# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_M rz 1862_S83
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Critique of the Report of the Seventh Synod of the Emigrants from Prussia, etc.    83

to declare "whether and how much, and by what time, it intends to pay off this debt, with a statement of its fair and just reasons, in case it asks to be released from a portion of this debt; whereupon, after the opinion of the provosts has been added, the Christian judgment of the ministerium and whatever admonitions might be necessary would then fall to it." One foresees in advance — presumably instructed by experience on the matter — that despite "all the effort and fulfillment of duty by the pastors and church councils, a debt is nevertheless left over in the end." With this remaining debt the same procedure is then to be followed as with the earlier one, namely, that it "is distributed by the church ministerium among all the congregations in proportion to their strength." The "strength," of course, means their wealth. The church ministerium thus distributes the levies according to the wealth of the congregations. — How the individual congregations raise their portion is left up to them. But what is more natural than that each congregation should proceed in the very same spirit in which the synod acts? So the board, too, will distribute the contribution to be made among all the members of the congregation "in proportion to their strength." —

How deep the harm is that is done to the congregations by such a thoroughly wretched procedure can hardly be said. In place of free love, which for the sake of the great grace and gifts of God in Christ Jesus brings its offering joyfully, there steps the controlling, calculating spirit, which carefully weighs and measures whether one's own congregation is perhaps taxed too highly in proportion to the other congregations. Then begins the reckoning and assessing of the wealth of the members of the congregation against one another: how many acres of land each one has, whether someone owns his own house, whether he has capital out at interest, and so forth. No one wants to give more than he absolutely must. For under the dominion of the law, free love dies. — Truly, if a synod wishes thoroughly to stop up the wellspring of giving and to foster envy, strife, jealousy, lying, and fraud, it need only set about it exactly as the clever Buffalo Synod does, which is being led by its Senior, quite evidently, out of Christianity back into Judaism. What would be more welcome to Grabau than to be able to say: by divine command every member of the congregation must pay a tenth of everything he has. And what is more repugnant and more hindersome to him than the kingdom of Jesus, the kingdom of free love.

The course that a Christian synod ought to take in such financial straits is quite simple indeed. The Lord Jesus points it out when He says: "Ask, and it shall be given you!" First of all, all the members of the synod must fervently and believingly direct their prayer to Him from whom every good gift comes, including the contributions of the members of the congregations. Then they must clearly set the need before the congregations and ask them, in view of the great love of God they have received, now also to let their own love shine forth, for God loves a cheerful giver! That is the Christian