# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S928
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

X. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
[1001]
Report of Bureau of Information on Secret Societies
Your Bureau of Information has during the past triennium
.sought to serve the pastors and congregations of our Church by
_supplying them with accurate and up-to-date information about
“the present status of many secret orders. The correspondence cov-
ered thirty-four (34) States. In a greater proportion than formerly
the inquiries which reached our offices were concerned with’ ap-
.. proaches which had been made to our members that they join some
secret order. This seems to indicate a concerted program on the
part of the lodges of our country to expand their forces. Our
pastors are not lacking in watchfulness. Both the number and the
tenor of the letters of inquiry indicate that our pastors are on the
alert, and there is also ample evidence to show that our members
consult with their pastors before joining any secular society, secret
or otherwise., This is most encouraging.

There has been no significant change in the status of the secret
orders during the past three years. It was again disclosed that
‘some of the most prominent of the insurance orders are now
“Yelinquishing the condition of initiation by ritual. and make the
“insurance contract a simple business transaction. There is no
“ change, however, in the attitude of Freemasonry and Odd Fellow-
ship toward the Church, and there is many a less important order
. which contains the lodge spirit in full potency. We have also found
it necessary to warn our people against the secret societies being
organized for servicemen’s mothers. Not only do we regard ‘as
a waste of money the membership in such of these orders as we
have investigated, but the religion of the rituals is Unitarian,
unchristian.

In the fall of 1943 the Bureau directed a letter to all Presidents
of Missouri Synod Districts, from which the following sentences
‘are quoted:

_ “Occasionally we receive complaints to the effect that in other
areas lodge men are freely admitted to fellowship in our congre~-
gations. Whenever we have traced such reports in the past, we
have found them to be based on misinformation. This is not deny-
ing, of course, that there will always be problem congregations and
at we shall never have a ministry which scores one hundred per
gent in dealing with members of secret orders. But we consider
these cases to be sporadic. If, however, in your opinion, there is
reason to believe that the situation is not as favorable as we have

[345]

een led to believe and that there is a tendency to overlook the |

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