The question therefore continually recurs, why should these divisions be
perpetuated among brethren who are agreed on the essentials of Lutheran
teaching even though they may not have completely assimilated each
other's minute definitions of theological dogmas. Laymen, more
interested in practical results, find it hard to understand why there
should be so many different kinds of Lutherans. Even ministers,
accustomed as they are to sharp distinctions, sometimes deplore these
divisions and wonder when they can be healed. They long for the time
when the adherents of the Augsburg Confession may unite in one great
body, "beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army
with banners."

Alluring as such a prospect may seem, it is not of highest importance in
a communion which from the beginning emphasized the right of private
judgment and acquired for the world the right to think for itself in
matters of conscience and religion. The Church of the Reformation
derives its strength from unity rather than from union. Theoretically at
least, it is a communion, a fellowship of believers. Its earliest
designation was not "The Lutheran Church," but "Churches of the Augsburg
Confession."

It is consonant therefore with our historic principles to respect the
gifts and calling of the existing divisions in our churches without
insisting upon an artificial union which could contribute little to the
true unity of the church. There are "many members, yet but one body....
There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." In our
mutual relations therefore it behooves us to recognize the rights of the
individual.