Turning in the "Never" Buttons

Convinced that there could be no fellowship without first reaching doctrinal agreement, the 2,744,574-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has long stood aside from association with other U.S. Lutheran bodies and even more from the Christian ecumenical move ment. But at its triennial convention in Detroit's Cobo Hall last week, the Synod's 2,000 delegates voted to form a cooperative service agency with the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America and the tiny (20,000 members) Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.

The new agency is the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A., which is scheduled to replace the National Lutheran Council in 1967. Besides coordinating the educational, welfare and mission work of the nation's three big Lutheran churches, it will provide a framework for Missouri to discuss its theological differences--chiefly over interpretation of the Bible and the classic Lutheran confession--with the other groups.

What made approval of joining the new council certain was a speech from the floor by John W. Behnken, respected former president of the Synod, who argued that "our forefathers were certainly interested in the unity of Lutheranism in America." Shortly after, current President Oliver Harms called for a vote. A chorus of scattered noes from diehard conservatives came from the back of Cobo Hall. "The resolution is not unanimous," said Harms, "but it is overwhelmingly adopted."

One delegate described the decision as "turning in our 'never' buttons." The convention also passed a resolution defining the church as "a confessional movement within the body of Christ rather than a denomination emphasizing institutional barriers of separation." Now that the ice is broken, many delegates expect that at its next convention in 1967, Missouri will be ready to consider membership in the Lutheran World Federation and, eventually, in the National and World Council of Churches.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.