Lutheran Churches of the Reformation
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Lutheran Churches of the Reformation, LCR, is an association of Lutheran congregations. The LCR has its roots among groups of Lutherans that broke with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in the middle of the 20th century, and was formally incorporated in 1964.
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[edit] Core Beliefs
The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation teaches that the Bible is the only authoritative and error-free source for doctrine. It subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions (the Book of Concord) not in-so-far-as but because it is an accurate presentation of what Scripture teaches. It teaches that Jesus is the center of Scripture and the only way to eternal salvation, and that the Holy Spirit uses the gospel alone in Word and Sacraments (Baptism and Holy Communion) to bring people to faith in Jesus as Savior and keep them in that faith, strengthening them in their daily life of sanctification.
[edit] Doctrine
The doctrine of the Lutheran Churches of the Reformation is summarized in Franz August Otto Pieper's Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod and Wallace H. McLaughlin's We All Believe in One True God: A Summary of Biblical Doctrine.
[edit] Operations
The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation publishes One Accord, a monthly devotional and news magazine, and The Faithful Word, a quarterly theological journal.[1]
The Martin Luther Institute of Sacred Studies, or M.L.I.S.S., in Decatur, Indiana is the seminary and teacher's college of the LCR.
Volunteers from the LCR operate the Kretzman Project, which has placed the entire, four volume, The Popular Commentary of the Bible by Paul E. Kretzmann online for free.
The LCR is governed through annual conventions where delegates of the congregations vote. Doctrinal resolutions must be unanimous, or those in the minority will be suspended from the LCR. The day-to-day business of the LCR is run by the Council, whose members are elected to three year terms[2], commissions, and committees.[3]
For missions, the LCR has a missionary-at-large to serve those who have moved away from their congregations and other like-minded Lutherans. Abroad, the LCR supports congregations in Nigeria and Kenya and has trained pastors for the Lutheran Churches of the Reformation in Nigeria.[4]
[edit] Relation to other Lutheran groups
The congregations in the LCR and the Concordia Lutheran Conference were organized as the Orthodox Lutheran Conference, or OLC, in 1951. [5] The OLC split in 1956 after Prof. Paul E. Kretzmann, suspended church-fellowship with some congregations after they charged him with teaching error in class. These congregations formed the Concordia Lutheran Conference [6], while the others, along with Kretzmann, joined with more conservatives leaving the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod to organize as the LCR.[7]
The LCR discussed church-fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in the 1960's, but declared that the differences regarding the doctrine of Church and Ministry were divisive of church-fellowship in July 1970.[8]
The Fellowship of Lutheran Congregations,[9] FLC is a group of congregations that left the LCR in 1979 after a dispute concerning the proper procedure of excommunication. The congregations of the FLC joined the Concordia Lutheran Conference circa 2004.
For a time in the 1990's, the LCR was in official church-fellowship with the Illinois Lutheran Conference, or ILC. The ILC was organized in 1979 after three congregations left in protest when a pastor was suspended from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod because of claims he made regarding the King James Version of the Bible.[10] There was controversy between the ILC and the LCR regarding "the appearance of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22) and the doctrine of Church and Ministry. The LCR severed the fellowship because of differences discovered during the controversy over "the appearance of evil".
In February 2006, five congregations and four pastors suspended church-fellowship with the rest of the LCR after an LCR supported incident that involved female suffrage. These congregations were voted out of the Lutheran Churches of the Reformation in April 2006.[11] They have since declared church-fellowship with each other [12] and organized the Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference of Independent Congregations or OLCC [13]
[edit] Distinctive Characteristics
The LCR believes that the local congregation is the only divinely ordained church organization, and does not refer to synods or denominations as churches. This separates the group from some other conservative Lutherans such as the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.[14]
The congregations of the LCR use the King James Version of the Bible for corporate worship, the 1943 "Blue" edition of Luther's Small Catechism in confirmation instruction, and The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941.[15] The LCR is does not hold to the King James Only position, as members choose a variety of translations for personal use.
In 1990, the LCR passed a resolution titled "Procreation" stating that birth control, in all forms, is sin, although they "allow for"..."exceptional cases (casuistry)", for example, when the woman's life or health is at risk.
Congregations of the LCR follow 1 Timothy 2:12 in practicing male-only suffrage in congregational voter's assemblies.
[edit] External links
- Lutheran Churches of the Reformation
- Interchurch Relations in Recent Years by Edward C. Fredrich
- A Little Lecture on Little Little-Known Lutheran Synods by Edward C. Fredrich
- The Doctrinal Differences Between the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Church of the Lutheran Confession, The Concordia Lutheran Conference, and the Lutheran Churches of the Reformation. by Lyle W. Lange
