Churchwide Assembly Lacks Authority

Shrimp again. In the following resolution entitled "Usurped Authority," the 2009 WordAlone Network convention a few weeks ago

expresses its grave concern that the churchwide assembly is being led to vote on matters over which it has no legitimate authority and calls for the assembly to refrain from voting on the task force documents.

Here's the entire resolution:

Usurped Authority

Adopted April 27, 2009 by the WordAlone Network annual convention
Whereas, God alone is the creator of all that exists, including the gifts of marriage and sexuality; and

Whereas, sinful human beings and institutions, including churches, have no authority to redefine that which God has made; and

Whereas, "the Scriptures clearly teach that marriage is a life long bond of faithfulness between one man and one woman and the context for which sexual intercourse is reserved (1 Corinthians 6:15-20; Hebrews 13:4; Galatians 5:16-19);"^[1] and

Whereas, Christian churches are called to submit to the authority of God's Word over all matters of faith and life; and

Whereas, Christian churches have no authority to vote on matters governed by Divine Law so as to encourage and teach sinful human beings "to do what is right in their own eyes;" and

Whereas, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" and "Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies," the documents from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality that the ELCA Church Council have sent to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly for consideration, explicitly reject the Scriptures' clear, consistent witness concerning marriage and sexuality; and

Whereas, the task force documents define "bound conscience" to mean something other than captive to the Word of God, and therefore ultimately to mean that Christians may do what is right in their own eyes, which has grave implications for all matters of morality; and

Whereas, the task force documents propose a redefinition of sexual relationships that approves of sexual relationships outside the life long marriage of one man and one woman; therefore

Be it resolved that the WordAlone Network, captive to the Word of God, expresses its grave concern that the churchwide assembly is being led to vote on matters over which it has no legitimate authority and calls for the assembly to refrain from voting on the task force documents; and

Be it further resolved that if the churchwide assembly insists on voting on the documents, the WordAlone Network calls for the defeat of both documents and the affirmation of the Scriptures' clear, consistent norms for marriage and sexuality.

[You may also download the resolution as a PDF file]
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Footnote:

^[1] "Concerning the Gift of Sexual Life and Its Divinely Created Structure," approved at the WordAlone Network Annual Convention, April 27, 2004

Think about that a moment -- the Assembly has no authority...

Shrimp out.