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Structure and Governance (SAG)
Abstract: Blue Ribbon Task Force publishes study document.
In 2005, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) created a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Goverance (BRTFSSG) which was charged to:
...do a thorough, zero-based assessment of the entirety of the system of governance and organizational structure ... [with] recommended improvements [that] ... suggest a form of structure and governance for the decades ahead that is appropriately representative, incorporating sufficient checks and balances of authority without being cumbersome, clumsy, or excessively complex. It should facilitate maximum operating efficiency in behalf of and in support of the members of our Synod in accomplishing the mission of our Lord and His church…
In 2007, the BRTFSSG released a report on the theological principles behind LCMS polity: Congregation - Synod - Church.
On August, 20, 2008, the task force released two documents: Who Is the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod? and Walking Together - The LCMS Future.
The new documents re-affirm the congregation's role as the "primary mission center" of the LCMS and list various "possibilities" (some mutually exclusive) for the structure and governance of the Synod. The task force's final report is scheduled to be presented at the Synod's 2010 convention, and much work remains to be done.
The newly released documents are eliciting considerable commentary: see for example, the Wilken Plan proposed by Pr. Todd Wilken who hosts Issues, Etc.
Readers are encouraged not to confuse Walking Together with the ELCA's Journey Together Faithfully.
