Dear Chairman Saunders and Members of Floor Committee #5:

I am writing to you with my own suggestions on Proposed Resolution 5-05, "To Address Open Communion and Pastoral Exceptions in Extraordinary Circumstances." I authored the Overture 5-17, submitted by St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church (UAC), Magnolia, Texas, titled "To Reaffirm, Enforce, and Restore Faithful Eucharistic Practice and Synodical Discipline concerning Unionism and Open Communion."

Luther often mentions his desire for poets and musicians to write hymns and set liturgy in the common language of the people, along with the deductive conclusion that this longing was unfulfilled in his lifetime. Five centuries later, it is difficult to imagine a greater gift to Lutheran worship or a richer fulfillment of Luther’s desires than the treasures contained in Te Laudamus.