Christian Cyclopedia

Amendment to Art. III, Sec. 3, of const. of Gen. Syn., drawn up by H. N. Pohlman* for conv. at York, Pennsylvania, 1864, after delegates of Pennsylvania* Ministerium had withdrawn. Favorably acted upon by Gen. Syn. and adopted by majority of 18 dist. syns. (but the 4 syns. which rejected it remained in Gen. Syn.). Amendment reads: “All regularly constituted Lutheran synods not now in connection with the General Synod, receiving and holding with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of our fathers, the Word of God as contained in the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as the only infallible rule of faith and practice, and the Augsburg Confession, as a correct exhibition of the fundamental doctrines of the Divine Word, and of the faith of our Church founded upon that Word, may, at any time, become associated with the General Synod by complying with the requisitions of this constitution and sending delegates according to the ratio specified in Art. II.” Proceedings of the 21st Conv. of the Gen. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the US, Assembled in York, Pennsylvania, May 1864 (Gettysburg, 1864), pp. 38–39. See also General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America, The, 7.