# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S712
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

14 PRESIDENT’S TRIENNIAL REPORT

United Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Norwegian Fr
Church, passed a resolution which called for free conferences
all Lutherans. The National Lutheran Council was to be ask
to implement these free conferences. In J anuary, 1949, an unoffici
committee of 34 men from the various bodies of the National Lus
theran Council met in Minneapolis. The resolutions adopted at that 4
meeting tended toward either a closer federation of the Luthera
bodies belonging to the National Lutheran Council or to an organic
union of these bodies. Soon after that meeting your President ;
received a request for a conference from some prominent men in |
some of these bodies. A meeting with two of these men was held,
attended also by Dr. H. Harms. The question discussed at great
length was the present situation in the Lutheran Churches of
America, especially also whether the Missouri Synod would partici-
pate in free conferences if these could be arranged. Your President
answered that the history of the Missouri Synod was the best
answer. Dr. Walther and our other founding fathers were always
ready for free conferences to discuss doctrine for the purpose of
reaching doctrinal agreement. Briefly stated, our reply was that
we were ready for bona fide free conferences where on the basis
of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions doctrinal agreement
would be sought. The National Lutheran Council in its 1949 con-
vention took no action with reference to free conferences. After
this the President of the American Lutheran Church, Dr. Em.
Poppen, sent an invitation to the Presidents of all Lutheran bodies
for free conferences. He received only one or two affirmative
answers. In his answer your President favored genuine free
conferences, .
After reporting this situation to the College of District Presi-
dents in the spring of 1949, this body adopted the resolutions
urging your President to extend an invitation to the Presidents
of all Lutheran bodies to arrange free conferences. These invita-
tions were sent. However, practically all the answers were nega-+
tive, and no free conferences were held.

Soon after the convention in 1947 your President and Drs. L.
Meyer and Martin Graebner visited conferences of the Evangelical
Lutheran Free Church and the Breslau Synod and also spoke to
many conferences of the various Landeskirchen in the different
Western Occupation Zones of Germany as well as in Berlin. At
that time we suggested the possibilities of free conferences, All |
concerned were interested. Arrangements were made to hold these
meetings at Bad Boll in the year 1948. Free conferences were |
held again in 1949. Doctrinal matters, on the basis of our Lu-.
theran Confessions, and, of course, also some practical issues were
discussed. During 1949, members of the National Lutheran Council ...