To Authorize Title Bishop for Synod President and District Presidents

WHEREAS, In common usage the title president isa secular rather than an ecclesiastical title; and

WHEREAS, The title president when used to refer to the President of the Synod or a district president is unfamiliar not only to the general public but also to members of churches both nationally and around the world; and

WHEREAS, The title president does not adequately express the nature of the offices of President of the Synod and district president as being that of apastor charged with the supervision of the doctrine and practice of pastors and congregations (Const. Art. XI B 1; XII 7); and

WHEREAS, The title president does not adequately express the nature of the office of district president as being that of a pastor charged with the responsibility of ordaining (either in person or by proxy) candidates for the pastoral office (Const. Art. XII 9 c); and

WHEREAS, The functions of the President of the Synod and the district presidents, as defined by the Constitution and Bylaws, that entail supervising the doctrine and practice of pastors and congregations and ordaining (either in person or by proxy) candidates for the pastoral office, are the functions of those who from ancient times and in many parts of the Lutheran church have borne and continue to bear the title bishop; and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions express the desire of the confessors to retain the office of bishop; and

WHEREAS, Martin Luther during his lifetime consecrated two bishops; and

WHEREAS, Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther’s Synod address of 1848 shows that he did not in principle reject the office of bishop, saying, “Which person … would deny that the Swedish Church grew splendidly under its episcopal constitution, especially so long as men like Laurentius Petri … bore the episcopal dignity …?” (Matthew C. Harrison, At Home in the House of My Fathers: Presidential Sermons, Essays, Letters, and Addresses from the Missouri Synod’s Great Era of Unity and Growth, [CPH, 2011]); and

WHEREAS, The original 1847 Synod Constitution does not use the German word präsident but rather the Latin word praeses, a usage that continued as long as the business of the Synod and the districts was conducted in the German language, as can be seen in the reports of both Synod and district conventions; and

WHEREAS, Many of the Synod’s partner churches use the title bishop for those charged with the supervision of doctrine and practice, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England, which recently adopted the title bishop for the official formerly known as the chairman; and

WHEREAS, The English, Atlantic,and Southeastern districts have authorized the use of the historic ecclesiastical title bishop for their district presidents; therefore be it

Resolved, That in order to clarify for members of the Synod and for the general public the nature and function of the offices of President of the Synod and district president, and to bring the Synod’s nomenclature into closer conformity with ancient usage as preserved in many parts of the Lutheran church from the sixteenth century to the present day, the Synod in convention authorize the use of the historic ecclesiastical title bishop for the President of the Synod and the district presidents; and be it further

Resolved, That authorization to use the title bishop implies no change whatsoever in the status, functions and responsibilities of the President of the Synod and the district presidents as defined in the Constitution and Bylaws; and be it finally

Resolved, That authorization to use the title bishop implies no change whatsoever to the Church’s doctrine that the form of ecclesiastical polity (including the nomenclature of those charged with the supervision of doctrine and practice) is adiaphora, that is, neither commanded nor forbidden by the Word of God.