# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S535
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

' INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS 535

‘Another proposal advanced by the Division calls for a joint
itual emphasis, possibly in 1950, in which the participating bodies

, Council would pool their resources to promote an extensive
gram of Evangelism. We are convinced that the winning of
erica for Christ can be accomplished most readily by all con-
gations working together to this end.”

It is recognized that the periodicals from which these quota-
ons are taken are not the official voice of the National Lutheran
‘ouncil, but they do express the thinking of its constituent bodies

,on the subject. In a larger meeting of representatives of the
ational Lutheran Council and the Missouri Synod it was stated
gat. the Council itself does not initiate taking over work which

can be classified as church work, but that if the constituent bodies
instruct the Council to carry on such work, it is in duty bound
carry out such instructions. This applies to such work as student

Ifare and spiritual ministry to Jews, Negroes, etc.

To recapitulate: the following fields, which we believe to con-
estitute major portions of the National Lutheran Council’s planning
“and work, namely, student welfare work, missions among Jews,

groes, and other minority groups, home missions, the publication

The Lutheran Outlook, youth work, postgraduate seminary work,
@ fields in which we cannot co-operate unless we are ready to

‘change our whole definition of what constitutes unionistic practice.

We are not unmindful of the fact that even in the above-
"mentioned fields there are certain areas in which agreements of
“co-ordination, allocation, and comity could readily be arrived at.
‘And we are more than ready and willing to make such arrange-
“ments with the National Lutheran Council in those areas. But
“ean one visualize the difficulties, the embarrassments, and even

sincere disagreements which would arise in the course of such”

work if we were only partial participants in any of these’ fields.

t us say that we would agree to an arrangement of allocation or
omity in the field of student welfare work. We would be members

of the National Lutheran Council. We have 200 members of our

Missouri Synod students at Illinois University. The constituent

bodies of the National Lutheran Council have another 200 students.

What an anomalous situation would be brought about if we as

members of the National Lutheran Council would have to tell the

National Lutheran Council that while the National Lutheran Coun-

cil, as such, has a student center at Champaign, we would, in con-
science bound, be compelled to open a Missouri Synod student
center at the same university — while we are nominally members
of the National Lutheran Council. Apply this same situation to
other fields.

. There are, no doubt, areas in which we could participate, such