To Rejoice in Proclamation of God’s Word by His Called and Ordained Servants

WHEREAS, We come to the Divine Service not to serve, but to be served by God through His called and ordained servants, as we confess our sins, hear His words of Absolution spoken by the pastor in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, hear Law and Gospel rightly divided, and receive the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood; and

WHEREAS, When we hear the words of forgiveness of our sins spoken by the pastor at Christ’s command, we are to rejoice and to believe them as surely and certainly as if spoken by Christ Himself; and

WHEREAS, In the orientation of the service, the words spoken from the altar, pulpit, and lectern are the words of God spoken for our benefit, whereas the congregation faces the altar and speaks back the words God has said to us; and

WHEREAS, It is a great blessing for all those in the congregation tohear the Wordof God spoken by our pastors, who are our servants (Mark 9:35), and it is meet, right,and salutary that we should accept their service to us; and

WHEREAS, Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:17), and the use of lay readers for Scripture lessons denies those persons the comfort and benefit of hearing the Word of God spoken directly to and for them by their pastors; and

WHEREAS, No one should publicly preach and teach in the church without a rightly ordered call (Augsburg Confession XIV); there can be no clearer public teaching of the Word of God than reading it in the Divine Service; and thus the use of lay readers can confuse the vocations of the called and ordained pastor as a servant of the Word, and of the congregation as hearers of the Word; and

WHEREAS, The use of lay readers can be understood wrongly as an individual “participating”in the conduct of the service, as though greater meaning, benefit, or stature is there by obtained (and by implication, that those who do not read are taking a lesser role), and we ought not burden mis-trained consciences in such manner, in contrast to the right understanding that the whole congregation benefits on an equal basis as it is served by the pastor; and

WHEREAS, As a practical matter, the pastor is best suited to read the text without disruption or delay to the flow of the service and with due emphasis on the pronunciation and salient points of the text, particularly if it forms a portion of the sermon text; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention give thanks and rejoice in the proclamation of the Word by God’s called and ordained servants; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod President disseminate appropriate resources throughout the Synod to assist pastors in catechizing their congregations to understand the great blessing of the role of the pastor in the Divine Service, so that rather than giving offense, laity who have been accustomed to read Scripture lessons may rather understand and appreciate the service of the pastor for their benefit, and hear with great joy God’s Word as it is read for them; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod President give emphasis in the next triennium to a right understanding of the role of the congregation in the Divine Service and other worship services, specifically toward following the practice of having Holy Scripture read by the pastor in all worship services, that all congregations may walk together in doctrine and practice.