# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1953_S1108
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

ia Recommendations for the East Zone
The Commission recommends:

“1. That our § i
ynod cont

of physical suffering on th part of
cumstances permit.”

Comment: Our Bo
“ : ard has carried
Concerning the East Zone. I ‘be added spommendati
Tt ation
East Zone for physical relief continness ed that the need inthe

2. That assistance be made available through gifts or J

hiche er May be f i I to al In f
Ww Vv ‘easib e, i i
. ’ d the reconstruction £0) Modest

ComMENT: The
Zones h : Second recommendation :
of a rent been carried out in connection wi gencerning the East
ving Church Extension Fund € establishment

Recommendation No.1 of the West Zone which was Spoken of in

Provide moneys for
€ part of pastors and memborg felt
cir.

“4, . .
available te post Bye given srough such channels as are
0. sas ;
the use of the Free Churches in the Bact Zoristian Merature for

een carried out to the extent that this has been feasibl di
‘ e under
in the West onman Zone of Gorman that 20 bo rae
, L , oF
of this recommendation almost impoa the implementation
ist In the past triennium 70 Per cent :
istered by our Board h

pro i r among German i
and Western Zones in Germany. Besides the woes

MISSIONS 426

ided through our Board larger sums were also spent by direct
from the Board of Directors, so that it can be said that our
h spent $150,000 to: $200,000 in Germany annually. In the
jon of our Board the amount of money our Synod spent in
many in comparison with elsewhere in Europe should be re-
ed and considered in the light of our other European mission

“A, Present Status.
2. “The Lutheran Free Church of Denmark is about 100 years old.

It began with strength, but declined from a peak of 2,000 souls to

its present number of 128 souls and 91 communicant members,

“which are attached to five congregations in widely scattered areas.

‘These congregations are being served by two brothers, the Pastors

P, and W. Michael. A great deal of their time is spent in traveling
to meet a few people here and a few people there. The conditions
under which they labor are most difficult and disheartening.

“The Lutheran State Church of Denmark acts also as the gov-
ernment department of vital statistics. This means, for instance,
that people must go to a pastor of the State Church in order to
have their children’s names entered upon government records at
Baptism or to have marriages officially recorded. The result is
that people are reluctant to join a church which cannot perform
these official functions with governmental recognition. Experience
has shown that people who are willing to come to occasional Bible
Hour meetings or who are ready to form an educational society
so that their children may be more thoroughly instructed in the
Word of God are not ready to take the next step and become
members of the Free Church.

“B. Recommendations.

“It is the considered opinion of the Survey Committee, sup-
ported also by brethren of the German Free Church who have had
firsthand information as to church conditions in Denmark, that we
cannot answer for continuing to support two men in a field that
throughout decades of conscientious work on the part of faithful
pastors has shown no prospect for growth and in which one man
could well take care of the souls that earnestly desire the minis-
trations of the Free Church. We therefore recommend:

“1. That only one pastor be retained in Denmark and that the
congregations in Denmark rally to the full financial support of this
one pastor and his work.” .

Comment: The implementation of this first recommendation
has been begun. The Board has succeeded in its efforts to obtain
a call for the Rev. Paul Michael. He is being called into the German
work of our Onf&rio District.

“2. That the two pastors in Denmark be called into more prom-