American Lutheranism, Volume 2 / The United Lutheran Church (General Synod, General Council, United Synod in the South)

by F. Bente

CHARACTER.

9. Actual Position of the New Union.—The Merger did not come as a surprise, for the uniting bodies, being of a common origin, had for a long period occupied essentially the name position as to doctrine and practise, exchanged delegates, and cooperated in various ways. Nor was it accompanied by any essential change in the doctrinal or practical attitude of any of the synods and congregations now constituting the new body. Yet it will be admitted that, by merging, the General Synod, constitutionally, made a confessional stride forward, while, as to their official attitude toward Lutheran practise, the United Synod in the South, and especially the General Council, took a step backward. For the level and measure of the new Union will naturally be that of the most liberal of the united bodies, viz., the actual present, practical as well as doctrinal, position of the synods which constitute the General Synod. According to the Preamble of the Constitution the object of the Merger was "to make the inner unity, which we" [the official bodies as such] "have with one another manifest in common confession, defense, and maintenance of the faith, and in united efforts for the extension of the Kingdom of God at home and abroad." However, the new Union was not the result of any discussions of, and subsequent agreements and settlements in, any doctrinal or practical differences. The "inner unity" of the merging bodies themselves, especially of the General Synod, never was a real agreement in the truth, but rather an agreement to disagree with respect to Lutheran doctrines and practise. The United Church was not born of real inner Lutheran unity of the spirit, but of the desire of external union, in spite of the lack of real doctrinal agreement. The Merger is in more than one way a concession to the original unionistic spirit of the General Synod. Especially the absence, in the Constitution, of a paragraph directed against pulpit- and altar-fellowship with non-Lutherans, and of a definite and satisfactory statement pertaining to antichristian societies, cannot but be viewed as an ex professo lowering of the Lutheran standard to the laxism always prevailing in the General Synod. The real doctrinal and confessional position of the United Lutheran Church, apart from the merits and demerits of its Constitution, is, in the last analysis, not so much determined by its official declarations as by the actual conditions prevailing in its synods and congregations. The real standpoint of a Church is not the one written and subscribed to on paper, but which manifests itself in her actual teaching, life, and practise. Judged, then, by what the merging bodies actually were immediately prior to their union, the real United Lutheran Church in America is not nearly on a par with what its doctrinal basis would seem to warrant. G. A. Tressler, the former president of the General Synod, said in the Lutheran, November 7, 1918: "My hope and wish is that, as far as the United Lutheran Church is concerned, it may merge our best and submerge the rest." What of this "best"? And what is "the rest"? The history of the three merging bodies will tell.

10. National Lutheran Council.—According to Article VI, Section 3 of the Constitution, it is the object of the United Lutheran Church "to cultivate cooperation among all Lutherans in the promotion of the general interests of the Church; to seek the unification of all Lutherans in one orthodox faith." The ultimate goal of the United Lutheran Church self-evidently is the organic union of all Lutheran synods and congregations of this country as "The Lutheran Church in America," or, at least, "The Federated Lutheran Church in America." "The National Lutheran Council," organized September 6, 1918, in Chicago, is, no doubt, viewed by many as a stepping-stone to, and a means for the attainment of, this end. The United Lutheran Church, says the Philadelphia Seminary Bulletin, "is but part of a larger movement in the direction of Lutheran unity and activity for which we thank God and take courage. Illustrations of this are: The National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, The National Lutheran Council, and the proposed Central Lutheran control of all American Lutheran Foreign Missions." (1919, 2, p. 4.) The objects of the National Lutheran Council are: statistical information; publicity in all matters that require common utterance by the Lutheran Church; representation of our Church in its relation to entities outside of itself; dealing with the problems arising out of war and other emergencies; the solution of problems arising from social, economic, intellectual, or other conditions, or changes affecting religious life and consciousness; the fostering of true Christian loyalty and the maintenance of a righteous relation between Church and State as separate entities with correlated, yet distinctly defined functions; provision through the National Lutheran Commission for the spiritual welfare of the people who are living and working in the 24 "War Production Communities," part of which work is to be done in cooperation with other denominations; to serve in solving the problems of the Lutheran Church in European countries where the war has upset political, social, and religious conditions; to adjust matters on the Home Mission field, in order to restrict and stop destructive competitive church-work; to discourage, ignore, and abandon public polemics among Lutherans; to prepare a statement defining the essentials of a catholic spirit as viewed by the Lutheran Church. With the exception of the Synodical Conference (always wary of entangling and unionistic alliances), practically all of the Lutheran synods in America are connected with the National Lutheran Council. (L. u. W., 1919, 86 ff.) A meeting of the presidents and representatives of various Lutheran bodies, culled by the National Lutheran Council and held in Chicago, March 11 to 13, 1919, adopted a number of statements on reconciliation, absolution, the means of grace, justification, faith, conversion and election. However, these declarations, though, as far as they go, apparently not in dissonance with the Lutheran confessions, cover neither all the doctrines controverted in our Church, nor all of the disputed points involved in the doctrines dealt with at Chicago. With respect to lodgism the Conference resolved: "We promise each other that it shall be our earnest purpose to give a fearless testimony, and do our utmost to place our respective church-bodies in the right Christian position in this matter." (Lutheran, March 27, 1919.) The results attained by the Conference will be referred for approval to the bodies represented: United Lutheran Church, Joint Synod of Ohio, Iowa Synod, Buffalo Synod, Augustana Synod, United Danish Synod, Norwegian Church, Free Church.

The General Synod.