# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S336
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

336 a, Financial Matters

' Synod’s attention to the unremitting zeal of Pastor F. G. Kuehnert, .
for many years Chairman of the Board, and to express our com-~
mendation of his never-tiring efforts in behalf of the servants of
the Church during the days of their retirement and'need. That
Synod today has a Pension System is due in no small measure to
the continued urging and guiding of the Board’s Chairman.

0
The past triennium witnessed a sharp drop in the number of
applications for support (tabulation, page 320, Reports and Me-
morials); This is due, no doubt, to the special Old Age Benefit

which Synod offers as a feature of the Pension Plan. But while the - ”

number of applicants for support has decreased, the need of some
who are receiving support has increased. This raises the question
whether the basic rate ($40 per month for married workers; $30
per month for single workers; $20 per month for widows; $8 per
month for every minor child) should be revised. We recommend
that it be .

Resolved, That the present basic rate of support be retained,
but that the Board of Support and Pensions be instructed, during
this era of abnormally high cost of living, to supplement regularly,
according to their needs, the income of those receiving support.

III ;

Turning now to the Pension System (page 321), we call Synod’s
attention to the encouraging advance that has been made since the
Fort Wayne Convention in 1941. An increase from 2,571 to 4,003
workers (82 per cent) and from 1,308 to 2,436 congregations (57
per cent) is no mean attainment and gives reason for gratitude
to God. The willingness of hundreds of pastors and teachers to
adjust their affairs in such a manner as to make possible their
membership in the Pension Plan should be recognized, and the
readiness of many congregations to match the contributions of their
workers should be noted. .

The record, however, is not perfect, nor is it uniformly good
throughout our Synod, as the tabulation on page 324 reveals, From
our observations and discussions we conclude that only a very,
very small fraction of Synod’s membership declines participation
in the Pension Plan because of a convition that better security
could be found elsewhere in return for the same investment. In:
our opinion, this conviction rests upon a misunderstanding, In ad-
dition, a feeling of attachment for the Church, gratitude for the
advantages she has offered, and loyalty to: her program should
also urge even this very, very small minority to align itself’ with
the Pension Plan the Church has provided after extended in-
vestigation: oo,