Pastors and the Lutheran Confessions
Are WELS pastors required to submit unconditionally to the Lutheran Confessions? Thank you in advance!
The order of service for the ordination and installation of pastors from Christian Worship: Occasional Services includes the following questions to WELS pastors.
“Do you believe that the Unaltered Augsburg Confession is a true exposition of the Word of God and a correct presentation of the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and that the other confessions in the Book of Concord are also in agreement with this one scriptural faith: the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Small and Large Catechisms of Martin Luther, the Smalcald Articles, and the Formula of Concord?”
“Do you solemnly promise that all your teaching and your administration of the sacraments will conform to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions?”
The answer WELS pastors speak to both questions is “I do.”