# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2016_S66
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart
		 of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
There is a river whose streams make glad the
		 city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. (vv. 1–7)
BL ESSE D

We have so many blessings! Many of you are here for
the first time. Welcome! Yes, you’ve probably gotten a
taste for the political nonsense that accompanies an
LCMS convention. That’s all but inevitable in an organization of sinners like you and me. But your great
privilege will be to see and experience the breadth of
the reach and work of the church over these next several days. Sure, you’ll see a bit of the underbelly. Forgiveness will also have to rule in this place. You will
hear something of our blessed missionary buildup
worldwide. You will hear of great domestic work. You
will hear of our wonderful schools—Pre-K through
university and seminary. You will hear of the great
moment in international Lutheranism, which is upon
us. We dare not fail to recognize it! There is simply
no other confessionally and biblically faithful Lutheran Church with anything close to the capacity of the
LCMS. We are known the world over for this fidelity.
It is our sacred vocation to “strengthen your brothers”
(Luke 22:32). And what better time for this than on
the eve of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation!
C HAL L E N G I N G I SS U E S

You may be aware of several challenging issues.
1. Licensed Lay Deacons (LLDs)
The 1989 Wichita resolution stated: “the title deacon
be established by which a layman would be addressed
while he is temporarily serving in Word and Sacrament
ministry ‘in exceptional circumstances or in emergencies.’ This title would distinguish him from an
ordained pastor.”
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UPON THIS ROCK

After 27 years, we have blown way past this and
other definitions that were first established for LLDs.
According to Scripture and the Confessions, if a man
is serving as a pastor, he should be examined, called,
and ordained a pastor. That’s the doctrine of our
church. These men are called, in most cases, “pastor”
by their people. They need to be recognized for what
they are. I promised I would do my best to work to
bring before this convention a path forward that both
allows us to care for challenging situations and, on
the other hand, brings us back into conformity with
the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions. This is what
will be before you at this convention, and we will very
carefully consider it.
2. Ecclesiastical Supervision
Second is ecclesiastical supervision. I believe the
final proposals coming forward from Committee 12
are small but significant adjustments that will bring
greater balance to our very effective system of ecclesiastical supervision. The issues and entailments are
well known and need not be repeated here. I simply
trust that the delegates will, with Spirit-given wisdom, examine carefully the resolutions prepared by
the floor committee and make decisions that will be
for the good of all. Each of us, myself included, no
matter what position of authority or trust given to us,
must be held accountable for our actions. Since we
are all brothers and sisters in Christ, baptized into
His Body, confessing His name, ultimately it must be
the Word of God that rules among us, not individuals.
I promised that I would do what I could to bring
forward to the Synod potential changes to the system.
There were other concerns as well. Committee 12 will
bring a responsible resolution before you.
3. Bylaw 3.8.3
A third issue that rubs is that of Bylaw 3.8.3, regarding the Board for International Mission: “the board
shall serve as the only sending agency through which
workers and funds are sent to the foreign mission
areas of the Synod.”
We will speak about this at some length, I’m sure,
when the appropriate resolution comes before this
body. At this time, I only want to state two things
about this. First, the CCM decision does not narrow
the bylaw at all. In fact, it does the very opposite. It

“President’s Report, Part 3”