, 1 Pet. 4:11; John 8:31, 32; 1 Tim. 6:3, 4, all Christians 
are required by God to discriminate between orthodox and 
heterodox church-bodies, Matt. 7:15, to have church-fellowship 
only with orthodox church-bodies, and, in case they have strayed 
into heterodox church-
bodies, to leave them, Rom. 16:17. We 
repudiate 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. 
and 
WHEREAS, It is clear that an entity that purports to form pastors 
of mixed confessions with a faculty and students of mixed 
confessions is a heterodox tract and mission society within the 
meaning of Const. Art. VI 2; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the Synod declare the Center for Missional and 
Pastoral Leadership, which operates in partnership with ILT and its 
CST, to be a heterodox tract and mission society. 
Circuit 24 (Sedalia) 
Missouri District 
Ov. 5-39 
To Declare Center for Missional  
and Pastoral Leadership to be  
Heterodox Tract and Mission Society 
WHEREAS, It is a condition of membership in the Synod that 
members renounce unionism and syncretism of every description, 
including “participating in heterodox tract and missionary 
activities” (Const. Art. VI 2 c); and 
WHEREAS, The Center for Missional and Pastoral Leadership 
partners with the Institute for Lutheran Theology (ILT) and its 
Christ School of Theology (CST, cst.ilt.edu/cmpl ), an accredited 
online seminary whose faculty and students are both members and 
non-members of the Synod, which seminary is also in partnership 
with The Center for Wesleyan Studies (cst.ilt.edu/cws); and 
WHEREAS, The ILT states that it forms pastors for “LCMC, 
NALC, CALC and the Augsburg Lutheran Churches as suitably 
prepared for ministry. We are the seminary for Canadian 
Association of Lutheran Churches (CALC), Augustana District of 
the LCMC, Augsburg Lutheran C hurches and endorsed by the 
Lutheran Church of South Sudan” ( ilt.edu/faqs/#1645113466576-
060f9d5f-d6a1, accessed Feb. 12, 2026), none of which is in 
fellowship with the LCMS; and 
WHEREAS, The ILT and its CST state that they answer to no 
church denomination (ilt.edu/about-ilt/who-we-are); and 
WHEREAS, A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the 
Missouri Synod (adopted 1932), Article 28, “On Church-
Fellowship,” states: 
Since God ordained that His Word only, without the admixture 
of human doctrine, be taught and believed in the Christian 
Church, 1 Pet. 4:11; John 8:31, 32; 1 Tim. 6:3, 4, all Christians 
are required by God to discriminate between orthodox and