# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1938_S326
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

326 Miscellaneous Matters

wide scope of the work entrusted to your Committee. What it
does not at once disclose are the difficulties to be met with in the
performance of the newly created tasks. Your Committee had
hardly begun its work when

a) it became apparent that the wording of the recommenda-
tions of Synod admitted of divergent interpretations, which left
Synod’s actual intentions in doubt;

b) it became apparent also that other agencies of Synod were
already officially engaged in carrying on, to a varying extent, the
activities which presumably the delegates at Cleveland had in
mind when they adopted the aforementioned resolutions;

c) and finally it was discovered that no appropriation had been
voted your Committee nor any other provisions made for funds
required in the development of an educational program including
the publication of the necessary missionary and stewardship
material.

4. Despite these difficulties your Committee made earnest and
repeated efforts to devise a plan which would enable it to follow
Synod’s wishes without thereby interfering with other established
official departments and their work. The major part of several
meetings, to begin with, was spent in earnest attempts to arrive
at a workable method of integration. No tangible results were
achieved.

5) Nevertheless a limited phase of work was entered upon by
your Committee. A rather comprehensive survey, according to
Districts, was made to ascertain to what extent Stewardship and
Mission Education were systematically carried on in our circles.
Our analysis of the situation, based also upon personal observation,
reveals that proper stress is placed upon this aspect of Christian
life in individual cases and in certain localities but that collectiyely
there is little of united and systematic action. —In addition to the
survey the members of your Committee continued individual
studies and discussions that had a bearing on the theory and the
practical application of missionary and stewardship efforts in con-
gregational life.

6) As the time draws near for another Delegate Synod to
convene, and as we review our experiences of the past two years,
we believe the following recommendations will be helpful to Synod
in accomplishing the purposes for which your Committee was
presumably created.

a. WHEREAS, Synod frankly realized and admitted the urgent

need of a more extensive and systematic Stewardship and Mis=
sionary Education; and