# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S351
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

484 INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS

not then and are not now in agreement. ... We voiced our di
agreement with some of the points of “A Statement” as wel]
with the accompanying letter and insisted that these be corre ted

or withdrawn”; and

Wuereas, The “Agreement” between the Presidency ang the
signers of “A Statement,” in which Dr. Friedrich Participa
specifically declares that “the withdrawal of “A Statement” as
a basis of discussion shall not be interpreted as a retraction”; ang
_ Wuereas, The President is charged with “supervision regardin
the. doctrine and the administration” of Synod’s servants (Con
stitution, XI, B); and

Wueress, The Vice-Presidents of Synod may at any time be
called upon to discharge the President’s functions (Constitution,
XI, C); and

Wnereas, Only he who is firmly and fully grounded in the
pure doctrine of God’s Word can properly discharge these func.
tions; and , .

Wuereas, In spite of the synodical President's stipulation on
August 16, 1946, that there should be no- further organizational
solicitation of adherents while the meetings of the ‘committees
dealing with “A Statement” were being held, Dr. Friedrich on
September 28, 1946, by letter requested signers of “A Statement”
to “accelerate the distribution of Speaking the Truth in Love,
a booklet which explains, defends, and propagandizes for “A State-
ment,” and added the comment that “it should be an easy matter to
secure additional signatures”; and

Wuereas, As chairman of the “A Statement” committee Dr.
Friedrich tendered apology to Dr. E. W. Koehler for a statement in
Speaking the Truth in Love which questioned the latter’s honesty
in using Scripture, and yet thereafter, in his letter of September 28,
1946, urged brethren to “accelerate the distribution” of the booklet
containing the accusation for which apology had been made; and

Wuereas, No provision of Synod’s Constitution and By-Laws
may be construed or so applied as to nullify the clear precepts of
God’s Word (see, for example, the Second and Eighth Command-
ments); therefore be it

Resolved, That Trinity Congregation inform Synod that it does
not and cannot recognize Dr. Friedrich as qualified to be a Vice-
President of Synod, in which: it holds membership, .as long as
the considerations here detailed are not resolved in harmony with
Scripture’s directions, and that the congregation. must, therefore,
protest his Vice-Presidency; and be it further .. -.

INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS = 485

ved, That we request that this overture be printed in

th aeoK or Memoriats for the 1950 convention.
e .
Trinity LUTHERAN CHURCH
Oak Park, Inu.
E. L. Krert, Secretary
[624]

Protesting Against Appointment of Fourth
Vice-President

Waereas, A certain District President, as chairman of a com-
mittee, in 1945 addressed a letter to all the clergy of the Missouri
Synod, in which the following false and unwarranted accusations
were raised against certain unnamed brethren within Synod: “In
recent years, especially since the Saginaw Convention, a strange
and pernicious spirit, utterly at variance with the ‘fundamental
concepts of the Gospel and the genius of the Lutheran Church, has
lifted its ugly head in more than one area of our beloved Synod.
This spirit has its origin in a wrong approach to the Holy Scrip-
tures and in a tragic misconception of the very essence of the
Gospel and the nature, functions, and mission of the Church. It is
characterized by barren, negative attitudes, unevangelical tech-
niques in dealing with the problems of the individual and the
Church, unsympathetic legalistic practices, a self-complacent and
separatistic narrowness, and an utter disregard for the fundamental
law of Christian love. One need not be a prophet to forecast what
the results will be if this unevangelical and intolerant spirit is left
unrestrained and to its own devices. Spiritual life will be blighted.
The organism of the Church will be paralyzed. Ecclesiastical perse-
cution will occur with increasing frequency. The onward march
of the Gospel will be obstructed, and one open door after another
will be closed to us”; and

Wuereas, The said District President was an original signer of
“A Statement”; and

Wuereas, The President of Synod in a public meeting held in
Chicago on July 1, 1947, declared “that there are doctrinal aberra-
tions in ‘A Statement’ as the words read”; and ‘

Wnereas, The President of Synod in a letter dated January 18,
1947, informed the members of Synod that an Agreement had been

made between the Praesidium and the signers of “A Statement,”

to wit: that “‘A Statement’? and ‘The Accompanying Letter’ be
withdrawn as a basis of discussion. . . . The withdrawal of
‘A Statement’ as a basis of discussion shall not be interpreted as
a retraction”; and

Rene rE OES Sete Serer