The AALC now says its fellowship with the Missouri Synod binds doctrine and not practice. The record of how Missouri once treated Ohio, Iowa, and Buffalo says otherwise, and it had reason to.
The resolution at issue doesn't break fellowship. It calls the AALC to repentance and correction.
Breaking of fellowship wouldn't occur until the next convention in 2029/2030 if the LCMS President was unsatisfied with the progress of the AALC in repenting and correcting.
That seems pretty slow to me and plenty of heads up as to what is expected in the meantime.
Exactly. We may have been hasty in declaring fellowship but this is hardly a hasty break. The call for repentance and correction is entirely appropriate. Plus, this is not a long term fellowship. If it was based on misunderstanding, this needs to be clarified and rectified.
Great article! It's interesting, Dr. Jordan Cooper recently stated in a YouTube comment (from his video about why he's not LCMS) that he rejects the Brief Statement. He gave one example, that the article on Church and State directly contradicts the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. I'm not sure why this isn't apparently a bigger deal to him? He didn't even bring it up in that video, or the one addressing the LCMS workbook, where he made it clear that their primary concern is doctrine. I mean, the Brief Statement is the official position of the LCMS, so that would be a matter of doctrinal disagreement between him (if not the entire AALC) and the LCMS.
That is rich coming from the LCMS! They don't practice what they preach. There is no uniform practice within her ranks! This is very sad. If they require this of the AALC, they should require it of many of its own member congregations!
The AALC should present this fact in its defense with examples from LCMS congregations doing whatever seems good to them. Nevertheless, this is an own goal by the AALC - there was no need to say anything in public about the overture.
All that said, there is genuine progress to bring the LCMS into full fellowship around the doctrine and praxis of the Lord's Supper.
Slow to declare fellowship; slow to break fellowship. This is the historic way.
How slow is slow?
The resolution at issue doesn't break fellowship. It calls the AALC to repentance and correction.
Breaking of fellowship wouldn't occur until the next convention in 2029/2030 if the LCMS President was unsatisfied with the progress of the AALC in repenting and correcting.
That seems pretty slow to me and plenty of heads up as to what is expected in the meantime.
Exactly. We may have been hasty in declaring fellowship but this is hardly a hasty break. The call for repentance and correction is entirely appropriate. Plus, this is not a long term fellowship. If it was based on misunderstanding, this needs to be clarified and rectified.
Isn’t this the issue within the LCMS today: unity in doctrine, separate in practice?
Great article! It's interesting, Dr. Jordan Cooper recently stated in a YouTube comment (from his video about why he's not LCMS) that he rejects the Brief Statement. He gave one example, that the article on Church and State directly contradicts the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. I'm not sure why this isn't apparently a bigger deal to him? He didn't even bring it up in that video, or the one addressing the LCMS workbook, where he made it clear that their primary concern is doctrine. I mean, the Brief Statement is the official position of the LCMS, so that would be a matter of doctrinal disagreement between him (if not the entire AALC) and the LCMS.
That is rich coming from the LCMS! They don't practice what they preach. There is no uniform practice within her ranks! This is very sad. If they require this of the AALC, they should require it of many of its own member congregations!
The AALC should present this fact in its defense with examples from LCMS congregations doing whatever seems good to them. Nevertheless, this is an own goal by the AALC - there was no need to say anything in public about the overture.
All that said, there is genuine progress to bring the LCMS into full fellowship around the doctrine and praxis of the Lord's Supper.