# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Januar 1864_S21
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Our Local Conferences. 21

and must be. The whole purpose of such conferences is indeed none other than to make us, mutually, ever more capable, ever more skillful, ever fresher, more cheerful, and more lively in the conduct of our office. And this purpose is indeed, on the whole, always achieved, at least approximately, as every one of us has surely already experienced many times and in gratifying fashion. But if now and then something still remains to be desired, the remedy is not to give up the thing, but to improve it. And should there not be a way to make these conferences always truly fruitful, truly visibly serviceable and beneficial to a blessed conduct of our most holy office, and thereby to awaken and keep alive ever more the interest and participation in them? What if a portion of the time were always devoted to that which must lie nearest and above all upon our hearts? If each time the Sunday Gospels, or also the Epistles, on which one has to preach, were discussed through, in order to become ever more firm and certain in the right understanding of the text, and to gain ever greater skill in a rich, faithful, purposeful application of it? For this purpose, indeed, a good deal has already been done. Again and again the faithful and diligent use of Luther's Postils has been most urgently recommended, and at our theological institution instruction toward this is continually given. Sermon outlines after Luther have appeared in print. From the excellent Gospel Harmony of Chemnitz, Leyser, and Gerhard, the Sunday and festival pericopes have been translated and excerpted, and soon the printing of this extensive and, still more, content-rich work will draw near its final completion. In our periodicals, in pastoral sermons, and elsewhere, the right, faithful preparation for preaching and the right manner of preaching have already been repeatedly treated. But should all this perhaps make a use and full exploitation of the Local Conferences, in the manner indicated above, unnecessary? I am, on the contrary, firmly convinced that the more faithfully the means named are used, the more eagerly one is concerned to prepare oneself competently for preaching, the more one will still look out for further counsel and help; the more eagerly one will seize the opportunity for a thorough discussion at the conference; the more material each one will bring along for it; the more there will be to supplement and correct; the more important practical, pastoral-care relations will come up for discussion there. And, dear brothers, I have certainly not sucked this out of my fingers, nor am I speaking of some untested, doubtful experiment. For quite some time now we have been carrying on the practice at our own local conference here, and can therefore speak of it from experience, and point to many a splendid success. What was often still unclear at the beginning of the discussion of the text is, in the course of it, brought to clarity and evidence; the crucial points step into the fullest light; where the connection at times at first seemed only loose, it now emerges in its full tightness; even the