# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1962_S175 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 174 UNPRINTED MEMORIALS [215-A] To Appoint an Urban Church Commission WHEREAS, The removal of many of our city churches to suburban areas has left a veritable spiritual waste- land in the heart of many large metropolitan areas; and Wuenreas, The Scriptural position of serving the com- munity without regard to race or national origin, steadily affirmed by the Synod, is not evident in the practice of all congregations; and Wuereas, God is sending to our doorstep many people whom our churches are not reaching because of racial, language, or culture barriers; and Wuereas, The growing challenge to our Synod of the inner American city makes it the frontier of Chris- tianity in our time; and Wuereas, The problems of the inner-city churches are properly the responsibility and concern of the entire church; therefore be it Resolved, That we strive to become aware and to make all of our congregations aware of the dramatic urgency of this problem for the future of our Synod; and be it further Resolved, That the Synod give earnest consideration to the appointment of an Urban Church Commission, to be charged with the duty of studying the problems of high population-density areas; and be it further Resolved, That special training be afforded to pas- tors working in such areas or interested in such work, both in the seminary and in after-seminary years; and be it finally Resolved, That a substantial portion of the vicars which are available each year be placed in service with inner-city churches — if necessary, at synodical expense. IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CONGREGATION New York, N. Y. Ropert E. WitTENBuRG, Pastor Avex J. Hamann, President Karu E. Fritscu, Secretary [217] To Authorize Brazil District to Begin Mission Work in Portugal The Thirty-Seventh Convention of the Igreja Evan- gelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District of The Lu- theran Church — Missouri Synod) adopted the following resolution: The mission work in the land of Portugal is no longer a dream in the missionary endeavors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brasil, but by the grace of God has turned into an agreeable and blessed reality. The Rev. Dr. Rodolfo Hasse, missionary of the Portuguese Lutheran Church; the President of the Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod), the Rev. Arnold W. Schneider, and the professors Dr. Hans Rottmann and Otto A. Goerl, visiting the mission field of Portugal, had a very favorable impression of the mission possibilities in Portugal. This fact causes us much joy, since we Brasilians are united with the Portuguese nation by many bonds of relationship, among which we would emphasize the language, customs, sentiment, and Latin temperament, as well as the mutual sympathy between the two nations, which in the distant past were together under the same flag and the same king. BRETHREN PRESENT AT THIS 37TH CONVENTION: Considering what has been stated above; Considering the order of the Master, which He issued to our church and to each one of us in particular, “to make disciples of all nations”; We propose to the 37th convention: 1) To intensify in all possible ways the Portuguese mission; 2) To appear before The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod and to show with unrefutable arguments the neces- sity and the timeliness to begin the work through the Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod), requesting the Missouri Synod to grant us permission to carry out this mission work; 3) To request that the missionary of the Portuguese Lutheran Church, the Rev. Dr. Rodolfo Hasse, continue to visit the Portuguese mission periodically, strengthening in this manner the small but promising group of true Portuguese Lutherans; 4) To administer, on the occasion of these visits to Portugal, a course for evangelists and missionaries to young men interested in the work. This proposal of the committee that studied the Memorial No. 1 was adopted. We, the Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod) appear before the 45th regular convention of The Lutheran Church-— Missouri Synod in order to request the convention to authorize the Board of Direc- tors of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod to grant permission to the Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod) to carry on the work in Portugal with their own means and under their own responsibility. In the name of and by order of the Igreja Evan- gelica Luterana do Brasil, ArRNotb W. ScHNEmER, President [218] To Change Provisions for Salaries Paid North American Missionaries Who Are Willing to Work in Brazil Wuereas, “The laborer is worthy of his hire”; and Wuereas, The salary which has been paid to North American missionaries in Brazil has been quite inferior to the remuneration which was and still is being given to laborers in other mission fields; and Wuereas, North American workers employed at our seminary in Porto Alegre always drew a higher pay than other North Americans working in the field; and