# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S470
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

478 MISSIONS

It is our sincere prayer that our Synod will give incre
attention to the promotion of medical missions.

Otto H. Grunow, M.D.

American College of Radiology
Instructor, Mallinckrodt Institute of

Cuar.es G. OBERMEYER, M, D.

Chief of Anesthesia, Lutheran Hos-
pital, St. Louis

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Radiology, Washington Univer- Chairman, Lutheran Medical “Mis-
sity Medical School sion Assn.

Chairman, Memorial Committee Wotrcane F. Bute, M.D.

Tueo. H. Hanser, M.D. Resident in Training, Lutheran
F.A.C.S., Surgical Staff, Lutheran Hospital, St. Louis
Hospital, St. Louis Medical Missionary-Designate to
Board Member, Lutheran Hospital, Ambur, India, Lutheran Mission
Vicksburg, Miss. . Hospital

. Executive Committee, Lutheran

Medical Mission Assn.
ACTION
Upon recommendation of Committee 2, Synod adopted the
following resolution:
Resolution 21

Wuerseas, The work of medical missions is certainly well
pleasing in the sight of our Savior, who is the Physician of the
body as well as of the soul; and

Wuereas, Synod’s original medical mission program has not
received the emphasis desired, due largely to the recent war and
unsettled postwar conditions and the lack of proper manpower; and

Wuereas, Experience has proved that the acts of mercy per-
formed by medical missionaries in the name of Christ have fre-
quently paved the way for an effective ‘presentation of the Gos-
pel; and

Wuereas, A group of physicians and other professional people
within the membership of our Synod have petitioned our Church to
launch upon an expanded program of medical missions; therefore
be it

Resolved, That we thank God for the devotion and consecra-
tion of these physicians and the other professional people who
have given liberally of their time and thought in behalf of an
expanded program of medical missions; and be it further

Resolved, That we express our agreement in principle with
the general objectives which they have set forth in their petition.

Since, however, the attainment of these objectives will entail
additional study and investigation (there being many problems
of a technical and specialized nature), we respectfully request
Synod

MISSIONS 479

a) To ask the signers of Memorial 414 together with the
Secretary of Missions of Synod and his Assistant to constitute
a committee which will study all the problems involved and will
formulate a workable modus operandi (work plan) (it is under-
stood that the heads of Synod’s various departments will be drawn
in for consultation); and

b) To empower this committee, after securing the approval
of Synod’s Board of Directors, and after securing the necessary
appropriation of funds from this Board, to proceed with the exe-
cution of the synodical program of medical missions.

“For Such a Day as This’ — “More Men for Christ”
(Memorial 415)

A Call for Greater Lay Enlistment

The World Today

The state of the world today presents a darkening picture of
deepening gloom and dark despair. Mankind has loosed upon —
itself forces which threaten its very existence. The rumble of
warfare, the clashing of ideologies, the heat of strife — all are rock-
ing the foundations of what men had come to regard as certain
and enduring.

The morals of our so-called Christian world are a matter of
deep concern to every Christian. Modern education has proved
inadequate to change the heart of man, which God Himself de-
scribes as “desperately wicked.”

As a result, the world today is groping in disillusionment.
Men’s hearts are failing them for fear of what the future holds.
Such is the appalling picture of the world today as it staggers
across the midpoint of the twentieth century.

The Church Today

The “religious” world presents a picture which is scarcely any
brighter. The “great” religions of heathenism have been aroused
from their lethargy and are fighting either for survival or to en-
large their spheres of influence. A new religion of crass materialism
has arisen which threatens to sweep mankind into its fold by force.
Romanism, suffering from its severest losses since the days of the
Reformation, has become increasingly militant and audacious.

Large sections of Protestantism, while displaying an external:
activity, have surrendered to the forces of Modernism and are
preaching a “gospel” which knows’no Savior. The Lutheran Church
of Europe was Casualty No.1 of World War Il. Even now the rem-
nant of European Lutheranism is struggling for survival.