To Reject Practice of Online or Virtual Communion

WHEREAS, In the wake of the incipient pandemic, congregations throughout the Synod sought to provide spiritual care to their congregations when public health measures prohibited gathering for corporate worship services; and

WHEREAS, Those attempts included among some the practice of online or virtual Communion, which had heretofore not been practiced in the Synod or endorsed by seminary faculties or the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR); and

WHEREAS, The CTCR and the systematic theology departments of both seminaries issued opinions that unequivocally and unanimously argued against the practice of online or virtual Communion; and

WHEREAS, The CTCR affirmed its 2006 opinion on DVD consecration and applied its rationale to online or virtual Communion, putting forward the arguments—among others—that this practice:

• severs the consecration of the Sacrament through the words of institution from the distribution and reception of the Sacrament;

• potentially and unnecessarily sows doubt in the minds of communicants as to whether the elements received arein fact the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood;

• vitiates the instrumental role of pastoral care in the administration of the Sacrament through the lack of pastoral oversight, preparation of communicants, and admission to the table; and

• detracts from the corporate assembly of God’speoplearound the Lord’s Supper as an expression of their common confession of Christ and unity in the faith; and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions (Formula of Concord [FC] SD VII) indicate that the proper use of the Sacrament includes a unified consecration, distribution, and reception, none of which are to be severed from the other, yet the practice of online or virtual Communion would interject a spatial, temporal, and technological gap between the consecration and the distribution and reception; and

WHEREAS, The Sacrament of the Altar serves to strengthen faith against all doubts (Augsburg Confession [AC] XIII) and is “given for a daily pasture and sustenance, that faith may refresh and strengthen itself (Psalm 23:1–3) so as not to fall back in such a battle, but become ever stronger and stronger” (Large Catechism V 24), while it is incumbent upon the faithful ministers of the Gospel to remove all obstacles that create doubt regarding what Christ offers in the Sacrament or detracts from it (AC XXIV), yet the practice of online or virtual Communion may result in uncertainty regarding the validity of a Sacrament thus celebrated (as even the anonymous tract “Communion in Homes in Times of Crisis” admits when it concedes that uncertainty may cause some people to refrain from participating in an online Communion service); and

WHEREAS, The pastoral office is responsible for oversight of the administration of the Sacrament in accordance with the keys conferred upon the pastor by virtue of his call (AC XIV; Walther’s Theses on the Ministry V and VII); and

WHEREAS, No theological justification for the novel practice of online or virtual Communion has existed within the Synod or in the Lutheran tradition nor has been advanced in the circles advocating for it on the basis of the principally relevant texts (sedes doc tri nae) of Holy Scripture or of the Lutheran Confessions; and

WHEREAS, The Sacrament of the Altar has been established by our Lord according to His words of institution, commanding literally“This keep on doing”(Luke22:19;1Cor.11:24–25),which indicates that this use of the Sacrament should be kept according to His institution, and that “nothing is a sacrament without the appointed use” as set forth by those same words of institution (FC VII 73) and these texts (and all related) require serious study by the church; and

WHEREAS, The uniformity in practice has, from the foundation of the Synod, been considered desirable (1847 Constitution Article I 3; II 4; IV 5; V 14) and remains an endeavor toward which congregations are encouraged to strive (Const. Art. II 7); and

WHEREAS, Such practice (virtual or online Communion) has not been discussed by Synod as a whole, much less considered and commended by it on a scriptural and confessional basis; therefore be it

Resolved, That we commend the desires of faithful pastors to care for their flocks in a time of pandemic, having granted charity and latitude due to the emergency nature of the situation experienced by all; and be it further

Resolved, That the South Wisconsin District, on the basis of God’s Word, reject the irresponsible and unfaithful practice of online and virtual Communion as contrary to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions; and be it finally

Resolved, That the South Wisconsin District memorialize the Communion as contrary to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions and accept the CTCR opinions Communion and COVID-19 (adopted March 2020) and One Little Word Can Fell Him: Addendum to Communion and COVID-19 (adopted June 2020).