Syncretism is leading worship (or worshiping) with non-Christian clergy (or non-Christians) in a “joint service.” It violates the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’” The Scripture is clear that Christians aren’t to worship with those who worship idols.
Like unionism, syncretism is directly addressed by the Synodical constitution of the LCMS. As a condition of membership in the Synod, it requires, “renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every description.”[1]
Sadly, the Missouri Synod has brushed aside its own constitution and the Scriptures in this matter. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack, New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani announced, “A Prayer for America,” an interfaith worship service which would be held at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2001. The mayor invited people to come worship together at the event. That the “Prayer for America” event was an interfaith worship service is evident from its content. It began with an invocation. There were songs, scripture readings, prayers and reflections given by the clergy of the religions represented. The service concluded with a benediction. The service included clergy from several Christian denominations (unionism). It also included clergy from non-Christian religions including Muslims, Jews, a Sikh and a Hindu (syncretism). The Missouri Synod’s Atlantic District Present, participated in “A Prayer for America.”
To make matters worse, prior to this District President’s participation in this interfaith service, the President of the Synod had twice given the District President permission to do this. His permission was based on the idea that this interfaith worship service wasn’t a worship service at all, but a “civic event,” that is, an event sponsored by the government not a church. It was also argued that this District President wasn’t worshiping or praying with these unbelievers and idolaters. He was simply praying alongside them because the prayers were “serial.” A serial prayer is when individuals in a group take turns praying.
Formal charges were brought against both the President of Synod and the District President who participated in “A Prayer for America.” Instead of being adjudicated by the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions, both men were cleared of wrongdoing by rulings of the Synod’s Committee on Constitutional Matters (CCM). The matter was literally decided by bylaws, not the Bible.
How did this happen? First, the Committee on Constitutional Matters ruled that the President of Synod is accountable only to the convention of the Synod that happens every three years. The merits of the charges were never considered. The charges against the Atlantic District President led to his suspension, at least temporarily. He appealed the decision to a Dispute Resolution Panel and was reinstated based on a Committee on Constitutional Matters ruling which stated that because he had his ecclesiastical supervisor’s prior permission to participate in the event, the District President could not be disciplined. The Synod, meeting in convention in 2004 and 2007 failed to overturn this unbiblical ruling of the Dispute Resolution Panel. By failing to overturn this terrible decision at the 2004—and subsequent—conventions, the Missouri Synod institutionalized syncretism.
The 2004 Convention of Synod aided this error with Resolution 3-06A, “To Commend CTCR Report on Guidelines for Participation in Civic Events.”[2] This CTCR (Commission on Theology and Church Relations) document, which can be found online,[3] was produced to answer the questions that the “Prayer for America” event stirred up, namely, in what situations can Lutheran pastors participate in “civic events?” The document says, on the one hand:
Obviously, if such an event were to involve joint prayer or worship with adherents of non-Christian religions (worship activities in which it is stated or clearly implied that Christians and non-Christians are “joining together in praying to the same God”), LCMS pastors may not participate.[4]
However, the next section of the report then outlines under what circumstances a Lutheran pastor could participate in such an event.
When the purpose of the event in question is clearly and predominately civic in nature, and when it is conducted in such a way that does not correspond to the LCMS understanding of a “service”; when no restrictions are placed on the content of the Christian witness that may be given by the LCMS pastor; when a sincere effort is made by those involved to make it clear that those participating do not all share the same religious views concerning such issues as the nature of God, the way of salvation, and the nature of religious truth itself.[5]
The problems with this are legion. The main problem with these criteria is that an event in which God or gods are being invoked cannot be “clearly and predominately civic in nature.” If there are prayers and scripture readings, and the like, then it is a religious service, no matter what the organizers call it. The word “civic event” is a smoke screen.
The worst flaw in the report is that it claims that Christian and non-Christian clergy could “take turns” offering prayers without it being joint worship. This undoes whatever good the report attempted in the requirements for civic events. It also, and more importantly, effectively denies the existence of syncretism. Syncretism, worshiping and praying with non-Christians, is rendered impossible because everyone is praying to their own god in a self-contained unit that has no relation whatsoever to the person next to you praying to another god. It’s as if “serial prayer” puts all the participants in their own separate hermetically sealed containers. In real life, this is not what is happening, nor is it what the public perceives.
The Minority opinion on the CTCR report stated that a previous draft of the document stated, “Side by side participation with official representatives of other religions offering prayers, readings and addresses on equal terms constitutes joint worship and should be avoided.”[6] This clear and unequivocal language would have prevented members of the Synod from participating in syncretistic worship in the future. That language, however, was removed from the document, rendering the document so ambiguous that supporters and detractors of the Atlantic District Present could appeal to the document as favoring their side.
This sad episode in the history of the LCMS. It demonstrates that the Synod operates by her own resolutions, committee decisions, and bylaws rather than the clear Word of God, twisting itself in knots to defend the syncretistic practices of its pastors. But serial prayer is joint worship. Yankee Stadium and the prior permissions granted were sinful. When one considers that this District Present was reelected to several terms of office after his reinstatement, and that the Synod has been unwilling to address this public violation of the First Commandment for over twenty years, the only conclusion is that syncretism—and the confusion of truth with error that accompanies it—is perfectly acceptable in the LCMS.
[1] “Constitution, Article VI: Conditions of Membership,” in Handbook: Constitution, Bylaws, and Articles of Incorporation, 2010. (St. Louis: LCMS, 2010), 15.
[2] The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, One Mission Ablaze: Convention Proceedings, Sixty-Second Regular Confession, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, St. Louis, MO, July 10-15, 2004. (St. Louis, Concordia, 2004), 35.
[3] https://files.lcms.org/file/preview/AF82C749-6774-4AD5-9867-93AE4A1B68D8
[4] Guidelines for Participation in Civic Events, a Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (St. Louis: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2004), 18.
[5] Ibid., 19.
[6] A Minority Opinion on Guidelines for Participation in Civic Events, April 29, 2004.
