Comments from the Editor of euangelion.net:

This resolution was submitted to the Western Iowa Synod, ELCA, for consideration during their 2010 Synodical Assembly, May 1-2, 2010.

The assembly decided by a contested, close vote, to amend this resolution and virtually take away the desire of the submitters to create an irenic pathway toward reasoned discussion and action.  Below you will see the parts in normal or bold type settings as being the resolution accepted by the assembly, and the parts in italics being those items deleted by assembly action.

As the Vice President of the Synod concluded the voting on this resolution, he stated, "We are now going to sing the hymn "The Church's One Foundation," which then received shouts from the assembly.  "We aren't going to sing the hymn?" he questioned.  A voice from the back stated clearly, "You took it away!" More was taken away by the action than simply singing a hymn.  The assembly was told that they had no "bound conscience."  The assembly was also told by the chief prosecutor for diminishing the resolution, the Rev. Steven Frock, that such things were sentimental and symbolic and not appropriate for the assembly.

We protest such a chauvinist distain of faithful proclamation of the gospel, since hymn singing is one of the hallmarks of Lutheran faith and life. We also state our sadness that the detractors of this resolution acted in such a manner that the gospel in its essence and purity was eliminated from the statement, as well as the word that declared our unity in Christ Jesus also was something we shared together with mutual responsibility.

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Resolution of Unity in Christ—Submitted by:  Rev. Dr. David Cox, Sioux City; Rev. Delwyn L. Olivier, Sioux City; Rev. R. Paul Johnston, Sioux City; Rev. Tess Panamarow, Sioux City; Rev. Jim Davis, Gowrie; Rev. John Wolf, Inwood; Rev. John Hagberg, Sioux City; Rev. Alan Wicks, Sioux City; Rev. Beverly Wolff, Cushing; Rev. Charles Wolff, Sioux City; Rev. Lilette Johnston, Sioux City; Rev. Michael J. Schmidt, Sioux City; Rev. David Kramer, Le Mars; Rev. Paul Bengtson, Storm Lake; Rev. Matthew Martens, Fort Dodge; Rev. Jim Zuehls, Fort Dodge; Bert Burwell, Correctionville;

Whereas, we believe that the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and our wisdom, our righteousness, sanctification and redemption; and

Whereas, we are called by the Holy Spirit to become a part of this body of faith by baptism in the Triune Name of God, and are claimed, named and marked as Christ’s own people forever; and

Whereas,  as a church we affirm the Bible as interpreted by the Lutheran Confessions, declaring that we are justified in God’s sight not by works of the law, but by God’s grace appropriated by faith in our Lord Jesus; and

Whereas, as a part of the Lutheran Movement and Confession within the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church we have for centuries upheld a tradition of debate, the respect of “bound conscience,” and unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace, publicly affirming as the gospel Christ Jesus is our Lord and Savior, who calls us to seek reform and understanding as the church of Christ amidst our diversity within this creation; and

Whereas, in the words of the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we declare that we who were once far off from God “have been brought near in the blood of Christ, who is our peace… in his flesh having made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us…by his very presence reconciling us both to God in one body through the cross… and that we are fellow members with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;” and

Whereas, we continue to uphold this message which we received, and in which we stand as a church in all of its expressions within the world, a message central to our understanding of salvation; be it

Resolved, within the 2010 assembly as the Western Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, that we uphold each other as members of the body of Christ, through prayer, speech, gracious and respectful interaction, whether in agreement and disagreement of the topics we consider; and be it further

Resolved, and that this unity binds us together in service and support for all expressions of the ELCA, and calls the congregations of this synod and the  ELCA to continued and increasing financial support of our ministry together; and be it further

Resolved, that we uphold the congregations and pastors of the Western Iowa Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and the churchwide expression of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, through our communal defense and support of the neighbor, speaking well of others, defending each other in our differences, and affirming our unity in the midst of diversity as the gift of God in Christ Jesus; and be it

Resolved, that as a sign of our unity in Christ we sing together in assembly the hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation,” to remind both us and the world of our common relationship in Jesus Christ, as well as our loyalty and faithfulness in the gospel and Theology of the Cross which binds us together; and be it further

Resolved, that we encourage the Western Iowa Synod to communicate this action to the ELCA Church Council, asking the ELCA Church Council to offer this resolution to other ELCA congregational and synod councils, so to reaffirm our unity in Christ through resolutions, worship, prayer and increased financial giving as we join together in the mission and ministry of Christ in the world.