LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1986, Sheet 104

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OTHER PRESENTATIONS
1. Address of the Former President of the Synod

Dr. Bohlmann, members of the convention, brothers and
sisters in Christ:

If you would go back to Dr. Oswald Hoffmann’s won-
derful sermon this morning, he said a few things which he
could say far better than I could, and I would like to have
you keep a little of that in mind as I speak this afternoon.
This is described as an address. It will not be confused
with Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. But I do want to say
to you that I speak totally from the heart, totally out of
love for this marvelous church and totally out of love for
everybody in it—all.

Years ago, when I lived in Minneapolis, we had a saloon
keeper there who had signs all over Minneapolis saying,
“Andy ain’t mad at nobody!” And in speaking to this con-
vention this afternoon, I want you to know I am not mad
at anybody either. But I am one who has spent 12 years
in this office, the first of them extremely difficult, very
nerve-racking. I think I know a great deal about what’s
going on here and what is going on in the hearts and minds
of most of you. First of all I want to congratulate Dr. Bohl-
mann on his. . . Let me go back a moment. I am old enough
so that I probably have 200 delegates out here, pastoral
delegates, who were one time or another students of mine.
And I even have seven or eight of them sitting over there
in the august cheering section of the Council of Presidents.
So I speak with some background and experience. And if
you would permit just a couple minutes of reminiscing,
going back to yesterday’s election for the synodical presi-
dency, I first of all want to congratulate Dr. Bohlmann on
his reelection. He and I have known each other for, I guess,
25 years. I knew him when he was a humble professor at
the seminary at St. Louis. I was instrumental in his be-
coming the Executive Secretary of Theology and Church
Relations, where he served with magnificent distinction.
He is really the primary author of that famous document—
the “Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles,”
which was adopted at the New Orleans convention as kind
of the official doctrinal position of the Synod. I had the
pleasure of sitting in on his election as president of Con-
cordia Seminary, which we all hailed, and I remember
Chairman Otto as we came into the room. He said, “Well,
is there really any reason for discussion? Aren’t we all
agreed that Ralph Bohlmann is our man?” It was the quick-
est, fastest, and most unanimous election I ever took part
in in my life. And I was very happy when people talked
about the election of Ralph Bohlmann as our president.
He was and is an excellent theologian. As you have seen
amply demonstrated here, he is articulate, he is a loving
and evangelical man. And I know he wants to serve his
church just exactly as faithfully as any of the rest of us
ever have.

But that is not all. This church owes a great debt of
gratitude to Robert Sauer, who was my assistant from 1973
until 1977. He did more dirty jobs, met more angry people,
answered more phone calls from people who wanted to talk
for an hour or two, and did a great deal of work for which

I want to express—both when he was my assistant and
when he was vice-president—my personal thanks. I ain’t
mad at nobody.

Then we had Robert Preus. I have known him longer
than anybody in the whole world. And I have loved him
every day. I am president of his fan club. As a theologian,
he is one of the very understanding theologians in this
church, and the books he has written will stand for a
hundred years as classics in the area of Lutheran theology.
He deserves a vote of thanks from our church.

And I had the pleasure of many years of working with
George Wollenburg. He was a member of the praesidium
during my era, and he, too, is an articulate, intelligent,
solidly orthodox theologian, of whom this church can cer-
tainly be proud.

And last of all is my good friend Wilbert Sohns, now
president of the Wyoming District, and I want to say of
him, he was chairman of the mission board during my
administration; he was an excellent chairman. We had the
finest of relationships between the mission board and the
president’s office, and we worked together to bring peace
to an area which was very much troubled. I suppose I had
better say, since we are still talking about voting on the
vice-presidency, that August Mennicke was also one of my
esteemed co-workers, and I honor and respect him as an
evangelical, loving pastor, a man who has the unstinting
support of his district and all who know him.