# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S165 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) initiate immediately a synodwide total and ongoing stewardship program designed to lead God’s people into - a study of His Word, strengthen their relationship to ' and involvement with the triune God, His church, His world, and with the fullness of life as God intended it, and provide them with opportunities to worship God with their gifts; and be it further Resolved, That this program be conducted on an individual District basis but with leadership, objectives, plans, and timetables provided or coordinated together with the Department of Stewardship and Financial Support and that the department utilize qualified re- sources within the entire church body; and be it further Resolved, That during the next triennium every congregation in the LCMS be encouraged to contact every member (individually or in a group setting) for their stewardship commitment and response; and be it further Resolved, That, God willing, during the next trien- nium all members of LCMS congregations be urged to give proportionately, moving toward or beyond tithing, by annually increasing their regular giving by at least 1% of their personal income, e.g., 2% to 3%, 10% to 11%; and be it further Resolved, That a goal of the treasure phase of the intensive stewardship program be that every member grow in the joy of giving and every congregation experience significant increases in offerings, thereby enabling God’s people to carry out the Great Com- mission in the congregations, Districts, and the Synod, trusting the Lord that through this program more resources will be available; that every congregation be asked to increase the percentage of its budget pledged to District and national programs of the Synod for their operating budgets, and commit to an annual dollar objective, with a goal that by 1985 at least $12 million more annually, over and above inflation, be made available for District and national programs of the Synod; and be it further Resolved, That these increased funds be designated for the work we do together through District and national programs of the Synod in maintaining minis- tries in North America and around the world initiated through Forward in Remembrance, increasing college and seminary support, providing additional supple- mental retirement benefits for veterans of the cross, and reducing operating and capital debt; and be it further 2. Synodwide Major Appeal Resolved, That the convention approve a major synodwide financial appeal to be conducted in the congregations no earlier than 1986, and authorize the Board of Directors to implement this resolution. The minimum goal should be $60 million; these funds to be utilized for continuing mission expansion in North America and around the world, assisting in the capital needs of colleges and seminaries, establishing endow- ments for the training of full-time church workers, use of new communication technologies, eliminating any re- rr SSS~S~S«Y ADMINISTRATION AND PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION 165 maining operating deficit of the Synod, and such other forward-moving projects as may be determined in the development of the appeal’s Statement of Mission and Ministry; and be it further Resolved, That planning for the special appeal start in 1983, and that an appeal director be engaged as soon as possible to work with District and national leadership in the development of the appeal’s mission and ministry statement, major gift activity, and the recruitment and training of the appeal volunteers; and be it further 3. Periodic Jubilee Celebrations Resolved, That there be a periodic jubilee year of celebration, a synodwide mission and ministry festival, and that the leadership of our Synod at all levels provide God’s people the opportunity to utilize in a sacrificial manner all their blessings and gifts; and be it further Resolved, That these synodwide mission and minis- try festivals be conducted every six years beginning in 1986; and be it further Resolved, That the resources received from God’s people in subsequent jubilee years be designated to the God-given opportunities that exist at that time as identified by the Planning Council; and be it finally Conclusion Resolved, That remembering the injunction of St. Paul to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), we ask our heavenly Father to bless all our efforts in the implementation of this stewardship strategy. Action: Adopted as amended (9). (The Chair indicated that the resolution would be discussed in three parts individually, followed by a discussion of the preamble and the whereases, and thereupon the entire resolu- tion would receive action. The delegates adopted an amend- ment inserting two resolves from Res. 12-05 of the 1981 convention, recognizing that “biennium” would need to be changed to “triennium.” These two resolves appear as the third and fourth resolves under point 1. A motion to refer the whole resolution back to the committee failed. The delegates also declined to cease debate on the main motion. Thereupon it was resolved to divide the question. By a standing vote of 497 to 427 the delegates agreed to extend the orders of the day to 6:30 p.m., if necessary, to discuss the resolution and to carry out the necessary final election process. The question was divided as follows: The first part would include the first three whereases and point 1; the second part would include the third whereas and points 2 and 3 with their resolves. After further discussion, part 1 of the divided question was adopted as previously amended by the insertion of the two resolves. The delegates declined an amendment to insert the words “with special emphasis upon providing for ethnic ministries, such as the Black Scholarship Endowment Fund to which we committed ourselves in Res. 10-19A of the 1977 Dallas convention” after the words “church workers” in the first resolve of point 2. Once again the delegates declined: to cease debate on the main resolution. Another amendment to strike all three resolves in point 3 failed. After closure of debate, a motion to table the entire matter until the 1986 convention of the Synod was made but was declared out of order. Thereupon a motion to simply table the matter was introduced. This failed. Thereupon the delegates adopted the second part of the resolution, as outlined above, by a standing vote of 463 to 355. Since the Chair had already ruled that the preamble would apply to the entire resolution and since both portions had now been approved, Res. 4-02A was declared adopted as amended.)