LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1986, Page 32

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

32 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

Session 7
July 22, Morning
Devotion

Chaplain Herbert Mueller led the convention in the
opening devotion, using the Worship Guide, pages 23-24.

Devotional Essay

Continuing the Walther essay series, Dr. Samuel
Nafzger, executive secretary of the Commission on The-
ology and Church Relations, presented the essay “Alive in
Christ: The Church and Its Mission.” The “Small Group
Bible Study Guide” is found on the inside cover of Today’s
Business, July 22, 1986.

Introduction and Announcements

Chairman Bohimann introduced Dr. Robert King, Third
Vice-President of the Synod, and his wife Jean. Another
announcement dealt with the special resolution regarding
several publications. Since synodical Bylaw 2.19 c deals
with the Synod’s policy on overtures which may have legal
ramifications, review of the special resolution by legal
counsel was taking place.

The convention determined that Res. 5-03 would first
be considered when Committee 5 would next appear before
the convention. A decision to hold a special session on Tues-
day evening was postponed until Tuesday afternoon.

Congregational Ministries

Committee 2 introduced Res. 2-01A (TB 315), to propose
a vision for the congregations of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod. During discussion a number of amend-
ments to 2-01A were accepted: On page 316, line 13, the
following words were added as a fourth way of dealing
positively with conflict: “Cultivating of theological consen-
sus through the study of God’s Word”; on page 315, lines
59-62 were deleted; and on page 315, line 21, a new item
1 was added: “Continuing strong in Word and Sacrament.”
The convention declined an amendment to change line 4
on page 316. Discussion was discontinued when there was
a call for the orders of the day. Prior to returning to the
orders of the day, Dr. Herbert Mueller, former secretary
of the Synod, made a statement indicating he was certain
the delegates agreed that the deletion of lines 59-62 was
not intended to diminish the support for the wonderful
contributions of women to the work of the church. The
delegates indicated their agreement.

American Bible Society

Sandy Thompson, a member of the ILWML, spoke on
behalf of the American Bible Society. She told of challenges
in distributing the Bible in countries such as Haiti, Russia,
Ghana, and China. She thanked the convention for re-
membering the important work of the American Bible So-
ciety in their prayers for achieving a goal of the American
Bible Society, which is that everyone have a Bible.

Christus Magister Award

Mr. John Laabs, vice-president for Public Relations and
Membership of the Lutheran Education Association,

brought greetings. He invited delegates to consider at-
tending the LEA convocation to be held in March 1987 in
St. Louis. Mr. Laabs introduced Dr. James Kirchoff, past
president of the Lutheran Education Association, to pre-
sent the 27th Christus Magister Award, given for outstand-
ing contributions to Lutheran Education. The award for
1986 was presented to Mr. John Brazeal of Christ the King
Lutheran School in Chicago.

Information

The chairman shared requests from delegates of the
convention regarding: (1) the display of gifts received from
“Big Joe”; (2) the suggestion that committees presenting
a resolution state first the Today’s Business section, fol-
lowed by the page number and resolution number; and (3)
that committees not use abbreviations or acronyms when
referring to boards and commissions.

Theology and Church Relations

Vice-President George Wollenburg assumed the chair.

The convention adopted Res. 3-06 (TB 66), to express
thanks and reaffirm altar and pulpit fellowship with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church Synod of France and Bel-
gium. Res. 3-07 (TB 67), to study the nature and impli-
cations of the call, was adopted. The convention adopted
Res. 3-08 (TB 67), to maintain the practice of close Com-
munion, after declining an amendment to add the words
“be encouraged to” after “Missouri Synod” in line 59 and
to refer the resolution back to committee.

The convention declined to dispense with the reading
of the whereases of resolutions.

Res. 3-09 (TB 68), reaffirming the position of The Lu-
theran Church—Missouri Synod on service of women in
the church, was discussed, followed by a decision to post-
pone making a decision on the resolution until Committee
3 again is before the convention. Res. 3-10 (TB 68-69),
reaffirming the position of the Synod on the ordination of
women, was introduced. A substitute resolution, Overture
3-40 (CW 121), was moved, but the convention declined to
consider the substitute resolution.

Devotions

Prior to balloting, Dr. Richard Dickinson, executive sec-
retary of the Commission on Black Ministry, led the closing
morning devotion, using the Worship Guide, page 24.

Election

Chairman Barry introduced the balloting procedures
for remaining positions, after which balloting took place.

Session 8
July 22, Afternoon

Devotions

Dr. Edward Westcott, executive secretary of the Board
for Mission Services, led the opening devotions, using the
Worship Guide, page 25, and LWCC, page 67.

Minutes

The minutes were adopted for Sessions 3 and 4, July
20, 1986, with two corrections: Line 44, page 331, of To-