LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1989, Page 58

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58 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

tionship to the Philippine church and to express the con-
tinuing support and love of the Synod for our work in these.
areas.

The LCMS, both because of its size and resources, re-
mains the acknowledged leader among confessional Lu-
theran churches worldwide. Mindful of that responsibility,
we are providing leadership for special theological discus-
sions involving additional seminary representatives in
connection with the meeting of the International Lutheran
Conference scheduled for Seoul, Korea, in September.

Relationship to auxiliaries. The President’s office, as-
sisted by appropriate staff, maintains close liaison with
the leadership of the Synod’s two auxiliaries, the Inter-
national Lutheran Laymen’s League and the International
Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. Relationships to-
day can only be described as excellent. Both auxiliaries
have strong and capable leadership and are eager to work
in the closest possible partnership with synodical offices
in carrying out the mission and ministry of the church.
The presidents of both auxiliaries will bring special greet-
ings to our convention.

Church relations. According to the synodical Constitu-
tion and Bylaws, the synodical President is primarily re-
sponsible for contacts and relationships with other church
bodies, many of which are described in the report of the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations. This in-
cludes partner churches around the world, other Lutheran
churches, inter-Christian dialogs and contacts, ecumenical
organizations, and the like.

Because of the considerable correspondence, travel, and
meetings entailed in these far-flung relationships, the
President’s office has developed a “Church Relations De-
partment” within the structure of the office. Its steering
committee consists of the President, First Vice-President,
and the executive directors of the Board for Mission Ser-
vices and the Commission on Theology and Church Rela-
tions. This administrative arrangement, which is currently
operating without direct staff services, has been of great
value in coordinating the various church-relations contacts
of the synodical boards, educational institutions, and Dis-
tricts as they make contacts with partner churches and
other Christian groups.

I am pleased that during the past triennium there were
several contacts with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran
Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, including a
meeting in St. Louis to discuss our various understandings
of church fellowship and its practice. Although no plans
have been formulated for continuing meetings, the syn-
odical administration has made it clear that it welcomes
every opportunity to develop a closer relationship with
these church bodies who once were members with us in
the Synodical Conference. Both church bodies have been
invited to bring greetings to our convention.

Of special importance to the Synod is the continual de-
velopment of the strongest possible confessional bond with
our partner churches worldwide. Our newest partner
church is the Lutheran Church—Canada, composed of
most of the congregations formerly belonging to the three
Canadian Districts of the LCMS. Our Canadian partners
began their autonomous existence on Jan. 1, 1989, capably
led by President Ed Lehman. The transition has gone ex-

ceptionally well, largely because of the dedicated and car-
ing efforts of the officers and staffs of both church bodies
in establishing protocol documents and working agree-
ments in the many areas in which we will be continuing
to work together. Regular meetings are planned between
representatives of the two church bodies, as well as the
sharing of ideas and resources.

A formal arrangement has also been developed for meet-
ing with the leadership of the newly formed Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. A Committee on Lutheran
Cooperation, involving the leaders of these two church bod-
ies, meets twice a year to monitor the work we do together
in Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Services, and various other inter-Lutheran agen-
cies. Plans have also been developed to address the theo-
logical differences which keep the two churches from
enjoying altar and pulpit fellowship. Although those dif-
ferences remain unresolved, the relationship among lead-
ers of the two church bodies is cordial and positive.

Two important meetings were held during the past
triennium between the Synod and its partners worldwide,
onthe one hand, and the leadership of the Lutheran World
Federation. The first of these was held in Geneva in De-
cember 1987 and the second in St. Louis in December 1988.
These face-to-face conversations gave all participants an
opportunity to achieve greater clarification on the self-un-
derstanding of the Lutheran World Federation as a “com-
munion” of churches, as well as to explicate the
understanding and mission of Missouri and her partners
in our efforts to be and remain confessional Lutherans.

Conversations were also held on two occasions with rep-
resentatives of the American Association of Lutheran
Churches, a group of congregations that chose not to join
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America but to form
its own church body.

The Synod has also held formal conversations with the
Lutheran Church in Southern Africa in an effort to move
toward an official recognition of altar and pulpit fellow-
ship, as well as partnership in mission. Recommendations
by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations and
the Board for Mission Services will be considered by this
convention on these matters.

By the time of the convention, it is expected that the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations will have
released a study instrument to assist the members of the
Synod in applying our church relations’ principles to a
number of practical situations. This churchwide study ef-
fort remains one of the highest priorities of the Synod be-
cause of the increasing complexity and the frequent
misunderstandings that occur in the Synod in this sensi-
tive area. This topic was one of the major considerations
at an August 1987 gathering of the Circuit Counselors of
the LCMS, whose leadership in this area has been strongly
encouraged. In the fall of 1988, I communicated with the
Circuit Counselors by means of a videotape in order to
clarify “levels of relationship” terminology (emphasizing
that the concept applies only to questions outside the
framework of altar and pulpit fellowship), respond to pan-
elists’ questions about various church relationships and
encourage involvement in the study process. Contrary to
some published criticism, this communication was in-