Way to go, Canadian Lutherans, eh?

Recently passed at the 2005 convention of a fellow International Lutheran Council member and a sister-church to my own Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Lutheran Church-Canada, in convention assembled:

OVERTURE 1.08

To Offer Fraternal Admonishment to The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

WHEREAS it is the nature of church fellowship that those who are part of that fellowship are co-responsible for all public doctrine and practice of the member church bodies; and

WHEREAS altar and pulpit Fellowship is currently enjoyed by Lutheran Church-Canada and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; and

WHEREAS this fellowship is based on a complete agreement in doctrine, including matters dealing with unionism and syncretism; and

WHEREAS according to the constitutions of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Lutheran Church-Canada, conditions for acquiring and holding membership in the Synod, include the renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every description (Article IV:2); and

WHEREAS The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has approved the participation of the president of the Atlantic District of the LCMS in a unionistic worship service that included not only representatives of heterodox church bodies but also Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews; and

WHEREAS the LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters has made an official binding decision declaring that since the president of that district acted on the advice of his ecclesiastical supervisor he cannot be charged with violating God's Sacred Word thereby placing the opinion of the ecclesiastical supervisor above the opinions of the Word of God; and

WHEREAS to remain silent and to fail to warn our sister church body about the nature of its sin is not only unloving but also makes Lutheran Church-Canada a participant of that sin (Ezekiel 33:8-9); and

WHEREAS if this matter is not resolved it might jeopardize the fellowship that Lutheran Church-Canada enjoys with The Lutheran Church-MissouriSynod which has been blessed in so many ways; therefore be it

RESOLVED that Lutheran Church-Canada meeting in convention fraternally admonish our sister church body, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to adhere to the confessional standards of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and renounce all forms of syncretism and unionism; and be it further

RESOLVED that the members of Lutheran Church-Canada offer prayers to God that the unity of the holy catholic church would be manifested by the church on earth as it renounces all sin and error and subscribes unconditionally to Holy Word of God and the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Which is, in the opinion of this humble blogger, the most salutary thing to come from north of the border since hockey.