The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) issued a report titled The Order of Creation: Theology, History, Definition.
The 2016 convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod passed Resolution 5-14 (“To Reaffirm Biblical Teaching on Man and Woman in the Church”), which requested that the CTCR produce:
“A biblical, confessional, and historical study of the concept of the order of creation, examining its relevance to various questions about the service of men and women in the church and society today and also taking into account continued disagreements and discussion in the Synod about the service of women in certain lay positions and offices of leadership (e.g., congregational chairman or vice-chairman).”
This 2022 report — which seeks to fulfill the requirements of that resolution through a substantial biblical, theological and historical study of the order of creation — features two sections:
- The first section presents a brief survey of the biblical references for the order of creation, its use in Luther and post-Reformation Lutheranism, and its development among theologians inside and outside the Missouri Synod in recent centuries.
- The second section details the term’s formal adoption by the Missouri Synod in 1956 and its application to various ecclesiastical matters by Synod conventions and the CTCR since then, including women’s suffrage, women’s ordination and women’s service in the church in various ways.