# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1956_S746
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

746 MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS

Allied with that oversight is the neglect in informing the Com-
mission promptly of changed addresses. Chaplains and contact
pastors constantly complain that by the time they receive ‘the
lists many of the men have again been moved. This complaint is
supported by the fact that the mail returned to Washington has
through the past three years hovered around an annual 25,000
mark.

Whatever our congregations may think of the military situa-
tion in our world, our country, and our day, the fact remains that
a group of our fellow Lutherans greater than the communicant
membership of 16 different Synodical Districts is deprived of the
local ministry of the home church and must be served with Word
and Sacrament. The Commission exists to answer that need. No
congregation ought to neglect using this vital service, which it
alone could not render.

The roster of Missouri Synod military chaplains on active duty
is another evidence of the unchanged situation:

1953 1954 1955

13 13 13

41 38 37

59 51 49

3 3 4

Totals eee 116 105 103

The prayers of the church are needed: First, that the Holy
Spirit will continue to move sufficient pastors to enter this unique
and sacrificial ministry; and secondly, that He will support and
encourage them in a ministry that presents problems and situations
frequently entirely different from the parish ministry. Demands
are made on their faith, love, and pastoral wisdom that are not
always fulfilled by an easy application of the traditional rules and
procedures. They need and ask for the confidence and moral sup-
port which the church can bring them in constant and full measure.

A note of thanks is indicated for the 347 parish pastors who
are devoting extra time and effort to serving the more than
600 military bases in our country. For some it means only five or
ten letters a month; for others it means hundreds of miles of extra
travel to conduct Lutheran services and to render a personal
ministry to our fellow members, who by the hundreds are set down
in isolated military installations. By an accident of geography the
military is concentrated in those areas where our church is weakest.

And finally, a growing problem is a Lutheran ministry to our
members in American military contingents in foreign countries.
Here is an absolutely unique situation for our country and our
church! More than half our military manpower is today stationed

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