# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S29 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) | } | j I MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 29 Dr. Karl Holfeld Dr. Harms took the chair and introduced Dr. Karl Holfeld, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. He brought the greetings of his church body and dwelt on four reasons for altar and pulpit fellowship between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada and Lutheran Church — Canada (Missouri Synod). He received a standing ovation. Elections Chairman Bruns reported that the convention had completed the election of the Vice-Presidents: Dr. Victor L. Behnken was elected Third Vice-President; Dr. E. C. Weber was elected Fourth Vice-President; Dr. Paul W. Streufert was elected Fifth Vice-President. Communications Dr. August Bernthal introduced the report of Com- mittee 10. The convention resolved to amend the articles of agreement of Concordia Publishing House (TB 60—61, 10-13). A clause should be added to line 14 on page 61: “provided by the terms under which the same are held, be.” The convention declined the overture that 5% of Concordia Publishing House’s profits go to Concordia Tract Mission but encouraged Concordia Publishing House and the members of the Synod to expand and support this mission (TB 61—62, 10-14). It concurred in an overture encouraging the work of Christian artists (TB 62, 10-15) and urged CPH to con- tinue its endeavors to depict characters without regard to race or color (TB 63, 10-16). The Commission on Church Literature and the Board of Directors of CPH were asked to continue their study of the late Dr. William Beck’s translation of the Old Testament and were encouraged to publish it if feasible (TB 63, 10-17). It authorized a study by the Board of Public Rela- tions of all publications within the Synod, recommenda- tions to be presented to the 1971 convention (TB 64, 10-18). Special Ministries and Sundry Matters Chairman H. R. Frincke of Committee 11 introduced Dr. Kenneth Ahl, Executive Secretary of the Armed Forces Commission. Dr. Ahl expressed gratitude for the support given to the program and told of the work of this commission. He introduced Chaplain Herbert Schulze, a Vietnam veteran, who received an ovation at the conclusion of his message. The convention accepted the report of the Armed Forces Commission and urged continued support of its program (TB 47, 11-06). Chaplain Robert C. Fenning of the U.S. Navy was recognized. No action was taken, for lack of time, on the resolu- tion to decline Overture 11-11 (TB 48, 11-08). Announcements Dr. Roland Wiederaenders announced the schedule for Wednesday. Dr. Streufert asked for the privilege to give an affirmative or negative answer to his election on Wednesday. This was granted. Closing Devotion Dr. William Buege led in the closing devotion. His message was based on John 15:5. He stressed that God’s Word builds congregations and a congregation of con- gregations, also the words of Christ, “Without Me you can do nothing.” Session 9 Opening July 16, Morning The Communion service before the session was con- ducted by Dr. W. Harry Krieger, assisted by eight fellow pastors. Rev. Robert Zehnder conducted the opening devotion. The text for his message was 1 John 4:7-11. He depicted the amazing love of God for man and our consequent love for each other. Various announcements were made. Essay Dr. R. Caemmerer brought the third portion of his essay, based on Philippians 1:3-11. To have unity among churches, he said, you must have the edifying Word, and relations with all Christians require us to share this edifying Word, for the Word builds the church. Church Relations It was moved and seconded to suspend the rules and to continue discussion on Res. 3-15 until a decision is reached. There were 485 in favor of the motion; 369 against it. Since the motion required a % majority, the motion was lost. Dr. Harms announced that Dr. Preus declined the request to make a statement on fellowship; he may want to do it later. Dr. Harms invoked the blessing of God on the deliberations and asked the delegates to be tem- perate in their remarks. During part of the discussion Vice-President Wie- deraenders served as chairman. During the course of the discussion it was resolved to limit each speaker to 2 minutes. At 10:30 a.m. the discussion was postponed to a later session. Presentation Dr. Harms presented Mrs. Warren Hartman of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and Mr. Gus Melde, the representative of Mr. Thomas D. McDougall, president of the Lutheran Laymen’s League. Both ad- dressed the convention briefly. Special Ministries and Sundry Matters Chairman H. R. Frincke of Committee 11 asked that consideration of Res. 11-08 be postponed until later. The convention encouraged membership in and use of Concordia Historical Institute, thanked the Aid Asso- ciation for Lutherans for its help to the Institute, de- clared.its desire to know more about anniversaries, com- mended the staff, and accepted the report of the Concor- dia Historical Institute (TB 218—219, 11-14). It encouraged congregations to appoint archivists (TB 217—218, 11-13).