On June 4, 2026, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit published its decision about federal jurisdiction of the lawsuit by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod against Concordia University Texas (CTX), Donald Christian, and Christian Bannwolf. I wrote about that in the essay, CTX: A Refreshing Decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In brief summary, where the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod established LCMS as a separate Missouri nonprofit corporation in 1894 to handle civil affairs under the “two kingdoms” theological doctrine, and the Church’s governing documents and designated spokesman explained this dual structure, the district court violated the church autonomy doctrine by independently interpreting the Church’s Policy Manual to conclude the Synod was a separate Texas unincorporated association rather than deferring to the Church’s doctrinal explanation that LCMS serves as the civil entity representing the Synod in all legal matters.

On June 18, 2026, CTX, Christian, and Bannwolf petitioned for panel rehearing. A copy of the petition is available at this link. I wrote about the petition in the essay, CTX Petitions for Panel Rehearing on Question of Federal Jurisdiction.

On July 9, 2026, the Court entered the following Order:

ON PETITION FOR REHEARING

Before Elrod, Chief Judge, and Jones and Graves, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam:

IT IS ORDERED that the petition for rehearing is DENIED.

A copy of the Order is available at this link.

Unless the matter reaches the United States Supreme Court by appeal or prerogative writ such as certiorari, this means the case goes back to the federal district court, which is the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, to resume proceedings there, hopefully on the substance and merits and not sidetracked on any other jurisdictional or procedural issues.