wfn.org | Missouri Synod delegates address human-care issues

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Board for Communication Services
1333 S. Kirkwood Road St. Louis, MO 63122-7295

News Release

61st Regular Convention St. Louis, Mo. July 14-20, 2001

July 17, 2001 #20

Contact: Bruce Kueck (314) 342-5715

Missouri Synod delegates address human-care issues

ST. LOUIS -- Delegates to the 61st Regular Convention of The Lutheran 
Church-Missouri Synod on Tuesday, July 17, addressed two diverse human-care 
issues: sexual purity and religious persecution.

By a 96 percent majority, delegates passed an amended resolution supporting 
"lifelong sexual purity." Noting that "God created mankind as sexual 
beings, capable of sexual union for enjoyment as well as procreation in a 
marriage relationship between one man and one woman," the adopted 
resolution encourages Missouri Synod congregations to study and then teach 
"God s truths" about sexuality and sex.

Those truths, as defined in the resolution, include that "the sexual 
expression of love is to be in a marriage relationship between one man and 
one woman," and further that God wants "His people to remain sexually pure 
throughout life."

The resolution directs the Synod to communicate through all available 
channels "God s Word on sex." And, the Synod is to work with official 
agencies, including Concordia Publishing House, to develop "appropriate 
programs, resources and training to equip their people to share these 
truths about life-long sexual purity."

By an almost 99 percent margin, the assembly passed a resolution promoting 
"ongoing" prayer for persecution Christians. Specifically, it encouraged 
participation in the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church 
each November. The adopted resolution emphasizes that most of Synod s 
members are unaware that "more Christians have died for their faith in the 
past 100 years than in all the previous centuries of Christendom combined," 
and that Christians around the globe daily "face persecution, legal 
discrimination and martyrdom for confessing their faith."

Missouri Synod congregations are asked to remind members of the "reality of 
persecuted Christians around the world," encouraging prayer for them as 
well as for their persecutors.

The Missouri Synod, which is headquartered in St. Louis, meets in 
convention every three years. The 2001 gathering concludes July 20.

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