# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1938_S340
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

840 Miscellaneous Matters

ature on 80 others, all of which. material has been indexed and
catalogued. It has carried out Synod’s resolution of 1932 by con-
ducting a thorough search of the official publications of Synod from
the beginning to the year 1900 for reference to the lodge and has
edited these in mimeotyped form. It has also furnished pertinent
extracts from this material concerning any given secret order to
pastors and congregations which applied for them. That this ser-
vice is deeply appreciated and fills a distinct need is evident from
the fact that during the past triennium more than a thousand pas-
tors turned to the bureau for such information.

On the other hand, the bureau feels confirmed in its conviction
that the synodical policy as formulated in 1929 and 1932 continues
to bear fruit. “There is a gradual elimination of the lodge evil from
areas in which for a time. it had taken a foothold, and we are not
aware of any new weakening of our clergy in any part of Synod
or in any of its Districts. On the contrary, it seems as though the
chief problem of our congregations at the present time is to con-
vince prospective members of the evil of lodgery rather than to deal
with such as already hold membership. The battle of course is not
won, especially when we think of the many junior orders which
have sprung up in recent years, but on the whole we are now on
the offensive rather than on the defensive.”

Your Committee begs leave to make the following recommen-
dations on this matter:

1. That Synod acknowledge with ” appreciation the tireless
efforts put forth by the members of this bureau, Dr. Theo. Graeb-
ner and Rev. O. F. Engelbrecht of Milwaukee, in seeking to keep the
information concerning secret orders up to date as well as in com-
piling and indexing many extracts from lodge literature and from
the official publications of Synod bearing on this subject;

2. That Synod also express its appreciation to individual pastors
for their contributions to our literature on the lodge evil, among
whom might be mentioned Pastors Theo. Dierks, Rud. Prange, and
others;

3. That Synod encourage the bureau to continue its splendid
work and to that end furnish the necessary clerical help, the cost
of which will be approximately $500 a year;

4. That our Publishing House be urged to weigh the feasibility
of issuing the above-mentioned extracts from our official publica-
tions in pamphlet or book form, thus making this information avail-
able for general use;

5. That our congregations and pastors be strongly encouraged
to continue to take an uncompromising stand over against any and
every manifestation of the lodge evil in their midst and to that