# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1911_S155
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

13th Delegate Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, 1911. 155

"4. The commission shall publish the result of its deliberations in a pamphlet as soon as possible; this pamphlet shall be sent to all pastors and teachers, to other members of the Synod who request it, and to the brethren in Europe who use our hymnal. Six months after the pamphlet's publication the commission shall bring the revision to completion and proceed to printing. It shall wait that long in order to give everyone the opportunity to voice any concerns; but it shall not wait any longer than that, so as not to delay the appearance of the revised edition too much.

"5. In all doubtful cases, and in cases where well-founded objections or at least weighty concerns — say, from larger conferences — are raised against a change to the text, the text should remain unchanged.

"6. Words and sentences in the hymns that are easily misunderstood or hard to understand should be improved by changing the text only where absolutely necessary; otherwise they should be explained by notes beneath the stanza in question. For the sake of our schools and children, one should be quite generous with these explanations — better too many than too few.

"7. Any addition of new hymns and changes to the text of hymns may occur only when resolved by a three-quarters majority of all members of the commission. In all other cases, a simple majority decides votes within the commission.

"The Commission's Proposals.

"1. Concerning the revision of the information given under the hymns.

"We favor adopting the commission's recommendations: to drop irregular abbreviations; to use only the name Luther under Luther's hymns; to drop all secondary names (for example, Bohemius instead of Behm); to abandon the Latinization of names as far as practicable; to omit the titles, birth and death dates, and the statement of the hymn's presumed year of composition; to check the authors' names for correct spelling and correct them; and, for hymns whose author has not yet been identified (the so-called *Adespota* [anonymous works, literally "without a master"]), to give the hymnal or hymn collection in which they first appeared.

"2. Concerning the index of the authors of our hymns.

"The commission recommends adding to our hymnal an index of the hymn-writers. This author register, in the appendix, is to characterize the authors of our hymns — any official titles and secondary names, their occupation, a writer's personal details, his significance for the church and the Christian life, a well-known saying, an outstanding devotional book by him, the circle to which he be...