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New Web Site Content See "Recent Actions" below. |
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Recent Actions Together With All Creatures: Caring for God's Living Earth (Abbreviated version) is a biblical and confessional study "on the responsible Christian stewardship of the environment" prepared in response to a request from the 2007 Synod Convention (Res. 3-06). Both an in-depth and an abbreviated form of the report were adopted by the Commission at its April 2010 meeting. This abbreviated version, which was designed for a younger audience and for use in Bible studies, was available in hard copy at the CTCR's booth during the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans on July 17-21, 2010. Several thousand booklets were distributed and were received with great enthusiasm by both young people and adults. An expanded version (which includes this smaller version in an appendix) is in production and will soon be mailed to congregations and rostered workers and will also be available online. You may order full-color hard copies of this abbreviated version from CPH (Item #09-2621). The Creator's Tapestry: Scriptural Perspectives on Man–Woman Relationships in Marriage and the Church was adopted by the Commission at its December 2009 meeting, and was mailed to congregations and rostered workers in March 2010. Using the image of a tapestry, in which horizontal and vertical threads are woven together into a completed work of beauty, the 58-page report considers the scriptural portrayal of man and woman woven into relationship by the triune God, Who creates, redeems, and renews us. The document goes on to consider some implications for men and women in contemporary life within the home, the church, and society. Sponsored by the CTCR and the Commission on Worship, the Model Theological Conference on Worship was held in St. Louis, Missouri on January 11-13, 2010. The theme of the conference was "Toward a Theology of Worship That Is..." Audio recordings and PDF files of the presentations from the conference are available by clicking on the link above. On November 13, 2009, President Kieschnick released two documents on church relations, prepared and approved by the CTCR, and shared them with leaders of the LCMS and with its partner church bodies in the International Lutheran Council. The first document, "Policy for The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod declaring Altar and Pulpit Fellowship with Another Church Body" was requested by the President in 2001. He asked for a clearly-stated protocol for declaring altar and pulpit fellowship with another church body. The Commission approved "Policy for The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod declaring Altar and Pulpit Fellowship with Another Church Body" in April of 2003 and forwarded it to the President for his review. It was then reaffirmed at the September 2009 meeting of the Commission. In 2004, President Kieschnick requested that the Commission address the following question: "Would it be biblically and confessionally appropriate for the LCMS, in certain circumstances, to seek to establish some kind of formalized relationship with another church body, a group of Christians, or an emerging church body other than a declaration of altar and pulpit fellowship?" He further asked that if this were possible, what would be the "basis, nature, and parameters of such a relationship?" In response to the President's request the Commission prepared a document titled "Church Relations in the 21st Century." |
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After sharing the document with various entities including seminary faculties, the Council of Presidents, leaders of partner churches in the International Lutheran Council, and the President's Church Relations Cabinet, the Commission unanimously adopted this document at its September 2009 meeting and forwarded it to the President for his use as chief ecumenical officer of the Synod. At its December 2008 meeting, the CTCR unanimously adopted a brief response to a request from the Synod at its 2007 convention (Res. 3-05) for clarification regarding the issue of "serial" or "seriatim" prayer. This response can be found here. Dr. L. Dean Hempelmann, Director of the What a Way initiative fostering recruitment and retention of church workers in the LCMS, asked the Commission to draft a brief theological statement on "vocation" that could be used in connection with the initiative. The CTCR adopted the document "Living to Serve" in response to Dr. Hempelmann's request at its April 2009 meeting. At its December 2007 meeting, the CTCR unanimously adopted a document titled "Defending Pre-Implantation Human Life in the Public Square: A Response to Wyoming District Concerns about the [2005] CTCR Report Christian Faith and Human Beginnings." Although this document (as the subtitle indicates) was prepared specifically as a response to concerns expressed in a resolution adopted by the Wyoming District, the Commission believes that it can serve a broader purpose as well: namely, to encourage reflection and discussion in the Synod about the historic Lutheran approach to engaging critical moral and ethical issues in the public square. By official action of the CTCR, therefore, this document is being made available on the CTCR's Web site (click on the link above). The document is in PDF format and can be printed out and copied for personal or group study and discussion. A copy of the letter that is being sent out to all congregation and church workers providing additional background regarding this response is also provided at this link. The section of the Web site formerly identified as "Cults, Religions, Lodges and Movements" has been renamed "Religious Organizations and Movements" and has been updated to include thirty-two CTCR-approved evaluations of various organizations and movements. Added in December 2007 was the evaluation of Islam. |
| What We Do The Synod established the Commission on Theology and Church Relations in 1962 to provide leadership in dealing with the Synod's needs and opportunities in the areas of theology and church relations. Since that time, the Commission has provided reports on a number of significant theological issues and has been the Synod's primary agency for carrying out its ecumenical responsibilities toward other Christians through its membership in the International Lutheran Council. The Commission also provides resources and information regarding organizations, philosophies and religious movements. The Commission provided leadership for a model theological convocation held in 2002. Documents and statements from that convocation are available.  |
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