CORE Talking Points

(Also available as PDF downloads. . . Set 1, Set 2)

Listed in order of precedence, most recent first

Newest Set

  1. These proposals are a way for Lutherans to move forward in carrying out the true mission of the Christian Church.
    • We are committed to “Keep the main thing, the main thing.” We are committed to the true mission of the Church — Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.
    • We are leaving behind past struggles to reform the ELCA and moving forward in carrying out the mission of the Church — sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
    • Both Lutheran CORE and the NALC will be centered on four key attributes: Christ-Centered; Mission-Driven; Traditionally-Grounded, and Congregationally-Focused.
  2. We are committed to helping all traditional Lutherans in North America to remain united in faith and mission.
    • We are committed to trying to maintain the unity of as many confessing Lutherans as possible. The deep divisions in the ELCA are the result of the Churchwide Assembly’s actions.
    • These proposals are a way for those who uphold traditional Christian teaching — both those who are leaving the ELCA and those who will remain in the ELCA — to remain in fellowship and to work together.
  3. Lutheran CORE will continue as an association of confessing Lutherans spanning denominational bodies but will aid in the formation of a new church body.
    • G Lutheran CORE will seek to serve all who share a commitment to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions — those in the ELCA, those in the ELCIC, those in the NALC, and perhaps those in other church bodies such as LCMC who may wish to work together in areas of common mission.
    • G Lutheran CORE and the NALC will work together in domestic and global evangelism, theological education, and human service.
    • G Lutheran CORE and the NALC are committed to close partnership with LCMC. The ministries of Lutheran CORE, NALC, and LCMC complement each other — each with a different structure and style.
  4. The North American Lutheran Church (NALC) will be a different kind of church body.
    • This proposal affirms and unites confessing Lutherans by drawing on the strengths of various strands and theological emphases of Lutherans in North America. Each tradition offers something to the whole while affirming and recognizing gifts from the others.
    • This proposal provides a way for congregations to work together in mission — a denomination with limited bureaucratic structure but with enough structure to enable our shared mission in the world.
    • NALC will be a classical Lutheran denomination equipped for ministry in the modern world.
    • NALC will do much of its mission and ministry through Lutheran CORE to help maintain unity between those who stay in the ELCA and those who leave and to carry out mission and ministry efficiently.
    • NALC congregations may also be members of other Lutheran church bodies.
  5. We are not leaving the ELCA. The ELCA has left us.
    • Lutheran CORE and the NALC are continuing in the Christian faith as it has been passed down to us by generations of Christians. The ELCA is the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible as understood by Christians for 2,000 years.
    • The actions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly have created divisions within Lutheran congregations and caused financial difficulties for many congregations and synods. Individuals and congregations are considering how they can remain faithful and be good stewards of the resources that God has given them. Lutheran CORE and the NALC are trying to help those in the ELCA who continue to uphold the authority of Scripture to find ways to continue to maintain Christian teaching as revealed in Scripture and confessed by generations of Lutheran Christians and to maintain unity in faith and mission.
    • The actions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly have been seen by many ELCA members as evidence that Bible no longer functions as the ultimate norm for the faith and life of the ELCA.
    • Leaving the ELCA or ELCIC is not leaving the Church. Lutherans define the Church as “the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel” (Augsburg Confession, Article VII).

Oldest Set

  1. We are not leaving the ELCA. The ELCA is leaving us.
    • Lutheran CORE is continuing in the Christian faith as it has been passed down to us by generations of Christians. The ELCA is the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible as understood by Christians for 2,000 years.
    • The Churchwide Assembly has voted to remove the ELCA from the universal Christian consensus on marriage and homosexual behavior. Lutheran CORE intends to remain with the clear teaching of Scripture and the consistent teaching of the Christian Church worldwide and throughout time.
    • We are confident that most ELCA Lutherans continue to uphold biblical standards for marriage and sexuality in spite of the decisions of this Churchwide Assembly. The ELCA has been led to this point by its leadership and by this assembly.
    • Lutheran CORE would like to help those in the ELCA who continue to uphold the authority of Scripture to find a way to continue to maintain basic Christian teaching as revealed in the Bible.
  2. Lutheran CORE is inviting ELCA Lutherans who affirm the authority of Scripture to gather in Indianapolis Sept. 25-26 to discuss how we can work together in the future.
    • We are encouraging individuals and congregations to join us Sept. 25-26 in Fishers Indiana (suburban Indianapolis) to discuss what the future for faithful Lutherans in the ELCA might look like and ways we can work together.
    • It is important that those who want to uphold the authority of Scripture in the ELCA work together. We need each other.
    • It is important that congregations and individuals not make hasty decisions about their future. We want to work together to do what will be best for all of us and for the continuation of faithful Christian teaching.
    • To be an effective witness to the ELCA as a whole, traditional Christians within the ELCA need to work together. We want people to come to Indianapolis to help us shape a new way to be faithful as individuals and congregations.
  3. ELCA members and churches should only support the national church when and where its work conforms to God’s Word.
    • It is important that congregations and individuals continue to provide mission support beyond their congregations, but the ELCA churchwide organization should not be supported indiscriminately because it has clearly rejected its own Confession of Faith and the Christian Biblical tradition.
    • Congregations and individuals should continue to support local synods and synodical ministries where those institutions remain faithful to biblical teaching.
    • Congregations and individuals should seek to directly support our companion churches worldwide. This could be done through synod companion church programs.
    • Congregations and individuals should support Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Disaster Response, Global Health Ministries, church camps, and similar ministries that are faithful in their work and in their teaching.
  4. This debate is not about sex. It is about the source of authority in the ELCA.
    • The ELCA claims that Scripture is “source and norm” of its faith and life. The Sexuality Statement is based on a different source and norm. It rejects the clear teaching of Scripture and seek consensus on a different basis.
    • The ELCA Confession of Faith states: “This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life” (ELCA Constitution 2.03). The changes in teaching on marriage and sexuality show that the ELCA doesn’t practice what it says it believes.
    • No church has the authority to overturn the Word of God.
  5. Changing church teaching on marriage and homosexual behavior breaks faith with the vast majority of Lutherans and other Christians around the world.
    • Christians throughout the world and throughout time have believed and continue to believe that the Bible is clear in its teaching about marriage and about homosexual behavior. To reject the clear teaching of Scripture is to break faith with them.
    • These decisions have damaged the ELCA’s relationship with our partner churches in the Lutheran World Federation. The LWF has 68.5 million members in 140 member churches in 79 countries.
    • The Anglican Communion is in the process of splitting apart because of the actions of The Episcopal Church. The ELCA seems to want to do this to the Lutheran World Federation.
    • These decisions have hurt the ELCA’s ecumenical relationships with Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and most Protestant Churches.
    • These decisions break faith with generations of Christians before us.
  6. The ELCA shouldn’t have voted on these questions. Christians do not vote on the truth of Scripture.
    • The Churchwide Assembly has no authority to be voting on these matters. The constitution of the ELCA says that the Bible is the source and norm of the church’s faith and life. A church meeting does not have the authority to overturn what the Bible clearly teaches about marriage and about homosexual behavior.
    • The sexuality decisions show a tremendous arrogance. ELCA leaders think they can do whatever they want in church teaching about sexuality regardless of what the Bible teaches and what Christians around the world and throughout time have consistently taught.
    • A Christian Church does not vote on matters that are integral to the faith of the Church. Christians don’t vote on the Trinity, the Incarnation, or the two natures of Christ, we just believe and confess them as the faith of the Christian Church that we have received from generations of Christians before us.