# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S642
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

642 MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS

4. Keep abreast of legislative developments with a view:
serving our constitutional guarantees of the separag,
Church and State, and maintain contacts with the
Department in the interest of Synod’s missionary an
cational program.

The resolution provided for a board of seven membeyj
for the appointment of an executive secretary who should
position of Director of Public Relations for Synod.

At the same time the Fiscal Conference was instruc
Synod to allocate “ample funds for the establishment of:
partment which would compare favorably with those j
leading church bodies.”

Personnel of the Department
President John W. Behnken appointed the following m

the Board for Public Relations: The Revs. Ernest C. Fackl
troit, Mich., Adolf F, Meyer, Yonkers, N. Y., and Manfred E.
La Porte, Ind.; Messrs. John W. Boehne, Jr, Washingtoi™
George Halter, Cleveland, Ohio, and Frederick Strodel, C
Ill.; and Dr. Albert G. Huegli, River Forest Ill. Pastor *
resigned from the Board for reasons of health. The Rev,
W. Gockel, St. Louis, Mo., was appointed to take his pla
After careful consideration of a number of candidates, h
elected Professor Oswald C. J. Hoffmann, Bronxville, N
Executive Secretary and Director of Public Relations. His'‘a)
ment was confirmed by Synod’s Board of Directors.
Headquarters for the new department were opened
York City on September 1, 1948, at 1819 Broadway,
Circle. The Washington office for Governmental relatio
a month later at 736 Jackson Place, N.W., in close pro
the White House. Miss Olinda Roettger became the Wai
secretary.
District Public Relations Departments ;

It became apparent immediately that an effective pul
tions program required the development of an organizati
would eventually reach the grass roots level, that is to say,
gregations of Synod and the communities which they ser
The first steps in this direction were taken by the Di
Synod with the establishment of District Departments
Relations for all 32 Districts in the United States and (
response to requests from Synod’s department, these Dis
partments, with few exceptions, have established public
representation for all the circuits or areas within the D:
carry out effectively the directive given in 1947. Both a reé
of need and a sense of loyalty to Synod prompted the Di