The proper role of Christian care in the overall life of the Christian community is the focus of a new report adopted by The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod's Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) at its Feb. 18-20 meeting in St. Louis.

"Faith Active in Love: Human Care in the Church's Life" is the title of the new report, which the commission prepared at the request of the Synod's Board for Human Care Ministry.

"The question before us is not whether Christian care, the active love and hope that accompany a true living faith, will characterize the Christian community. Such love simply does accompany faith," says the report. "The question is to what extent and on what basis the church, organized corporately in congregations, districts and Synod, will help its members express the love and hope that accompany a true living faith."

The question might be asked this way: Is it proper for the church to organize for social ministry? Or does the responsibility for acts of human care begin and end with the individual Christian and with organizations that individuals might choose to join?

In the course of its discussion, the report reflects on seven scenarios -- involving a parish-nurse program, a day-care center, a food pantry, a discussion of faith and works, a low-income housing project, a homeless shelter, and how a congregation's budget is allocated.

At the end of it all, in a section titled "Summing Up," the report says:

"1. The central concern of the church will be to proclaim the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and to administer the sacraments.

"2. The primary expression of energetic Christian care will continue to be through the faithful daily life of believers.

"3. There is a place for the church, in its communal dimension in society, to help its members organize for expression of the active love that issues from a living faith. The ways in which specific Christian communities organize for caring service will vary greatly from time to time and place to place."

Dr. Samuel H. Nafzger, the CTCR's executive director, said that the commission hopes to mail copies of the report to LCMS congregations and rostered church workers in April.

In other business at its Feb. 18-20 meeting, the CTCR:

* met with drafters who are working on two studies that Synod President A.L. Barry told the commission in November he would like to see completed by May and September, respectively. The first is a response to "A Declaration of Eucharistic Understanding and Practice," a document developed by pastors in the Florida-Georgia District but distributed throughout the Synod. The other is a Biblical and Confessional study of the Synod's fellowship principles and practices, which is to be used at district conventions next year. Nafzger said the CTCR "will make every effort to meet Dr. Barry's deadlines."

* honored Nafzger with a testimonial dinner for his 25 years as the commission's executive.

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