LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 49

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‘the abstention was to be stated in writing and forwarded
the Secretary.

Prior to returning the Chair to President Boh]mann,
Vice-President Hyatt asked the delegates to give the
‘Chair the authority to determine if a motion is frivolous
without asking the delegates to determine if this was
actually the case. The convention agreed to grant that
authority.

Theology and Church Relations

’ Chairman Arthur Kuehnert of the Floor Committee
on Theology and Church Relations introduced Res. 3-
07A (TB 220) which encouraged the President of the
Synod to continue to work toward the formation of an
inter-Lutheran agency by inviting all Lutheran

churches to participate and granted authority to the
°° Board of Directors, upon recommendation of the Presi-
-- gent of the Synod and the Commission on Theology and
- Church Relations and after consultation with the
> Council of Presidents, to approve the creation of any
new inter-Lutheran agencies and the restructuring of or
' withdrawal from any current inter-Lutheran agencies
“ including the Lutheran Council in the United States of
America. This authority would be granted on an interim
_ basis. The delegates adopted the resolution as pre-
sented. This was done after an amendment to strike the
' words “and the restructuring of or withdrawal from any
current inter-Lutheran agencies, including the Lu-
theran Council in the United States of America” from
lines 3 and 4 (7B 221) and to add an additional resolve
stating, “Resolved, That we withdraw from LCUSA as
early as possible” was proposed. The Chair ruled that
this was a substitute motion. Following the “Behnken
Rule,” the delegates voted on the matter and declined to
consider it. They also declined an amendment which
would have substituted the word “impossible” for the
word “difficult” in line 52 (TB 220).

After substituting the words “knowledgeable about”
for the words “familiar with” in line 3 (TB 222), the floor
committee introduced Res. 3-06A (TB 221) which en-
couraged peacemaking and the study of problems con-
cerning the church and nuclear arms. An amendment
which would have deleted the final two resolves of the
resolution was ruled to be a substitute motion. Follow-
ing the “Behnken Rule” once again, the delegates
declined to consider the substitute resolution. After
agreeing to cease debate the convention adopted the
resolution as presented. The delegates also adopted Res.
3-09 (TB 66) to clarify the position of the Synod on
anti-semitism. They took this action after declining an
amendment to insert the three resolves of Overture 3-36
(CW 108) after line 40 (7B 66) and after agreeing to cease
debate on both the amendment and the main resolution.
After agreeing to insert the words “and members” in
line 24 (TB67) the delegates adopted resolution 3-10(TB
67) as amended, urging the Commission on Theology
and Church Relations to give priority to its study of
women’s role in the church. In adopting Res. 3-11 (TB

MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 49

67) the members of the Synod were encouraged to
distribute and study the CTCR report, “Theses on
Justification,’ which appeared in the Convention
Workbook, pages 338 ff.

Point of Privilege

In response to a point of privilege, a delegate asked
that the time for the evening session be determined at
this point in the session. Following some discussion the
delegates determined to recess at 5:30 and to meet in an
evening session from 7:30 to 9:30.

Closing Devotion

Closing devotions for the morning session were
conducted by Dr. John Schuelke, administrative officer
of the Board of Directors. Preceding his devotion, which
was based on 1 Cor. 4:1-2 relating to the matter of
stewardship, particularly stewardship of the Gospel,
the delegates were led in several intercessory prayers by
Vice-President Sauer. The devotion was concluded with
the singing of a hymn.

Session 11

Thursday, July 14, Afternoon
Opening Devotion

Mr. Les Stroh, staff member of the Board for Youth
Services, introduced the youth representatives leading
the devotion for the afternoon session. These were
devoted to that portion of doctrine called the Office of
the Keys. After the singing of the hymn, “We Praise
You, O God,” one of the youth representatives read John
20:22-23, the passage which Luther used to introduce the
question, To whom then has Christ given this power,
that is the Office of the Keys? After hearing Luther’s
statement on this matter, another youth representative
spoke of the personal meaning of prayer in her life. After
the delegates were then led in prayer, the devotion was
concluded with the singing of a contemporary hymn
entitled, “How Gentle the Wind.”

Announcement

Mr. Marvin Siebels, convention manager, informed
the delegates about arrangements for departure at the
close of the convention.

Point of Privilege

A delegate responding to a point of privilege intro-
duced a resolution regarding election lists and their use
by convention delegates. This matter had been referred
to previously by other delegates at the convention.
While the resolution might be considered to be a good
one, the request for consideration was ruled out of order
on the basis of the fact that the convention has a
procedure for forwarding overtures for consideration by
the floor committees and that this procedure had not
been followed. Having been granted a point of privilege,
a delegate informed the convention that he was giving
notice to request reconsideration of Res. 2-12 for the
purpose of submitting a substitute resolution. This was