LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1986, Sheet 106

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GREETINGS OF THE BISHOP OF THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH 105

raising. There is nothing to it. I went out on Forward in
Rememberance in the great district of Northern Illinois
with a couple of wonderful fellows—one preacher and one
layman—and we agreed among ourselves that if we had
the time to do it, we could have raised the whole $40 million
in the Northern Illinois District alone. And that is true of
many other districts as well.

The great thing that brings us together is the fact that
the Lord God in heaven loved us so much that He sent His
Son to die for us. He created the church where that won-
derful message can be preached, and He established the
office of the ministry so that wonderful message can be
spread to all the world. What a wonderful thing it is to see
these partner church people here—marvelous people. It is
just one of the joys of my life. I just came off teaching at
the St. Louis seminary, so that I am not very well prepared,
and you can understand why. I had 17 students every day
for two weeks, all of them young pastors, graduates of both
seminaries. These are marvelous young fellows. The assets
that this church has are beyond calculation—not only fi-
nancial, but human—those millions of people in the par-
ishes. Let’s get on with the Gospel.

I am very glad to see one political action that is going
on and I hope it will continue. A proposal is being made
to elect a black man to the praesidium of the Synod. I hope
it can be done. The ministry that we have among minority
groups needs some public acclamation, some way of saying
to the world, “We don’t only want these people to come in
and kneel at the pews and pay in the plate, but we want
them to be part of the governing structure of our church.”

Which now brings me to the matter of the doctrine. We
have doctrinal aberrations in this church on both sides.
We have people in high places who seem to find it ex-
tremely difficult to accept the doctrinal position of our
Synod without equivocation and without mental reserva-
tion. This has been terribly troublesome. It was for me, it
has been for Dr. Bohlmann, and it has been for many other
people. I would ask our district presidents to exercise doc-
trinal discipline as they know it should be done. This
should not all be dumped in the lap of the synodical presi-
dent. I beg our congregations to practice, on the one hand,
doctrinal discipline, and on the other hand, evangelical
practice with their pastors and their members. We have
problems, but they can be solved. The machinery exists to
solve them.

And so, brothers and sisters, I am very honored and
pleased to be asked to address you. I have spoken to you
from my heart. I have not said everything that is pleasant.
But I do pray that all of these factions that have been out
to undo Dr. Bohlmann, before this convention is over, will
express their love for him, their forgiveness and their full
support. Let’s get behind our officers. Lets get behind our
Synod. Lets get behind our pastors and congregations. And
above all, let’s get on with the great job of bearing witness
to the Lord Jesus Christ who loved us and gave Himself
for us. That’s why we are here, and may the Lord always
remind us of it.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

J. A. O. Preus, Ph. D.

2. Greetings of the Bishop of The American Lutheran Church

The new Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is
rapidly approaching reality. Convention votes of the three
churches will be taken in August. Next May, if this sum-
mer’s conventions approve, will see the constituting con-
vention. By Jan. 1, 1988, the new church will be up and
running.

You in the LCMS will be interested in the ELCA confes-
sion of faith. I consider it an outstanding statement that
puts the new church solidly in the Lutheran evangelical
traditions. Listen to these words:

2.03 This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and
the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation,
faith, and life.

2.04 This church accepts the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athana-
sian Creeds as true declarations of the faith of this
church.

2.05 This church accepts the Unaltered Augsburg Confession
as a true witness to the Gospel, acknowledging as one
with it in faith and doctrine all churches that likewise
accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confes-
sion.

2.06 This church accepts the other confessional writings in
the Book of Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augs-
burg Confession, the Smalcald Articles and the Treatise,
the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the For-
mula of Concord, as further valid interpretations of the
faith of the Church.