# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S227
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

STRUCTURE AND CONSTITUTION 227

Holy Spirit, Elk Grove Village, III.
Northern Illinois District

St. Paul, Lakewood, Ohio

Board of Directors, Ohio District
Faculty, Concordia, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Christ, Lubbock, Tex.

St. Martin’s, Winona, Minn.
Redeemer, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Beautiful Savior, Chicago, III.

St. Paul’s Lutheran, Prior Lake, Minn.

Carolyn Novak
Walter F. Fisher
Rupert F. Uffelman
Douglas E. Riley
Norbert H. Mueller
Herbert J. Carper
Charles O. Johnson
Charles F. Pratt
Robert Loewe

Steve Mueller

5-55
To Reinstate Commission on Worship

WHEREAS, It is by worship and Word and Sacrament that
the church lives wholly, it is there that the heart beats wholly;
and the only parochial activities which have any real justifi-
cation are those which spring from worship and in their turn
nourish it wholly; and

WHEREAS, The worship forms employed by the congre-
gations of the Synod are to be theologically sound and be a
faithful expression of the Lutheran heritage: and

WHEREAS, It is a part of wisdom to entrust matters of
worship to a group of specialists—pastors, teachers, and lay
people—yet people who retain close contact with the “field”:
and

WHEREAS, Worship is of such importance that those charged
with the task should have direct access to the Synod itself; and

WHEREAS, The production of new Service Books for the
Synod (Lutheran Worship, “Pew Edition’; Lutheran Worship
Altar Book; Accompaniment for the Liturgy; new Agenda)
represents only the beginning of an ongoing process of worship
renewal necessitating workshops, conferences, and the pro-
duction of additional liturgical and hymnological resources for
the Synod; and

WHEREAS, The present relegation of the former Commission
on Worship under the direction of the Board for Parish Services
adds needless and cumbersome bureaucracy to the com-
mission’s efficient functioning, limiting also the Synod’s vital
decisionmaking role; and

WHEREAS, The presently constituted Board for Parish Ser-
vices has sufficient assignments and responsibilities of its own
in the area of parish education; therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
reinstate the Commission on Worship as a separate, self-
standing entity as constituted prior to the convention of 1981.

St. John’s Lutheran Church
Truman, Minn.

Willard Tetzloff. Chairman
Jerome Kaelberer, Secretary
St. John’s Lutheran Church
St. James, Minn.

Marvin W. Becker, Chairman
Bernhardt Schwardt. Secretary

5-56

To Restore Commission on Worship
As a Self-standing Entity

WHEREAS, Faith comes through Word and Sacraments,
which function as the God-given means of working faith: and
WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of the church to see that
these means are set in the context of theologically sound
liturgy, that all things are done “decently and in order”: and
WHEREAS, This responsibility has such importance in the
life of the church that it can be markedly lessened only at the
risk of allowing ‘“‘wood, hay, and stubble” to the foundation of
pure teaching and rightly administered sacraments: and
WHEREAS, The present restructuring of the Commission on
Worship under the Board for Parish Services tends to blur the

unique importance of this commission for the ongoing work of
developing, maintaining, and enriching the worship life of the
Synod; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod reinstate the Commission on
Worship as a separate, self-standing entity as constituted prior
to the convention of 1981.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Akron Ohio
Jean M. Bronke, Secretary

5-57

To Make the Commission on Worship
Directly Responsible to the Synod

WHEREAS, The faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis,
recognizes and emphasizes the vital importance of corporate
worship in Word and Sacrament, for it is only through Word
and Sacrament that the church lives and grows; and

WHEREAS, The worship forms employed by the congrega-
tions of the Synod are to be theologically sound, in full accord
with the doctrine of our church as drawn from Holy Scripture
and the Lutheran Confessions; and

WHEREAS, The work of providing and developing worship
forms is of such importance that those charged with this task—
pastors, teachers, and lay people—should be responsible
directly to the Synod itself; and

WHEREAS, The production of new service books for the
Synod (Lutheran Worship[* Pew Edition” ]; Lutheran Worship.
Altar Book; Lutheran Worship, Accompaniment for the
Liturgy: Lutheran Worship, Agenda) represents only the begin-
ning of an ongoing process of worship renewal necessitating
workshops, conferences, and the production of additional
liturgical and hymnological resources for the Synod: and

WHEREAS, The present relegation of the former Commission
on Worship under the direction of the Board for Parish Services
adds needless and cumbersome bureaucracy to the commis-
sion’s efficient functioning, limiting also the Synod’s vital
decision-making role; and

WHEREAS, The presently constituted Board for Parish
Services has sufficient assignments and responsibilities of its
own in the area of parish education; therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
reinstate the Commission on Worship as a self-standing
commission responsible directly to the Synod, as constituted
prior to the convention of 1981.

Faculty

Concordia Seminary

St. Louis, Mo.

Robert G. Hoerber, Secretary

5-58
To Permit Members of Board of Directors
to Serve More than 12 Consecutive Years

WHEREAS. 1981 Convention Res. 2-03A limits the members
of the Board of Directors, except for the elected officers of the
Synod, to serve no more than 12 consecutive years: and

WHEREAS, The 1981 convention, in restructuring the Synod,
changed the convention cycle from two to three years and
changed the tenure for Board members from a maximum of
three four-year terms to two six-year terms, with the result that
three members of the Board of Directors whose terms would
expire at the 1983 convention and four members whose terms
would expire at the 1986 convention would. if elected to a six-
year term, go beyond the 12-year limitation; and

WHEREAS, The Commission on Constitutional Matters,
being in no position to alter the convention resolution, ruled
that these board members could be nominated and elected but
would be able to serve only part of the six-year term with the
resulting vacancy to be filled by election at the next convention
for the remainder of the term; and