# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1938_S94
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

94 Action Regarding Individual Institutions

Training-School at Crespo

Report of Committee 1: In an unprinted memorial (No. 22)
the matter of a training-school at Crespo and other matters con-
cerning the advancement of our two South American institutions
are presented to Synod. Your Committee recommends that these
matters be referred to the Board of Directors.

Action of Synod: This report was adopted.

Valparaiso University in Its Relation to Synod’s Institutions

The Board of Directors of Valparaiso University had submitted
the following overture (No. 133):

From an official communication addressed to us by the vener-
able President of Synod and from other sources we have learned
that a number of memorials suggesting a possible change in Synod’s
educational policy with respect to the aims and objectives of some
of its educational institutions will be presented to Synod at its
forthcoming convention. Both as members of Synod and as mem-
bers of the Lutheran University Association, which, in conformity
with Synod’s present policy, is maintaining Valparaiso University
for the higher education of our young people for the secular pro-
fessions, we are naturally deeply interested in these memorials
and in Synod’s action with respect to them.

We are very much in sympathy with the general idea of making
greater provision for the Christian higher education of our young
people. We believe that the spiritual interests of our college-
going young men and women and the conservation of these young
people for our Church make such provision a matter of grave con-
cern in a day in which the atmosphere at many institutions of
higher learning is such, as some one recently said, “that it is not
easy or natural for any young man or woman to be or remain an
earnest and enthusiastic devotee of any of the old types of religion.”
We are, however, also conscious of the fact that a change in Synod’s
historic policy has implications that demand our most earnest
and prayerful thought and study. For these reasons we respect-
fully submit the following paragraphs, which are the result of
mature deliberation on the part of the undersigned and a com-
mittee of the Valparaiso faculty, for your earnest consideration.

I. We assume of course that Synod will take into consideration
the place and the sphere of service of Valparaiso University if it
should decide to abandon the policy of restricting the education
offered in our synodical institutions to the training of pastors and
teachers for service in the Church. The abandonment of the
present policy would obviously affect the institution which the
Lutheran University Association, as a private organization, is main-