# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1941_S284
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

284 Intersynedical and Doctrinal Matters

on the one hand, and our Church and the United Lutheran Church,
on the other, as also greatly heartened by the agreements reached,
feeling, however, that circumstances do not now make it possible
to enter into pulpit- and altar-fellowship with these bodies, be it
resolved therefore that ‘our commission continue to work con-
structively towards full unity and ultimate pulpit- and altar-
fellowship.”

From this statement it can be seen that the American Lutheran
Church has not as yet entered into church-fellowship with the
United Lutheran Church of America, that it, however, does not
adopt a sufficiently firm attitude toward a church-body as liberal
as the United Lutheran Church of America is. While we, too,
should like to see the United Lutheran Church of America place
itself on the same foundation with us, we are of the conviction
that the laxity with respect to doctrine and practice existing in
that church-body is so great that, in speaking of relations to it,
words of earnest warning are required rather than expressions
holding out the hope of an early alliance,

Meeting of American Lutheran Conference in Minneapolis
November, 1940

11. In November, 1940, the American Lutheran Conference
met in Minneapolis. A number of statements made at the Detroit
Convention had led us to entertain the hope that at the American
‘Lutheran Conference meeting the American Lutheran Church dele-
gates would make a determined attempt to bring about the condi-
tion which the Detroit Convention Report describes in the words
quoted above: “That our sister synods in the American Lutheran
Conference will occupy the same ground in these matters now
occupied by us.” Regretfully we say that the official reports of
that meeting and statements made by individuals who attended, do
not indicate that anything was done to bring about this occupying
of the same ground. On the contrary, according to the church
press (cf. Lutheran Standard, Dec. 7, 1940, and Lutheran Com-
panion, Nov. 28, 1940), the American Lutheran Conference meeting
was unconditionally and emphatically assured by spokesmen of
the American Lutheran Church that the latter had no intention of
leaving the American Lutheran Conference. It is this turn of
events which fills us with disappointment and alarm. In all sincerity
we had hoped that the American Lutheran Church would join
us in our endeavor to hold high the banner of uncompromising
loyalty to the Word of God and the Confessions of the Lutheran.
Church, both with respect to doctrine and practice, and that
through our joint testimony greater things might be accomplished.
than have been attained thus far. However, it seems now that.