CTCR adopts report on Lutheran education

(LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

For the first time in over a decade, the rostered workers of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) will receive a copy of a Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) document on their doorsteps. At its May 1–3 meeting in St. Louis, the CTCR adopted a report, A Theology and Philosophy of Lutheran Education, that will be printed and distributed on its behalf by Concordia Publishing House. The report is now arriving in the mailboxes of roughly 11,000 active, rostered workers of the Synod, and will also be available as a free download or for purchase at Concordia Publishing House.

In 2023, the LCMS convention adopted Resolution 5-10, which asked the CTCR to “develop principles of education rooted in Lutheran doctrine.” The CTCR, after consulting with representatives of the Concordia University System and its universities, Synod educational executives, and rostered teachers, among others, produced a brief report that revolves around the three articles of the Apostles’ Creed as explained in Luther’s catechisms — creation, redemption and sanctification — and how each of these relates to a Lutheran approach to education. The premise of the document is expressed in its single, overarching principle: that God’s Word, centered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, governs what we believe, teach and confess in Lutheran churches and Lutheran schools.

“Wherever that Word of God speaks, we must abide by it and conform our minds to it. That extends to matters of science, creation, and history, or any other subject, in addition to the teaching of the church’s faith,” the report notes. “Where and to what extent it does not speak on a matter, we are free to exercise the God-given reason that all humans have, yet always bearing in mind that human reason is fallible and subservient to what God has clearly said in His Word.”

The resolution also called for a pamphlet that is “clear, concise, and readable.” CTCR staff will work with the LCMS Office of the President to adapt its report into a pamphlet form.

In the meantime, every rostered LCMS worker will have access to a printed copy of this report. Prior to 2014, nearly all CTCR reports were printed and distributed to each member of the Synod — workers and congregations. At that time, due to budgetary constraints, along with the increasing accessibility of digital media, the CTCR decided to deliver its reports solely electronically. While electronic copies will still be free and available at the Synod website, the LCMS Board of Directors recently approved the funding of one such report per year to be sent to church workers.

“I began working for the CTCR in 1991, but before that, I learned about the commission’s work as a pastor who had hard copies of these important reports land on my desk,” said the Rev. Dr. Joel Lehenbauer, CTCR executive director. “The members of our commission work diligently on behalf of the Synod to produce these documents, and we hope they are helpful to our people. We thank the Board of Directors for allowing us to make our reports available in print.”

In addition to approving its report on education, the May meeting of the CTCR also hosted a delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania—South East of Lake Victoria Diocese (ELCT-SELVD). A self-governing diocese within the larger Tanzanian confederation of churches, the ELCT-SELVD has a longstanding relationship with the LCMS. Pastors and professors from the LCMS have held many seminars in Tanzania over the years, while the ELCT-SELVD regularly sends its pastors to LCMS seminaries for further education. The ELCT-SELVD considers itself firmly committed to confessional Lutheran theology and hopes to continue its conversations with the Synod.

The Rev. Dr. Brian Saunders, president of the LCMS Iowa District East and chairman of the CTCR, has taught ELCT-SELVD students and is well-acquainted with the church body. “They are deeply dedicated to the truth of God’s Word as espoused in the Lutheran Confessions,” he said. “There are over 1 million members of Lutheran churches in their diocese but only a very few pastors. More and more are being trained by our LCMS professors, and their pastors are coming to our seminaries to further their theological training.”

At its February meeting, held on the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, the CTCR welcomed the president of the Evangelical Christian Lutheran Church of Bolivia (ICEL) and voted unanimously to recommend approval of church fellowship with the ICEL. That recommendation was acted upon in May by LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, and fellowship was formally recognized between the two partners in Palmar Arriba, Dominican Republic, on May 24.

Per LCMS Bylaws, the CTCR (at the request of the Synod president) is responsible for recommending church fellowship with prospective partner churches, but all such recommendations must be endorsed by the subsequent Synod convention.

The CTCR will next convene Oct. 2–4 as it seeks to complete the eight assignments given it by the 2023 convention, alongside its other Bylaw-mandated responsibilities and activities.

Posted Sept. 5, 2025