Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 396

2026 Convention Workbook
361THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
Male and Female Task Force” to aid in identifying and producing 
resources that might “confess the truth boldly and minister 
compassionately both to those who experience sexual orientation 
and gender identity issues and those who care for them”; and 
WHEREAS, 2023 Resolution 1-04A continued the task force with 
mandates to consider conducting field research; to “recommend and 
advocate for strategies and structural approaches to serve the 
Church better and address the challenges posed by contemporary 
sexual ethics, recommend and coordinate implementation with 
Synod entities and organizations that will best deliver resources to 
the Church, and encourage congregations to raise awareness of 
media propaganda, cultural intimidation, and mounting pressures 
upon all pe ople to affirm viewpoints contrary to clear teaching in 
Holy Scripture, responding to those influences by the study of Holy 
Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (particularly the Small 
Catechism)”; and finally to report on its work and make further 
recommendations to the 2026 Synod convention; therefore be it 
Resolved, That the final report of the task force be commended 
to the Synod for consideration and guidance; and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod in convention take up the 
recommendations proposed therein, including the following:  
• That the ONM continue facilitating retreats for families 
affected by sexual orientation and gender identity confusion 
in the coming triennium and begin to recruit and train 
potential facilitators so these retreats might be expanded 
nationally;  
• That the Council of Presidents (COP), in conjunction with 
the ONM, develop lists of theologically trustworthy 
counselors to whom they might refer those struggling with 
sexual orientation, gender identity, and related issues, as well 
as criteria for evaluat ing and recommending those 
counselors;  
• That the COP, in conjunction with the seminaries and 
administrators of the Concordia University System and its 
colleges, consult with one another regarding the 
development of counseling programs specifically designed 
to train counselors to deal theological ly and ethically with 
such issues, as well as further training for clergy in 
addressing them at the congregational level;  
• That the ONM, in collaboration with the staff of the 
Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) 
and Concordia Publishing House, continue developing 
specific counter-cultural and apologetic resources critiquing 
LGBTQIA+ positions and continue promot ing biblically 
faithful resources on these topics through the website hosted 
by the ONM (createdmaleandfemale.org); and  
• That the CTCR, in consultation with the ONM and the 
seminaries, consider if and how studies might be produced 
on the family as a unit and the foundation for a healthy 
society (man and woman, husband and wife, parents and 
children, procreation and chastity,  vocation and the three 
estates), biblical anthropology, same-sex attraction, and 
gender dysphoria;  
and be it finally 
Resolved, That the Synod in convention receive the Created 
Male and Female Task Force report and these recommendations as 
a conclusion to its work, give thanks to the individual task force 
members for their labors, and pray that God might heal individuals, 
families, congregations, and communities from the ills and 
consequences of these sinful behaviors and ideas. 
Board for National Mission 
Ov. 5-42 
To Amend Bylaw 3.3.1.1.2 (c) to Designate 
President’s Director of Church Relations  
as His Primary Representative for Ecclesiastical 
Relations with Other Church Bodies 
WHEREAS, The Synod in 1962 established the Commission on 
Theology and Church Relations  (CTCR) (1962 Resolution 6- 03, 
“Commission on Theology and Church Relations”); and 
WHEREAS, In 2007, President Gerald B. Kieschnick created a 
Church Relations unit within the Office of the President to address 
increased ecumenical opportunities to strengthen confessional 
Lutheran church bodies worldwide and to meet the increased 
requirements of managing those ecumenical relations in a manner 
that would allow for more direct communication, supervision, and 
coordination within the Office of the President itself; and 
WHEREAS, In 2008, Dr. Samuel H. Nafzger retired after lengthy 
service (1974–2008) as the executive director of the CTCR to begin 
service as the Synod’s first d irector of Church Relations, a ssistant 
to the President; and 
WHEREAS, Since 2008, the President of the Synod, being the 
chief ecumenical o fficer of the Synod, has called a d irector of 
Church Relations, a ssistant to the President, as his primary 
representative in his daily bishop- to-bishop ecclesiastical 
engagements and support; and 
WHEREAS, LCMS Church Relations, on behalf of the President 
and based on his guidance, has continued to provide daily strategic, 
operational, and field -level leadership, planning, and support for 
ecclesiastical relations worldwide, now with 104 church bodies, 
including the annual International Church Relations Conference, 
regional gatherings, theological education to advance unity of 
confession with sister churches and others, theological dialogues 
with churches seeking recognition of church fellowship with T he 
Lutheran Church—M issouri Synod (LCMS), and church body 
visitation (2026 Report R1.1); and 
WHEREAS, LCMS Church Relations, on behalf of the President 
and based on his guidance, regularly collaborates with other church 
relations stakeholders, to include: (1) the CTCR as it assists the 
President of the Synod at his request in church relations matters that 
bear on doctrinal integrity (Bylaw  3.9.5.2.2), and in its bylaw 
responsibilities to recommend to the Synod recognition of altar and 
pulpit fellowship with another church body (Bylaw 3.9.5.2.2 [b]); 
(2) the Office of International Mission in its support a nd 
encouragement of sister churches (Bylaw 3.8.3.4); (3) the LCMS 
seminaries in their theological education support to sister church 
seminaries and at other venues; (4) LCMS districts and 
congregations in their support to sister church bodies and others; 
and (5) the International Lutheran Council in its programs that 
encourage confessional Lutheranism; therefore be it 
Resolved, That Bylaw 3.3.1.1.2 (c) be amended as follows: 
PRESENT/PROPOSED WORDING 
3.3.1.1.2 The President shall be the chief ecumenical officer of the 
Synod. 
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