Jesus Christ is the Supreme Head of the Church. A congregation, consisting of the pastor and his people, joined in organization, constitute the unit. From the Supreme Head the congrega tion has power to maintain and administer in their purity the Word of Christ and His Sacra tnents. With the advice and counsel of the Synod, when requested or needed, it manages its own affairs.
Synods are organizations made up of congre gations, within the limits prescribed by their con stitutions, as agreed upon and subscribed. for the furtherance of the ditties and good of the church at large, such as education, the training of pas tors, missions. home and foreign, providing books for worship, etc. In the Synod, the congregation is entitled, in addition to its pastor, to at least one lay representative from each parish; in all synod ical transactions these laymen have a parity and equal rights and privileges with the pastors. The Synods plan, manage and promote what the sin gle congregation is unable to do, the educational, eleemosynary, mission and general activities of their churches; advise and counsel with them, as constitutionally agreed upon, in some Synods, as with the Swiss referendum, the resolutions of the Synod being in force only when approved by the votes of their congregations. The Lutheran church leads in home missionary activity; she initiated among the Protestants of America and successfully promoted deaconess institutions and hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged, epilep tics. etc.
4. Doctrine and Life. The Evangelical Lu theran Church, as the first-born of the Gertnan and Scandinavian Reformation. adheres more and more faithfully to the Confession set forth at Augsburg June 25, 153o. This includes an acceptance of the ecumenical creeds of Christen dom and also a general consent to the later doe trinal developments as set forth in the Apology, the Sinalcald Articles, the Catechisms of Luther and the Formula of Concord, which together were published in the Book of Concord, 158°. The writings of Luther, Melancthon, Chemnitz, Quenstcdt, Gerhard. Arndt, Speller, Luthardt, Zoeckler, Rolinert, Krauth, Walther and others, ancient and modern, are held in high esteem, as differing in non-essential phases of doctrine only.
The rationalism of the eighteenth century has entirely disappeared; the Ritchlianism of Ger many is not affecting the Lutheran Church of America. Here all accept the cailonical Scrip tures of the Old and NeW Testament as the Word of God in the form and sense as originally given, making it their rule of faith and life. The Lutheran Church believes in the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three Persons, one God; and in the divine and the human nature for ever united in the person of Jesus. the Christ. She teaches, with utmost emphasis, that in Him men are justified by faith alone, and demands good works as fruit of true obedience. The Luth eran Church receives the sacrament of the Holy Supper and the Sacrament of Baptism, and Heves that, in a way not defined, in the Holy Supper the Lord Jesus gives His true Body and His true Blood to the comtnunicant; and that or dinarily Baptism is "necessary to salavation and that by Baptism grace is offered." She confines the rite of Baptism to no one form, and gladly admits infants to this "washing of regeneration and renewing of thc Holy Ghost." The Lutheran Church holds that the Holy Spirit ordinarily reaches and acts upon the souls of men through the Truth, and mediately, through the \Vord of God and the lloly Sacra ments as the only and appointed means of gracz. She believes in the spiritual priesthood of all true Christians; but insists that only they who have been rightly called shall teach in her pulpits and minister at her altars. The Lutheran Church in her worship is liturgical; but accords freedom, and does not teach that the unity of the Church depends upon a uniform ritual and service. The Lutheran Church teaches that through the Fall man's nature is changed and debased; that be cause of sin, mankind is under the sentence of Divine condemnation and spiritually dead; that only through the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, by the gracious help of the Holy Spirit. is it possible for man to know and ac cept God's offered mercy, receive spiritual 1:fe. perform acceptable service, and attain the glorious iesurrection of the body and eternal salvation.
W. R. and J. D. S.