To Strengthen Our Process for Supporting Our Concordias

WHEREAS, At the2022MichiganDistrict convention, Resolution 2-05a was considered, reading (as amended before it was voted on):

WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities have long been beloved and treasured by the members and member congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and a vital part of the communities in which they are located; and

WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities have historically been at the very heart of our Synod’s stated identity and purpose (Synodical Constitution, Article III Objectives (3) Recruit and train pastors, teachers and other professional church workers and provide opportunity for their continued growth; and (5) Aid congregations to develop processes of thorough Christian education and nurture and to establish agencies of Christian education such as elementary and secondary schools and to support synodical colleges, universities, and seminaries); and

WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities not only exist to train professional church workers but also to train Christian laymen and laywomen who will be godly and influential leaders in their workplaces, communities, churches, and families; and

WHEREAS, Our Lord Jesus Christ calls His followers to be salt and light in the world at large and not only in safe, homogeneous communities (Matthew 5:13–16); and

WHEREAS, Our six remaining Concordia Universities (on seven residential campuses) give our Synod a valuable foothold in increasingly diverse, multicultural, and urban settings where the Church’s presence is in many cases not especially prominent in the 21st century; and

WHEREAS, Our Concordia Universities, by their very existence, have the potential to bring the mission field to our Synod’s doorstep and to provide safe places for difficult theological and cultural issues to be openly and honestly engaged; and

WHEREAS, Three of our Concordia Colleges and Universities have unfortunately closed their doors in recent years (Selma in 2018, Portland in 2020, and Bronx ville in 2021); and

WHEREAS, Our Synod is filled with many generous givers and donors with the means and/or the desire to lend needed financial support to our Concordia Universities if called upon to do so; and

WHEREAS, Our God Himself is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20), even though we may not always be immediately able to identify a viable solution; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Michigan District investigate opportunities for how it can provide support (prayer, church worker and other student recruitment, financial, etc.) to help ensure the continuation of the residential campus of Concordia University Ann Arbor (CUAA) located within its own District; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Michigan District memorialize to the 2023 Synodical Convention the previous Whereases and the following resolves:

Resolved, To affirm our commitment, as far as humanly possible, not to allow any more of our remaining Concordia Universities to close their doors before first exploring all possible avenues to assist them to remain open and to continue to fulfill their missions; and be it further

Resolved, To instruct synodical leadership to refuse to take any future action(s) with respect to our six remaining Concordia Universities without being fully transparent with the professional church workers and the lay membership of the entire Synod’s congregations, namely, regarding any course of action being considered, prior to any such course of action being carried out, and without first giving the members and member congregations of the Synod every opportunity to respond to such a potential course of action in generosity and/or with creativity; and be it finally

Resolved, To be encouraged to further unite behind a renewed commitment to keep the doors of our six remaining Concordia Universities open as long as our gracious God sees fit, to His glory, honor, and praise. (2022 Michigan District Proc., Res. 2-05a) and

WHEREAS, District Res. 2-05a was addressed by the Synod President as “canned, it has been going around to a number of districts ... is false, contains material error” (Ibid., 43); and

WHEREAS, District Res. 2-05a was subsequently defeated by the convention; then, sadly, eighteen months later, the majority of the Concordia University Wisconsin Ann Arbor (CUWAA) Board of Regents(BOR) undertook the“re imagining”of CUWAA; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention recognize that the actions of the majority of the CUWAA BOR showed the need for district Res. 2-05a; and be it further

Resolved, That the whereas statements listed in district Res. 2- 05a be memorialized to the 2026 Synod convention; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod in convention direct Synod leadership, the Concordia University System (CUS), and each university’s board of regents to be fully transparent with the professional church workers and the lay membership of the entire Synod’s congregations regarding any course of action being considered prior to any such course of action being carried out; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod in convention affirm our commitment, as far as humanly possible, not to allow any more of our remaining Concordia universities to close their doors or significantly reduce operations on a campus before first exploring all possible avenues with members and member congregations of the Synod to assist them to remain open and to continue to fulfill their missions; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod in convention instruct the administrations of CUS schools not to ask newly elected board of regents members to undertake significant actions—such as we saw the CUWAA administration undertake in regards to CUWAA— until the regents have been trained as required under Bylaw 3.10.6.2.l (d).