# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1981_S27
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 27

Counting the house on a close vote.

received for a reconsideration of Res. 2-01 but that since
these requests had not been received before 6:00 p.m.
they were not eligible for reconsideration at this time
and that one request that had been legitimately made
was withdrawn by written notice. He also announced
that a call had been made for reconsideration of Res.
5-02 and Res. 2-04 and that the call for reconsideration
of these resolutions would be made on Monday.

Introduction

Prior to continuing discussion of Res. 3-01 President
Preus introduced Mrs. Betty Duda, to the delegates.
Mrs. Duda and other members of her family have been
_ generous supporters of causes in The Lutheran Church—
’ Missouri Synod.

Church Relations

As discussion of Res. 3-01 resumed, a delegate pro-
posed a substitute motion which was read and dis-
tributed to the delegates. During the distribution of the

substitute motion discussion on Res. 3-01 continued. °

The delegates then agreed to consider the substitute
motion by a vote of 544 to 497 after a call fora division of
the house.

Point of Order

- A delegate stated his belief that the original motion,
Res. 3-01, was dead since the delegates had ‘agreed to
consider a substitute motion. The Chair, however, point-
ed: out that it would only be considered dead if the
substitute was adopted.

Orders of the Day

The Chairman after a call for orders of the day was
asked by a delegate if a vote might not be taken at this
time since time allocated for the discussion of this
question had expired. The delegates, however, declined
to ballot. The delegates then declined the substitute
motion by a standing vote of 474 in favor of the
resolution and 611 opposed.

Elections

Chairman Simon of the Floor Committee on Elec-
tions reported the results of the final vote on the election
of the President of the Synod. With 1,110 delegates
voting, Dr. Ralph Bohlmann was declared to be the next
President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod by
a vote of 722 to 388 for Charles Mueller.

Dr. Bohlmann was called upon to address the dele-
gates briefly if he wished to do so. In his brief statement
he said that he would prefer to address the delegates at
greater length at another time during the convention.
However, he said that at this time he wished to state
three things. First, he expressed his thanks to the
delegates for their expression of confidence in him and
the honor which they had bestowed upon him. Secondly
he wished to pay tribute to his friends and colleagues
who had also agreed to be considered for this position
and who had conducted themselves so graciously and
well. Thirdly, he invited the prayers of the church body
for himself, for the church, for his family, and for the
seminary which he was presently serving. He asked the
delegates to go Forward in Remembrance to the glory of
God and to the salvation of many people.

A request of one of the delegates to offer a motion to
declare the election unanimous was declared out of
order since the convention was conducting its business
according to Roberts Rules of Order which prohibit this
practice. The delegate next requested the opportunity to
present a resolution which would make the term of Dr.
Bohlmann a five-year term rather than a two-year term
as was called for by a resolution which had previously
been adopted.

Orders of the Day

At this point, there was a call for the orders of the
day. A delegate, however, made a motion to extend the
time to complete action on Res. 3-01 (TB 65). After
deciding to cease debate on whether the time should be
extended the Chair called for a division of the house to
determine whether the time should be extended. By a
vote of 714 to 367 the delegates agreed not to cease
debate on the issue at the present time.

Nominees for First Vice-Presidency

Dr. Herbert Mueller, Secretary of the Synod, pre-
sented the slate for First Vice-President of the Synod
(CW8315). Prior to presenting the names he informed the
delegates that Dr. Hyatt had withdrawn his name for
consideration and that since Dr. Paul Zimmerman had
received the next highest number of nominations the
slate would consist of August Bernthal, Walter A.