# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1953_S1183
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Whereas, The President of Synod is the official w

authorized to carry out the directives of ; no is duly

Report of Commission on Fraternal

Organizat;
(Memorial 628) tons

me lodge Problem does not exist in these
win Ts os your Commiss ion have spoken at L. L, I, i
gatherings, discussion revealed that Y congregation

both rural y meet
and urban communities commonly meet with ‘presnune

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INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS 567

me or more local secret orders that our members affiliate
anti-Scriptural societies. It is our conviction that unless all
Pépastors and congregations remain alert to the dangers of the
Be-evil, we shall in the course of time find it difficult to hold
fine. It should be evident to all our people that in our recent
Sotiations with the Commissioners of the American Lutheran
arch regarding the lodge matter, the position of our Church
ld be far more compelling and convincing if we could show
‘¢ throughout our Synod all pastors and congregations are not
aware of the lodge evil, but are also, with God’s help, grap-
g with the problem and doing all within their power to preserve
fr congregations from the inroads of secret oath-bound organ-

°“A most significant development with respect to the Church’s
‘Station to lodges occurred in the last two years in England. There
‘g‘rector by the name of the Rev. Walton Hannah has, through an
‘article and a substantial volume, made the Church of England:
‘aware of the inconsistency of members of the Anglican Church
being at the same time members of the Masonic Order. Rev. Han-
tiah’s testimony to the truth had repercussions throughout the
English-speaking world. The Church of England therefore finds
itself in an embarrassing dilemma. It must decide whether it
wishes to continue to condone membership in Freemasonry or
whether it wishes to make an all-out effort to disassociate itself
from this organization. Rev. Hannah’s book Darkness Visible is
widely read and studied thoughout England. Concordia Publish-
ing House has purchased 1,400 copies. Our Commission believes
that our congregations will make a good investment by purchasing
copies of this book for the pastors and officers of the congregation.
With respect to the Boy Scouts of America and the fact that
a number of our congregations sponsor Boy Scout troops under
Lutheran Scout leadership, our Commission has only little to re-
port. Within the last years, scores of our Lutheran boys have
qualified for, and been awarded, the Pro Deo et Patria award. This
award is given in recognition of special services by a Boy Scout
under the direction of the local pastor. The members of your Com-
mission served with other representatives of our Synod on a sub-
committee on Scouting and met periodically with’ delegations of
the other bodies affiliated with us in the Synodical Conference in
an effort to remove the differences of attitude and practice within
this body regarding Scoutism. Our inability to reach an agreement
in this matter was reported to the St.Paul Convention of the
Synodical Conference, which, in turn, referred the problem to the
seminary faculties in the Synodical Conference.
On November 15, 1950, your Commission sustained a most

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