FAITHFUL COMMUNION PRACTICES

A Statement from The Office of the President
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
1333 South Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63122
United States of America

In recent weeks, I have received numerous of letters and telephone calls from pastors and laity in our Synod wondering if our Synod still affirms the confessional practice of close communion. They have been concerned about reports that recent presentations on close communion have tended to water down our position on this issue. A word of clarification is in order.

Since the beginning of our Synod, the practice of close communion has been accepted as a practice flowing from the Scripture's teaching on church fellowship and unity in the Faith. In 1967 our Synod adopted a formal resolution on close communion which included the following remarks, "the principle of close communion requires that only those who are in altar fellowship celebrate and partake of the Lord's Supper with each other and that the celebration and reception of Holy Communion not only implies but is a confession of the unity of faith" (Res. 2-19, 1967). This position on close communion has been reaffirmed in synodical conventions since 1967, even by the last convention of our Synod in St. Louis.

We wish to practice close communion in a loving, pastoral and yet at the same time in a faithful manner. While we recognize that there are emergency situations and even special cases of pastoral care that come into play here, the Synod never intended for these unique circumstances to become an excuse for setting aside the practice of close communion on a routine basis. So, again, we recognize here an opportunity joyfully and faithfully to testify to our faith and confession as we together practice close communion in our congregations. God bless as we do.

From: The President's Newsletter, November 1993, p. 3