# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S398 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 398 SOCIAL MINISTRY Report of Commission on World Hunger The New Orleans convention stated that the Commission on World Hunger is continuing to perform a valuable service and consequently should be continued in order to carry on its job of sensitizing members of The Lutheran Church-— Missouri Synod to the admonitions of the Bible about helping those in need. It also passed unanimously Resolution 9-03 asking particu- larly that each congregation and member in the Synod be active in helping the poor by serving as their advocate. It was also resolved that a goal of $1 million over a period of 2 years be set to help alleviate hunger in all parts of the world. In following the wishes of the voters at the convention, the Commission on World Hunger reports these accomplishments since the convention: 1) Assisted the church in Ethiopia in its request for clarifica- tion on ‘Proclamation and Human Development.” 2) Encouraged the LCMS contingent of the LCUSA commit- tee to finalize and implement the domestic disaster program as approved by the three major Lutheran judicatories. 3) Acted as liaison between the free Lutheran Church of West Germany and the East German government toward the rehabilitation and restoration of their properties and programs. particularly in the field of poverty. 4) Provided material on the population explosion for the publication Adrance. 5) Was supportive of the Board of Social Ministry and World Relief in the LCMS World Hunger Appeal as implementation of the world hunger resolution adopted at the New Orleans con- vention. 6) Provided the White House and each Senator and Con- gressman with the publication Breaking Bread with the Hungry. with an accompanying letter. The response was excellent. 7) Attended national and international meetings on world hunger with opportunities to emphasize the Gospel motivation in this whole area of helping needy people. 8) Alerted Lutheran youth groups throughout the country with bona fide agencies that provide opportunities for personal service both at home and overseas in poverty situations. 9) Offered outlines to the Synod’s terminal schools on world hunger toward integration in the curricula. 10) Helped sponsor the activity of the “Bread for the World" agency. which is committed to hunger information, and sug- gested practical action in this area. 11) Sponsored seminars on world hunger involving the various agencies and commissions of the Synod as well as other church and national organizations working in this field. 12) Continued the ongoing task of reviewing and digesting volumes of pertinent material on the subjects of population growth, food production and distribution, and the broad scope of the hunger problem, and passed it along to our people through all channels available. Martin C. Poch, Chairman 8-04A To Adopt Declaration Concerning Persecution of Christians WHEREAS, Committee 11 of the 1973 convention of the LCMS recommended that the LCMS adopt the following declaration: As Christians we are concerned about injustices and oppression wherever these are to be found: but toward our fellow Christians we have a special obligation, particularly where they are experiencing oppression in severe form. Since it is well known that Christians are being persecuted, especially in territories under Communist rule, we petition the 1973 convention of The Lutheran Church — Mis- souri Synod to resolve: 1. We solemnly declare our solidarity with the suffering. bleeding, yet confessing church under oppression (1 Cor. 12:26). 2. We praise God for the inspiring, victorious faith and love with which He has blest these our persecuted brethren. 3. We thank our gracious God for having hitherto preserved our nation and church from the scourge of terror and persecution. 4. We cal! on all Christians who enjoy the privilege of political freedom to be well informed about the fate of Christians under oppression, to pray fervently for our persecuted fellow believers and for the conversion of their tormentors, to support these suffering Christians by every available means. and to imitate humbly their great zeal and self-sacrifice in the service of the crucified and risen Savior. 5. We call on all church leaders to keep the cause of the oppressed Christians before the forum of world opinion—and not by silence to aid and abet their persecution. 6. We call upon our country to protest in the United Nations Organization against the continued violation in the Soviet Union, China. and other countries. of their Christian citizens’ basic human rights, as guaranteed especially in Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. adopted by the U.N.O. on Dec. 10, 1948 (and by the U.S.S.R. on Nov. 1. 1962), and to urge the U.N.O. to take all possible steps to secure the compliance of the aforementioned countries with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 7. We call on all Christians to pray for their fellow believers in the captive nations especially during the third week in July, which has been set aside by our Congress as Captive Nations Week: and WHEREAS, Proposed Resolution 11-16 of the 1973 conven- tion has turned over to the Board of Directors of the LCMS: and WHEREAS. As far as we have been able to determine, no action has been taken as of Jan. 12, 1975, on this resolution by the Board of Directors: and WHEREAS. Top officials of the LCMS designated the third Sunday in July in 1974 as Indian Concerns Sunday: and WHEREAS. The recently published works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Cardinal Josef Mindszenty again show that Christians are being persecuted by the Communists: and WHEREAS, According to the Dec. 20, 1974, Christianity Today. “Appeals have been pouring into the West in recent months from Soviet evangelicals seeking relief from oppression by authorities in their country”: and WHEREAS, The Nov. 18, 1974, Time reported: “A black evangelist was sewed up inside a tom-tom and starved to death while drummers pounded incessantly on the skin top. The bodies of several other Christians have been found buried up to their necks in sand, their heads swarming with ants. According to some reports, more than 130 native Protestant pastors and lay church leaders have been assassinated in the land-locked African republic of Chad since last November”: therefore be it Resolved. That the 1975 convention adopt the resolution recommended by Committee 11 of the 1973 convention. Trinity Lutheran Church New Haven, Mo. Orville Meyer, Secretary Identical or similar: 8-04B and 8-04C Eastern Past. Conf., English District Messiah, Detroit, Mich. Amandus Derr C. Hoffmeyer 8-05 To Continue World Hunger Appeal WHEREAS, The problem of hunger has reached worldwide crisis proportions: and WHEREAS, Our Lord Himself by word and example urges His disciples to become advocates for the hungry: and WHEREAS. God has blessed us with the faith and material blessings to meet the needs of hungry brothers and sisters: and WHEREAS, The World Hunger Appeal! of the Synod through its Board of Social Ministry and World Relief has been a blessing to many during the past biennium; therefore be it