# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S585
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

FINANCIAL MATTERS

“Concerning this report of the Board of Directors, Committee 11,
@ferring to points 1—11 and 24, reported:

Wueres, The financial matters of Synod involve an enormous
amount of detailed work; and

Wnereas, The Board of Directors carried out their difficult and —

important assignments within the limitations of the regulations
governing the finances of Synod; therefore be it

“Resolved, That we express our gratitude and appreciation for
their faithful service and also commend the officers of Synod for
‘their efficient promotion of the God-blessed special offerings and
collections completed in the past triennium.

ACTION
This resolution was adopted by Synod.

As to the Centennial Thankoffering, point 10, the following
report was personally presented to the convention by the chair-
man of the Thankoffering Committee, the Rev. W. C. Birkner:

At its Saginaw Convention, Synod decided unanimously to
gather a Centennial Thankoffering of “major proportions” and in-
structed the Fiscal Conference to prepare and to execute plans

_ regarding the objectives and the scope of the Thankoffering. The
Fiscal Conference carried out its instructions by electing a Cen-
tennial Thankoffering Committee, which studied the matter and
submitted detailed plans to the Fiscal Conference. These plans
_ were discussed and approved in September, 1946. It was agreed
to set a goal of $3,500,000, of which one third was to be retained
by the individual Districts for mission expansion within their own
area; the second third was allocated for mission expansion in
foreign fields; and the final third was designated to provide ex-
panded facilities for an even better equipped clergy and teaching
staff for our Synod in the years of the second century.

Centennial Sunday, April 27, was recommended as the be-
ginning of the ingathering of gifts and pledges. Twelve weeks have
passed since our people met in their houses of worship to acknowl-
edge publicly the gracious guidance of God, who led our fathers
into the United States of America and who prospered the organi-
zation in which we hold membership. It would be a delightful
duty to inform the Convention that our 4,739 congregations have
completed the ingathering and that the objectives have been fully
attained. In the very nature of the case this cannot be done
today. . Only a relatively few congregations — 1,652 to be exact,
and these congregations contain only 39 per cent of our communi-
cant membership — have informed the Committee as to the prog-
ress of the Centennial Thankoffering in their midst; and District
reports also remain spotty. Among the reports that have been
sent to us are scores which indicate that additional contributions