# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S243 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS 243 of its vicars and the ordination and installation of its graduates: and be it finally Resolved, That any Seminex students or graduates desiring a call into the ministry of the Synod by ordination, installation, “consecration,” or contract be accepted only after they have fulfilled the qualifications for certification established by the Synod and administered by synodically approved officials. Zion Lutheran Church Ray Plueger, President Marvin J. Hepola, Secretary John H. Werth, Pastor Identical or similar: 5-92B to 5-92D Immanuel, Grand Forks, N. Dak. Hope, Springfield, Oreg. St. John’s, Horicon, Wis. Neil Schmidt H. J. Bauder Donal Heck 5-934 To Condemn Seminex WHEREAS, The establishment of Seminex has caused untold heartache, difficulty, and expense in our Synod, affecting sup- port and fellowship within our church: and WHEREAS, The efforts of Seminex have brought polarization in our other synodical schools: and WHEREAS, Efforts to place Seminex graduates in the ordained ministry of our Synod suggest defying our Bylaws and Constitu- tion and set a pattern of self-destruction and anarchy: therefore be it Resolved, That this convention condemn Seminex and all who participate in and support its functions: and be it further Resolved, That no Seminex graduates be considered in any way for placement as full-time workers or professional workers in our congregations through synodical channels: and be it finally Resolved, That congregations who have called Seminex graduates be asked to terminate this relationship or sever their relations with our Synod. Mt. Hope Lutheran Church Boulder, Colo. Joseph Nicol, Secretary Identical or similar: 5-93B Nazareth, Buffalo, N. Y. Paul Barth 5-944 To Reject Placement of Seminex Graduates WHEREAS, Our Synod has no authority or guidance over the instruction and teaching of students at Seminex: and WHEREAS, The CCM has ruled that placing of Seminex stu- dents into the ministry of our Synod is invalid and illegal: and WHEREAS, The theology of Seminex is contrary to’our doc- trinal position as a church: therefore be it Resolved, That our Synod clearly reject placement of these Seminex graduates in the ministry of our Synod and not list them on the synodical roster of pastors; and be it further Resolved, That those District presidents who broke the Con- stitution and Bylaws of the Synod by ordaining and commission- ing Seminex students be suspended, unless they rescind their actions: and be it finally Resolved. That those congregations who accept Seminex students as their pastors in willful defiance of the Synod’s rules be suspended from membership in the Missouri Synod. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Luxemburg, Wis. Michael Brown, Chairman Albert Mueller, Secretary Leslie Weerts, Pastor Identical or similar: 3-94B Christ, Coos Bay, Oreg. H. Schutte 5-95 To Decline Placement of Seminex Students and Graduates in Member Congregations WHEREAS, ELIM, Inc., is an independent, legal, not-for- profit organization, separate from The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod, and operates in many respects as an indepen- dent synod: and WHEREAS, ELIM supports and maintains a separate minis- terial training school, known as Seminex, in opposition to Concordia Seminary, 801 De Mun Ave., St. Louis: and WHEREAS, ELIM seeks to place these very students and graduates into the ministerium of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod after their having been trained without due supervision and control by synodically approved boards and synodical regulations, thereby undermining the theological and constitutional stance of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod: therefore be it Resolved, That the Anaheim convention of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod decline to place students or graduates of Seminex in member congregations of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod and that any congregation calling and placing a Seminex student or graduate forfeit its membership in The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. St. John’s Lutheran Church Burr Oak, Mich. Larry N. Littlefield, Chairman Gene R. Kangas, Pastor 3-96A To Deal with Congregations and District Presidents WHEREAS, The Commission on Constitutional Matters has already ruled (March 23, 1974) that Seminex candidates are ineligible for ministry in The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod: and WHEREAS, Resolution 3-09 of the New Orleans convention in 1973 declared the theological position of the faculty majority as being in violation of Article II of the Constitution of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, especially on the three: points: a. Sub- version of the authority of Scripture (formal principle): b. “Gospelism” or “Gospel reductionism,” whereby the authority of Scripture is reduced to its ‘‘Gospel” content: c. Denial of the third use of the Law, i.e., the function of the Law as guide for the Christian in his life: and on the issues as described in the Fact Finding Committee’s Report of the Synodical President, Sept. 1, 1972: and WHEREAS, The students of Seminex deliberately denounced the said resolution of the New Orleans convention by following the faculty majority to form a so-called Seminary-in-Exile: and WHEREAS, Some congregations have also indirectly de- nounced the said resolution by calling some of the Seminex graduates: and WHEREAS, Some District Presidents have encouraged such a direct or indirect denunciation of the said resolution by authorizing the ordinations of the Seminex graduates: and