# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1902_S22
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

22 Proceedings of the 25th General, or

...the Synod. The cause, in my judgment, does not lie in the fact that
parents and children could no longer be interested in service to the
church, but rather in the fact that, a few years ago, the honest conviction
prevailed in a large part of the Synod that we were training too many
teachers and preachers. This conviction has now mostly, though not yet
entirely, disappeared. Thus the number of pupils has already risen this
past fall, and it is hoped it will rise still further this fall and in the
time to come. The shortage of workers is at present greater than it has
been in 24 years. Three institutions — those at St. Paul, Concordia, and
Hawthorne — are petitioning for enlargement. If the petitions are granted,
the institution buildings need not be enlarged, since at all three
institutions there is for the present sufficient room for a further class,
or further classes. The buildings resolved upon by the last Delegate Synod
have been carried out, with the exception of the building in St. Louis.
Why the board of control of the St. Louis institution has not carried out
the building, it will set forth in its report to the Synod. The board of
control of our Fort Wayne institution has notified me that it must put to
the Synod the question whether the Synod wishes to undertake extensive
repairs in Fort Wayne or a new building. At the request of the board of
control, and with the counsel of the Reverend district presidents, I have
appointed a committee to examine the institution building in Fort Wayne
and report to the Synod. It naturally rests with the Synod itself whether
it wishes to make use of this committee's report or not.

Our Treasuries.

Our treasuries are, with one exception, in good condition.

The Synodical Treasury was able to meet all expenses for our large
synodical budget. The General Treasury for Home Missions was able, this
year, as already mentioned, for the first time in many years, to grant in
full the assistance requested by the districts. The treasury for Heathen
Missions still has reserves left from earlier years. The only treasury of
the General Synod that carries significant debt is the Building Treasury
[*Baukaſſe*]. The last Delegate Synod appropriated $54,000 for buildings;
of this, by February 1 of this year, about $48,000 had come in. There thus
remained a debt of $6,000, which has since been reduced somewhat. But that
is not the whole debt of the Building Treasury. It carried, from earlier
years — that is, from before the last Delegate Synod — a debt of about
$22,000, making a total debt in the Building Treasury of about $28,000.
That the General Treasurer nevertheless had no need to borrow money is due
to the fact that he was able to use the considerable surplus of other
treasuries temporarily to cover the deficit in the Building Treasury. But
this is not...