LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 54

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

54 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

delegates then adopted Res. 5-11B (TB 302), agreeing
that the Board for Professional Education Services
should continue at this time to supervise the operation
of the colleges and seminaries of the Synod. The reso-
lution also asked the Commission on Structure to
carefully consider the special needs of seminary educa-
tion in consultation with the President’s Commission
on Higher Education, to consider in particular how a
separate Board for Pastoral Ministry or a combined
Board of Regents might enhance or detract from the
goals established by that commission, and that in the
interim the Board for Professional Education Services
should establish a Standing Committee on Pastoral
Ministry and assign a staff person with expertise in
seminary theological education to serve the standing
committee:

Alberta—British Columbia president, Edwin Leh-
man, a member of the Floor Committee on Constitution
and Structure, was called upon to introduce Res. 5-14
(TB 119) which would provide for the formation of an
autonomous partner church in Canada. Prior to the
reading of the resolves, the delegates were given an
overview of the background of this resolution. It was
pointed out that presently Lutheran Church—Canada
is merely a federation of Districts and does not exist as
an autonomous body. Before the resolves were read, the
words “Board for Mission Services” were inserted by
the committee in line 70 (TB 119) and line 14 (TB 120)
after the word “Matters.” These words were also in-
serted in line 35 (TB 120) after the word “Directors.”
After the reading of the resolution an amendment was
introduced, asking for the addition of a resolve at line 7
(TB 120) and a procedure between lines 17 and 18 (TB
120). It was agreed that the resolve should read as
follows: “Resolved, That Lutheran Church—Canada
provide for a vigorous program of presentations to be
made to each of its local congregations before the
Canadian Districts request dissolution by the Synod, so
that individual pastors and lay people may clearly
understand and discuss strengths and weaknesses of
the proposed autonomy.” The procedure to be inserted
read as follows: “1983, November through 1985, April—
Lutheran Church—Canada conducts congregational
presentations described above.” After some discussion
and after agreeing to cease debate the delegates adopted
the amendment as presented. After continued discus-
sion and after agreeing to cease debate on the resolu-
tion, Res. 5-14 (TB 119) was adopted as amended.
Following the adoption of this historic resolution, the
delegates rose and joined in the singing of the Canadian
national anthem, “O Canada.”

Point of Privilege

Responding to a point of privilege, a delegate ex-
pressed his thanks for the opportunity of attending the
convention and the inspiration which it provided. In
response to his question as to whether the Lutheran
Witness might carry articles on Lutheran Church—
Canada, particularly responding to the question, Why
Lutheran Church—Canada? the chairman stated that

this matter would certainly be considered by the
editorial staff.

Announcements

The chairman announced that a delegate had filed
notice of his intent to request reconsideration of Res.
5-11B (TB 301) when the Floor Committee on Constitu-
tion and Structure appeared before the convention in its
next session. A progress report at this time indicated
that 74 resolutions still remained to be considered by the
convention before its adjournment.

Closing Devotion

Closing devotions for the session were led by retiring °
Secretary of the Synod, Dr. Herbert Mueller. He based
his devotion on Is. 49:15, pointing out that there are
memories that burn and memories that bless. Those
that burn are best forgotten, while those that bless _
deserve to be remembered. He reminded the delegates of :
the fact that God has both memory and forgetfulness. It ‘
is a blessing that He forgets our sins and remembers *
them no more. It is a blessing that He remembers us in +
our need and continues to sustain us daily. Closing the :
devotion, the delegates rose and joined in the singing of
the hymn “Now Thank We All Our God.”

Session 13

Friday, July 15, Morning
Devotion and Essay

Beginning the morning session, Dr. Robert Sauer, .
First Vice-President of the Synod, asked the delegates to
join in the singing of the hymn “God of our Fathers.” H
then introduced Dr. David Schmiel, president of Con
cordia College, Ann Arbor, Mich., who used 1 Peter 2:9.
13-17 and statements of Luther as a foundation for his:
remarks. The theme for the morning essay was “Luther :
tells us we are citizens of two kingdoms.” Every Chris
tian is a citizen of two kingdoms, or as Luther describes
them, the kingdom of God’s right hand and God’s left.
The kingdom of God’s left hand is the kingdom of His #
power, while the kingdom of His right hand is that are
of life in which he rules by the Gospel. The temptation i
always there to muddy the waters even though thi
principles of separation of these two kingdoms are clear.
The principles are as follows: (1) You don’t make’
believers by force of law. (2) You don’t rule the civil
realm by the Gospel. Nevertheless, there is no room ift
the life of Christians for ‘“quietism.” Christians mus'
become involved in politics and social action.

After the delegates had joined in a responsive prayé!
and a hymn, they also carried on an exchange with th
essayist for clarification, for inspiration, and fore
couragement in living the Christian life.

A-V Presentation

With the use of visuals, a presentation was made on
the scope of work carried out by the Board for Mission
Services, the Board for Evangelism Services, and the
Board for Social Ministry Services. a