# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1905_S20
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

20 Proceedings of the 26th General or

the deficit in the Building Fund also becomes known, the entire deficit,
amounting to about $68,000, will surely soon vanish. When I speak of our
treasuries, I must also point out that among us there seemed to be a kind
of tension between the promoters of the so-called charitable institutions
and the advocates of the Synod's general treasuries. Closer inquiry has
convinced me, however, that at bottom there is no real difference. Those
who champion the so-called charitable institutions readily grant
precedence to the general treasuries (that is, the Synod Treasury, the
Building Fund, and the mission funds). And those who champion the
general treasuries in particular by no means wish to suppress the
charitable institutions either. God has blessed our Christians so richly
in earthly things that the means are abundantly available both for the
general synodical treasuries and for the special charitable funds. More
than that: he has also blessed us so richly in spiritual things that the
willingness to give for Christ's sake is likewise abundantly present. We
would do our congregations wrong if we denied them the willingness to
give for the kingdom of God. This the experience of recent months has
shown again, when special gifts were asked for to pay off the debt in
the Building Fund. What the late Dr. Walther used to say — "With an
exhortation and a request made for Christ's sake we can obtain anything
from our dear Christians" — still holds true among us today, because the
pure Gospel is still active among us and exerts its power. Let us only
hold to the tried and true Christian manner, which consists in first
telling one another what the Lord needs in his kingdom, and then,
secondly, exhorting one another to give for Christ's sake. If there are
individual cases where this manner has no immediate success, we can
simply wait until the word bears fruit. The word, the Gospel, alone is
to accomplish it — no legal compulsion. This evangelical manner does not
exclude a certain order and regularity, as we see from 1 Corinthians
16:2.

Our Relations Abroad.

Within the Synodical Conference brotherly harmony has been preserved.
The "free conferences" held in the last triennium have again shown
precisely that the Synodical Conference is united in faith and
confession. For at these conferences the members from the various
synods of the Synodical Conference stood shoulder to shoulder against
error.