# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1850_S136
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 136 —

original text); so the use of rhetoric in preaching also
has its justification — only that the preacher, in humility and fear
of God, should keep himself far from all vanity and desire to please. — After this
the conference turns to the requirements to be set for the preacher himself,
of which it makes four:

1. He must be apt to teach, that is, "he must have the knowledge of the way
of salvation, thorough learning in Law and Gospel"; at the same time it
gives instruction on the right means of attaining this, namely diligent
study of Holy Scripture, the Church's confessional writings, the writings
of proven teachers, as well as the writings of opponents. (Here the Synod
holds that, above all, being apt to teach requires the gift of
communicating to others the treasure of knowledge and experience one possesses.)

2. He must have living experience of salvation in his own soul.

3. He must pray in his work that through it the kingdom of God
be increased.

4. He must direct the choice of the subject of his sermon according to the
state of the congregation, without doing violence to the text; and must be
careful in citing particular cases.

Finally, his conduct must also correspond to the doctrine, and Christian
fellowship, especially with brother pastors, must be sought and cultivated
by him.

For private pastoral care the conference highlights the following points:

1. Private confession [*Privatbeichte*], as a particularly powerful means of
comforting the troubled and instructing the simple. Where unavoidable
obstacles stand in the way of introducing private confession, one should
press for an announcement for confession [*Beichtanmeldung*].

2. Visits to the sick; here it holds it desirable that
the pastor be called; there may, however, be cases where he must
come even uncalled. (The Synod is of the opinion that visiting the
sick is the preacher's duty whether he is called or not.)

The conference then gives a judgment on so-called street
preaching,*) which it rejects because it is disorderly and an intrusion into
another's office; instead, one should properly cultivate the old, proven
institutions, for they are not yet worn out but are still effective and
vigorous.

A second topic the conference dealt with is the difference
in the effect of the two sacraments. It places this in the relationship of
birth and the development of life. Regeneration is therefore to be taken
in a broader and a narrower sense: as a beginning in baptism and as further
formation through the daily working of the Holy Spirit in Word and
Sacrament. Though Holy Communion brings one into the full enjoyment of the
divine gifts of grace, the child is nevertheless, for its still young life,
perfectly blessed through baptism; there are small and large vessels, all are
full, and yet a greater fullness is granted to one than to another.

Regarding this last point the Synod declares that it cannot fully
agree with this view, and that it, in particular, the comparison used —

*) By street preaching the conference understands preaching in the open street
before an accidentally assembled, shifting public unknown to the preacher, in places
where church institutions already exist — a practice arising from
fleshly desire to see a result from one's preaching. The Secretary.