Following the tragic killing of organizer and activist Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, an intense debate among Christians in the United States began: Was Charlie Kirk a martyr of the Christian faith? Kirk as Martyr for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod? On July 23, 2026, the biggest "conservative" Lutheran denomination in the United States, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), concluded its triennial convention where it discussed and decided doctrinal matters and g

At its July 2026 national meeting of pastoral and lay delegates, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod adopted a "modern day martyrdom" resolution. The text of the resolution does not define "martyrdom." Nor does it try to lay out a Lutheran theology of martyrdom. Apparently, everybody voting on this resolution knew what "martyrdom" means. Even the apparent reason for this resolution--the tragic killing of activist and organizer Charlie Kirk in September 2025--was vague on this

Luther's Answer: The Church Is Where Christ's Gospel Is Taught In his 1537 Smalcald Articles, Luther wrote: Thank God, today a child seven years old knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd. For the children pray thus: I believe one holy Christian Church. This holiness does not consist in albs, tonsures, long gowns, and other of their ceremonies devised by them beyond Holy Scripture, but in the Word of God and true fa