# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1953_S773
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

CONVENTION MINUTES 773

ference of the Michigan District of the Wisconsin Synod, assuring
of their prayers.

The Board of Support and Pensions and its Executive Secre-
Ftary were commended for their intelligent and faithful work and
fF urged to continue their efforts to persuade all congregations and
e workers of Synod to support Synod’s Pension Plan. Synod further
E resolved that beginning February 1, 1954, a retired worker be
F granted a minimum of $100.00 a month and the widow $60. 00
Ea month and that adjustments for disabled members be made
; accordingly. Mr. Harry Siemann of the Federal Department of
& State addressed the convention briefly.

q Adjournment with the hymn “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy
F Word” and the votum.

Session 9
June 23, A.M.

4 The ninth session was opened with devotions in which the
; Rev. Philip Mueller, President of the South Dakota District, served
as liturgist. In his meditation the Rev. A. H. Oswald, President of
the South Wisconsin District, pointed out that the Law must be
preached in all its severity to bring secure sinners to a realization
of their guilt, and that the Gospel of salvation by faith alone must
be the answer to the question of the despairing sinner: “What
must I do to be saved?” Such preaching of the Law will not make
The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod popular with sinners, and
* such preaching of the Gospel will gain us no favor with certain
; other church bodies, but this preaching makes The Lutheran
'’ Church— Missouri Synod the Bible Church, the true visible
Church on earth. The minutes were then read; a change was
ordered, substituting the words “gives answer to Memorial 60”
for the words “furnishes the assurance requested in Memorial 60.”
Thereupon the minutes were adopted.

Prof. Fred Kramer read the first installment of his essay,
“A Church Works with Her Eyes Fixed on Christ’s Second
Coming.” At the hand of Matthew 24 the essayist pointed out how
sign after sign of the nearness of Christ’s coming was in our day
being fulfilled in unusually striking fashion. All such fulfillment
calls to the Church to awake and realize that the Second Coming
is not far off, even though these signs do not tell us how near,
since they were not meant to give that information. Thus the
paramount obligation of the pastors is to teach their parishioners
to be sober and to avoid the love of the world so that in sancti-
fication and righteousness they may await the dawn of the great
Judgment. ;

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in England was permitted