# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2007_S44
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

44

MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

Also introduced were the following leaders of Lutheran
church bodies around the world in Houston to attend an
Ablaze! International Summit:
Rev. Peter Ahlers, Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in
South Africa
Rev. Thomas Bernard, The Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Haiti
Rev. James Cerdeñola, The Lutheran Church in the Philippines
Rev. Edgardo Elseser, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina
Rt. Rev. Dr. Paul Fynn, Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Ghana
Rev. Alceu Figur, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Paraguay
The Rev. Jean Haessig & Rev. Philippe Volff, Evangelical
Lutheran Church—Synod France & Belgium
Rev. Arri Kugappi & Rev. Olav Panchu, Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia
Rev. Dr. Ralph Mayan, Lutheran Church—Canada
Rev. Mario Lehenbauer, Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Brazil
Most Rev. Walter Obare, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Kenya
Rev. David Piso, Gutnius Lutheran Church, Papua New
Guinea
Rev. Reginald Quirk, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of
England
Rev. S. Rajagambeeram, India Evangelical Lutheran
Church
Rev. Carlos Schumann, Evangelical Lutheran Church of
the Republic of Chile
Rev. Kimio Takano & Rev. Masaki Shirai, Japan Lutheran
Church
Rev. Dr. David Tswaedi, Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
Rev. Dr. Hyun-Sup Um, Lutheran Church in Korea
Rev. Janis Vanags, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
Rev. Gijsbertus van Hattem, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Belgium
Rev. Hans-Jörg Voigt, Independent Evangelical—Lutheran
Church, Germany

Following a standing ovation by the convention, each of
the foreign church leaders was presented with a special and
timely gift intended to mark the occasion.
Committee 1: Missions
Committee 1 Chairman Robert Newton called the convention’s attention to Res. 1-13, “To Commend International Church Partners and Worldwide Mission Effort” (TB,
p. 179). After it was read in its entirety and introduced by
the committee, the resolution was adopted without discussion (Yes: 1,006; No: 14).
Greetings from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America
Reverend Lowell G. Almen, Secretary of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, brought his church body’s official greetings to the convention. Speaking of the relationship between the ELCA and the LCMS, he emphasized the
very different histories of the two church bodies and the
need to stay in contact and work together as much as possible (the text of his presentation will be provided in the
Convention Proceedings).
2007 Convention Proceedings

Committee 8: Synod Structure and Governance
After the President called the convention’s attention to
Special Standing Rule 2 and its importance for the final session of the convention, Committee 8 Cochairman Larry
Stoterau introduced Res. 8-07S (substitute), “To Call Special
Convention to Amend Synod Structure and Governance”
(handout), introducing a motion on behalf of the committee
“that a two-thirds majority vote be required for this substitute resolution.” The chair outlined a process to be used to
consider the substitute resolution in light of the committee’s
motion, also expressing his own support. After the speakers
at the convention floor microphones returned to their seats to
vote, the convention first agreed to requiring a two-thirds vote
to adopt the substitute resolution (Yes: 620; No: 490), then
voted to end debate on the substitute resolution (Yes: 874; No:
241), and then voted to adopt Res. 8-07S by the necessary
two-thirds vote (Yes: 793; No: 325).
When a motion was introduced to permit delegates to
have their votes entered into the minutes, the chair ruled
that for the remainder of the convention, delegate votes
would be allowed to be registered as desired. The following
delegates asked to have their negative votes on Res. 8-07S
entered into the minutes: Benjamin Ball, Richard A.
Becker, Peter Bender, Arie Bertsch, Bruce Blocker, Steven
W. Bohler, Richard A. Bolland, Daniel Brege, Neal Breitbarth, Paul E. Bremer, Steven C. Briel, Eric J. Brown,
Christopher C. Browne, Doris Burns, Myron G. Buss, John
Casebeer, Kirk Clayton, Russell Davies, William Keith
Davis, Roger Dilger, W. C. Dissen, Justin Dragosani-Brantingham, Burnell F. Eckardt, Jr., Mark Eckert, Paul Egger,
Shawn Ethridge, Stephen Fisher, Ryan Fouts, Gary V.
Gehlbach, Timothy Hafner, David Hansen, Carl J. Harberts, Benjamin Harju, Norman Hauschildt, Gregg Hein,
Charles Henkel, Gary Hoffmann, Daniel G. Holthus,
William H. Holzer, Craig Howell, Frederick K. Jabs, Al Jacobs, Ronald Kabitzke, Richard R. Kreutzer, Henry J.
Koopmann, Josepha Lecke, Ken Mangold, David Markworth, Wendel K. Marotzke, Wayne Mc Bride, Philip G.
Meyer, Alan Miller, Chris Nelson, Ron Ohnesorge, Bruce
D. Osborne, Raymond Parent, Gary A. Piepkorn, Peter
Piepkorn, Glen Piper, Michael Poynter, Davin Quiram,
Fritz A. Raedeke, Russell D. Reimers, John Riley, Elliott
M. Robertson, Frank Schatte, Tim Schenks, Dana Schnelle,
Bruce Schreiner, S. R. Schumacher, Ken Sparbel, Don
Stauty, Roger D. Sterle, Eric A. Stinnett, Winfried Strieter,
Le Roy B. Sundbom, David Teigen, Matthew J. Theriault,
Bruce Timm, Magdalen Veitenruber, Donald Wagner, Douglas Wanderer, Paul M. Weber, Henry C. Wied, Allan D.
Wierschke, Danl Wipf, Alan Wollenburg, Robert Wurst,
Loren C. Zell.
Res. 8-13, “To Amend Bylaws for Special Convention”
(handout), was introduced by the committee. After discussion, during which the committee estimated that the special convention would meet for two to three days, a motion
to end debate was carried (Yes: 968; No: 118), and Res. 8-13
was adopted (Yes: 937; No: 156). The following delegates
asked to have their negative votes recorded in the minutes:
Frederick Davidson, Ron Ohnesorge.
Res. 8-04, “To Provide Wording for Congregations’ Constitutions and Bylaws” (TB, p. 147), was introduced with