LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1989, Page 31

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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 31

what God has done in Christ. Reference was made to the
fiscal pressures upon the ELCA as well as upon the LCMS.
He spoke of the ELCA’s mission priorities and the church’s
commitment to reach out with the Gospel. “Time and en-
ergy must be directed toward positive steps forward,” said
Dr. Chilstrom. He requested our prayers for the ELCA,
and he promised their prayers for the LCMS.

Theology and Church Relations (3)

The committee called upon Rev. Carlos Puig to make a
special presentation of the Book of Concord, printed in the
Spanish language for the first time.

The committee moved Res. 3-04A, Today's Business,
page 150, which calls for the encouragement of women in
service to the church. The chairman of the committee re-
quested that the words of women be deleted from line 32
of the resolution.

An amendment was proposed to substitute the words
encouraging women. to recognize and accept their respon-
sibility for church teaching for the words sharing resources
for the ministry of women in line 31.

An amendment was proposed to the amendment, calling
for the words for church teaching to read as for what the
church teaches. The amendment to the amendment was
adopted by common consensus. The question on the
amendment was then called and sustained. The amend-
ment was adopted as amended.

An amendment was proposed to add a resolve to the
resolution, calling for the convention to reaffirm the Syn-
od’s position on the doctrine of ordination.

The Chair called for the orders of the day, delaying fur-
ther debate on the amendment until the next time Com-
mittee 3 comes to the podium.

Report on Offering for Missions

The special collection for missions stands at more than
$394,000 as of the July 10 afternoon session, with many
gifts still being received. Congregations and individuals
are encouraged to continue during the next 30 days to
submit their gifts. Checks are to be made out to The Lu-
theran Church—Missouri Synod, Special Convention Of-
fering and sent to the synodical headquarters.

Planning and Administration (8)

The Committee moved adoption of Res. 8-02A, Today’s
Business, page 159, which calls for the support of congre-
gational ministries through coordinated planning and de-
cision making. To the point of the resolution, Dr. Rich
Bimler, executive secretary for Youth Services and special
assistant to the Planning Council, presented a video for
convention viewing.

The question was called but was not sustained by the
two-thirds majority vote.

After several more speeches from the floor, Dr. Bohl-
mann called for a vote to determine if the delegates were
ready to take action on Res. 8-02A. The assembly indicated
its desire to vote and the resolution was adopted.

Human Care (7)
Dr. Richard Hinz, president of the Southeastern Dis-

trict and chairman of Committee 7, introduced the work
the committee had prepared for the convention’s consid-
eration. Dr. Eugene Linse, executive secretary of Social
Ministry, was introduced, and he in turn welcomed Dr.
Norman Barth, executive director of Lutheran World Re-
lief, who expressed thanks for and described the work of
our Synod in the field of human care in countries through-
out the world.

Committee 7 placed Res. 7-02A, Today's Business, page
157, calling for support for the work of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod World Relief, before the conven-
tion.

An amendment was proposed to add the words and seek
additional support of any matching funds from other re-
sources after the word Sunday in line 32. The amendment
was adopted, and the resolution was adopted as amended.

A motion was made to test the will of the convention
regarding the suspension of the reading of the “Whereas”
statements of resolutions to come before the delegates, ex-
cept in those cases where the committee deems such read-
ing essential. The motion was adopted.

Res. 7-03, Today’s Business, page 102, encouraging min-
istry to older persons, was placed before the assembly.

An amendment was proposed to delete the fourth state-
ment of the resolve (lines 33-34) of the resolution. The
question was called on the amendment and was sustained.
The amendment was adopted, and the amended resolution
was brought back to the floor. Debate was ended by vote
of the delegates, and the amended resolution was adopted.

Res. 7-04, Today’s Business, page 102, calling for assis-
tance to professional church workers and congregations,
was placed before the delegates. The resolution was
adopted.

Special Greeting from the President of the United States

President George Bush addressed the 57th Regular
Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in
a video prepared especially for this occasion.

Procedures

A motion was made to limit debate on all resolutions to
three pro and three con speeches before the Chair auto-
matically asks the delegates if they wish to end debate.
The motion was not debatable and was defeated.

Structure and Organization (5)

Rev. Orval Oswald brought back to the floor Res. 5-05
(Today’s Business, p. 72), and pointed the delegates to page
179 of Today’s Business for a proper wording of line 50.

The resolution calls for an alternate method for amend-
ing the Bylaws of Synod.

The question was called and was sustained. The reso-
lution was defeated. ;

The committee moved Res. 5-06, Today’s Business, page
72, calling for a revision of the synodical Bylaws regarding
synodical personnel. The committee noted a change in
wording in line 12, to wit: “Resolved, That the convention
adopt the following Bylaw changes:” The committee also
called for the deletion of the word Bylaw in line 16, page
73.