To Request Commission on Theology and Church Relations to Produce Study Document to Further Understanding and Conversations on Pastoral Exceptions to Closed Communion

WHEREAS, The Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) in its 1999 report, Admission to the Lord’s Supper: Basics of Biblical and Confessional Teaching states that the Lord’s Supper was given to us by God to maintain and preserve unity and that giving the Supper to those whose public confession is heterodoxy, “threatens and contradicts … the pure proclamation of the death of Christ for us” (46); and

WHEREAS, The document also recognizes and embraces the reality that there can be “rare and genuinely difficult situations of unusual personal need and pastoral care” (47); and

WHEREAS, The report admits that “it will never be possible to compile a list of ‘acceptable exceptions,’” explaining that “life in this present evil age will not allow for such simplicity and precision” (48); and

WHEREAS, At the same time, the report states that, while “the Synod has always recognized this … we must engage one another in respectful mutual conversation over the controverted specifics of the ‘situations of emergency, and special cases of pastoral care, or extraordinary situations and circumstance’ which call for ‘the necessity of exercising responsible pastoral care’” (48); and

WHEREAS, The report states that the Synod “must be willing to search for the balance between personal faith and need on the one hand, and the corporate dimensions and unity implied in and demanded by the Lord’s Supper on the other hand” (47); and

WHEREAS, The report suggests that cases for these rare and difficult exceptions are likely “times of emergency, of war, of severe illness or intense personal crisis,” and “situations involving individuals who are in a state of confession,” (47) but gives no more examples or guidance; therefore be it

Resolved, That the CTCR provide the Synod with a study document that: 1. summarizes the 1999 report and gives clarification on what is meant and understood by rare, difficult, and unusual in the context of the document; 2. provides guidance for the necessary follow-up pastoral care and on-going engagement with persons for whom exceptions have been made and how long such exceptions might persist; 3. gives a number of case studies that include examples of when such an exception might be made, examples of when it might seem that it could be made but should not, controversial instances where it is unclear and men of goodwill and faith might disagree, and study questions;

and be it further

Resolved, That this report be completed by the next Synod convention and made available to the Synod for use by congregations, circuits, and districts for engagement on these issues with the aim of promoting unity and faithful, evangelical practice.