tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post6909837448449187569..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Changing the pattern of Christian initiation. . .Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-59663725454963193782017-07-12T13:48:16.537-05:002017-07-12T13:48:16.537-05:00And to clarify, lest I be misunderstood, I don'...And to clarify, lest I be misunderstood, I don't mean you take them lightly in an emotional sense but in the sense that you are almost utterly indifferent to what the words of the vow actually say.David Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11966977894876326659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-25508912681182904692017-07-12T13:30:50.866-05:002017-07-12T13:30:50.866-05:00Mr. Strickert, you take the vows very lightly. I&...Mr. Strickert, you take the vows very lightly. I'm glad my son did not when he took them.David Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11966977894876326659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-59033617615714819582017-07-12T09:23:13.906-05:002017-07-12T09:23:13.906-05:00Before a Lutheran congregation can be a member of ...Before a Lutheran congregation can be a member of the Missouri Synod , the LCMS Constitution Committee will determine that the congregation's constitution and bylaws are in harmony with Holy Scripture, the Confessions, and the teachings and practices of the Missouri Synod. The <a href="https://www.lcms.org/leadership/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=1372" rel="nofollow"><br />Guidelines for the Constitution and Bylaws of a Lutheran Congregation</a> explain: <br /><br />3.0 CONFESSIONAL STANDARD<br />The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod requires that its member congregations accept the confessional standard of the Synod. It is recommended that Article II of the Synod’s Constitution be adapted for inclusion in congregations’ constitutions. A congregation's confessional standard cannot go beyond that of the Synod.<br /><br />BTW, in Footnote 11, the CCM sheepishly admits: <br />"Historically, The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope is not listed in Article II of Synod’s constitution, but it is included in the Book of Concord of 1580, and is therefore one of the confessional writings of the Synod. Because it is not listed separately in Synod's constitution, it does not have to been listed separately by a congregation, but a congregation may chose to do so."<br /><br />Under 5.0 Membership the CCM provides a definition of "communicant member": <br /><br />"Communicant members are those baptized members who have been instructed and are familiar with the contents of Luther’s Small Catechism, have been confirmed in the Lutheran faith, and accept the confessional standard of Section _____ of this Constitution."<br /><br />Pastors and congregations who treat these confessional standards and commitments lightly in a Lufauxran manner should not be surprised when the youth and young adults in their congregation do the same.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-45378391857658773712017-07-12T08:26:41.242-05:002017-07-12T08:26:41.242-05:00Definition of boilerplate lip service:
ARTICLE III...Definition of boilerplate lip service:<br />ARTICLE III - DOCTRINAL POSITION<br />This Congregation accepts and acknowledges all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the<br />inspired Word of God, and all the confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the<br />Book of Concord as a true and sound presentation of Christian doctrine taken from and in full agreement with<br />the Holy Scriptures; and in the Congregation no doctrine shall be taught or tolerated which is at variance with<br />the Word of God as exhibited in these confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, viz.,<br />a. The three Ecumenical Creeds: the Apostolic Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed;<br />b. The unaltered Augsburg Confession;<br />c. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession;<br />d. The Smalcald Article;<br />e. Luther's Large Catechism;<br />f. Luther's Small Catechism; and<br />g. The Formula of Concord.<br />According to this norm of doctrine all doctrinal controversies which may arise in this Congregation shall be<br />decided and adjudged.<br />ARTICLE IV - SYNODICAL MEMBERSHIP<br />Section 1. General<br />This Congregation shall be a member of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) as long as the<br />Synod conforms to the Congregation’s confessional standards as set forth in this Constitution.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-67681326822082643402017-07-12T08:22:29.781-05:002017-07-12T08:22:29.781-05:00Vows only mean what the words contained in the vow...Vows only mean what the words contained in the vow indicate. Wishing on a star doesn't change the words of the vow.David Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11966977894876326659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-4458938674487969152017-07-12T08:03:07.116-05:002017-07-12T08:03:07.116-05:00The popular de rigueur at Lutheran confirmation di...The popular de rigueur at Lutheran confirmation dinners now is for the confirmands to regale their proud parents with a creative power point presentation answering the ineluctable question, “What Jesus means to me.” Alrighty then!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-2972336199335841332017-07-12T07:04:10.233-05:002017-07-12T07:04:10.233-05:00"While Lutherans should not simply follow Rom...<i>"While Lutherans should not simply follow Rome, this development should give pause to those who believe early communion and later confirmation is a better alternative than that which we have traditionally known."</i><br /><br />The belief that early communion and later confirmation is a better alternative is a Lufauxran belief, which needs to be expunged from the Missouri Synod. The notion of "early communion" especially appears from various blogs, to be a thrill running up the legs of Bosporus-wading paedocommunionists infecting the LCMS.<br /><br /><i>"I think it is one more reason why this whole issue of catechesis and confirmation and first communion needs not only more study but more uniformity of curriculum and age across the expanse of the LCMS."</i><br /><br />This has been settled as previously been documented on this blog from numerous excerpts of Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions, writings of Lutheran theologians such as Chemnitz, Walther and others, the CTCR, and the LCMS guidelines for defining a communicant member of a congregation. The settlement has been demonstrated by the new CPH instruction book, <i>Explanation of Martin Luther's Small Catechism</i>, to be used for both youth and adult catechesis, and includes the teaching of doctrine from the various Symbols in the Book of Concord. The issue addresses whether a Lutheran pastor and congregation practices closed communion or practices open communion.<br /><br />What the CTCR stated in its "Admission to the Lord’s Supper: Basics of Biblical and Confessional Teaching" (p. 57), applies to youth and adults who take their confirmation vow to become communicant members of a Lutheran congregation:<br /> <br />"[C]ommunicants are also confessors and members of church bodies. As such, it is not merely what the individual knows that is in view. It is the doctrine confessed by his or her church body that is the important thing. <b>We ask those who join our church if they accept the teaching of the Lutheran Confessions even though they may have only studied the Small Catechism.</b>" [Emphasis added]Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.com